The most important question: What’s the best for the market?

Yet, I still believe the most important question is what is best for the audit market and audit quality.

Tax-exempt product imports without tax collateral and even without a tax number!

Being a VAT expert, tax-exempt product imports are close to my heart. I recently attended a conference where most of the guests were managers of companies importing products in Hungary and then selling and transporting them after customs clearance to companies in other member states.

Non-taxable persons allowed in a VAT group – several decisions rendered by the CJEU

On 9 April 2013, the CJEU decided in the Commission vs. Ireland (C-85/11) case that non-taxable persons can be part of a VAT group on the basis that the VAT Directive determines that a fiscal unity can be formed by ‘persons’ and does not prescribe that each member of the fiscal unity must be an entrepreneur or taxable person for VAT purposes.

Stricter wealth accumulation audits underway

The banking data of individuals, for instance, will be as easily and quickly accessible for the tax authority as the data of property or vehicle registers.

Technology, productivity and economic growth; where does the west go from here?

Environmental product charge: approaching deadline!

In 2012, HUF 57 billion, slightly less than the targeted HUF 60 billion, was collected from product charge. The revenue target was not reduced for 2013 either, we can therefore assume that the tax authority will use every effort to meet the target.

Environmental Product Charge, 2013

Accordingly, until 14 February 2013, returns, payments, supplementary filings and self-revisions relating to the environmental product charge will have to be submitted to the Customs Authority while after this date, these will have to be filed with NAV.

Company car taxation in Italy

Law Decree 16/2012 has modified Art. 164 of the Italian income and corporation tax act (TUIR) which governs the deductibility of the cost relating to private and commercial vehicles. The mentioned law change reduced the percentage of the deductibility of costs related to private cars assigned and not assigned to employees. Relevant cases:

Enhanced tax authority scrutiny

Guideline 3004/2013 already available (only in Hungarian language) on the website of the Hungarian Tax and Customs Authority (NAV) includes the criteria to be inspected, the audit aspects and the sanctions to be applied on a standard basis during the tax audits of enterprises having only VAT registrations in Hungary.

New tax measures in Belgium

The most important changes are described below: