In the 21st century, you rightly expect administration to be available online as well as in person. And it is! Hungary has customer portals operated by the government that give you access to electronic administration – both as an individual and as the manager of a Hungarian company. Learn about them with us.
Electronic administration
In Hungary, electronic administration is managed through various customer portals, but with one single, central access point called Ügyfélkapu (or “Client Gate”). As a result, it is enough to register for that one central portal managing private paperwork to gain access to the other portals managing healthcare, social security, taxes, and business related paperwork.
As a company manager, your second most important portal will be the Cégkapu (or “Company Gate”). The Cégkapu is very much like your company’s registered address: your company will receive official notices there, and you or your accountant can upload reports to the Tax Authority through this access point.
The Ügyfélkapu and the Cégkapu are two separate customer portals, but they are connected:
- Through the Ügyfélkapu, you get access to electronic administration as a private individual.
- Through the Cégkapu, your company gets access to electronic administration as a legal entity.
However, you need an Ügyfélkapu account to register your company at the Cégkapu.
Registering for the administrative customer portals
Registering for the Ügyfélkapu is free of charge, and is available to any person. In Hungary, you can do it at any government office (“kormányablak”); abroad, you can do it at any consulate or embassy. You just need an ID with a photo:
- if you are a Hungarian citizen, your Hungarian ID card,
- if you are an EEA citizen, your EEA ID card or your passport,
- if you are a third-country citizen, your passport.
Your Ügyfélkapu registration will let you identify yourself when you want to access other customer portals of e-administration. As a result, it must be done in person to avoid identity theft and security breach.
Registering your company for the Cégkapu is also free of charge, and it is possible online once you have registered yourself at the Ügyfélkapu. Ideally, you should be the one registering your company, but it can be done by:
- the managing director,
- the owner,
- the company’s lawyer, OR
- the company’s accountant, whether they are employed by the company or external providers.
Registering for Ügyfélkapu makes your life in Hungary easier, but it is normally optional. However, for company managers it is an essential step towards Cégkapu registration. This is because registering your company for the Cégkapu is obligatory: you should do it within 8 days after company registration. Do it as soon as possible to make sure you and your accountant receive all official documents in time, and to avoid getting fined for failure to register.
When creating your Cégkapu account, it makes sense to create a separate email address for it instead of using your regular email address. Even if you redirect mails to yourself, later it will be easier to trace and handle messages if they are in a separate mailbox.
Keep your private and company registration separate
The need for access to the Cégkapu is most obvious in the case of your company accountant, since they must upload reports there regularly, while incoming messages are also usually most relevant to them. As a result, many owners of new small or middle-sized companies in Hungary simply ask their accountants to handle their Cégkapu registration for them through their own Ügyfélkapu access. However, this way they give their accountants access to their private paperwork, which should not be accessible to them.
To retain the privacy and security of your personal data, do not give access to your accountant to your personal Ügyfélkapu. Instead, you can add your accountant as a manager to your Cégkapu account once it is created. This way
- your accountant can access your company’s Cégkapu account on their own without bothering you each time they want to log in,
- you can simply remove your accountant’s access to your company’s Cégkapu if you switch providers,
- you retain the security of your private data accessible through your Ügyfélkapu account.
Need help? Ask the experts!
The Ügyfélkapu and the Cégkapu are both customer portals to electronic administration in Hungary. You will need both for compliant company operation.
Helpers Hungary offers comprehensive packages for company setup in Hungary that include assistance with Ügyfélkapu and Cégkapu registration, making sure that you do not have to worry about administrative nuances and can focus on building your business.