BUDAPEST: Hungary’s National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) has become more “customer-friendly”, sanctioning tax evaders while offering assistance to taxpayers who unintentionally err when filing returns, NAV chief András Tállai.
“I asked the auditors a year ago to use audits to assist the voluntary payment of taxes when the circumstances allow it, be it for businesses or private individuals,” Tállai said. Taxpayers who make errors have to pay what they “forgot” to transfer to the tax office, with interest pegged to the 0.9% central bank base rate, while those who intentionally avoid paying taxes face fines more than two times the amount they owe, he explained.
NAV exempted taxpayers from sanctions for HUF 5.7 billion in unpaid taxes last year, Tállai added.