Planned changes affecting retail

Our magazine discussed the most important changes in taxation affecting the food industry and the retail sector with Péter Biczó, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers Auditing Kft. and Anita Mekler, a director at the tax advisory division of PricewaterhouseCoopers Hungary Kft.

For the retail sector the biggest change is connecting cash registers with the Hungarian Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) system online. The budget plans to gain HUF 95 billion with this step in 2013. In the countries where such a system was introduced the state revenue from VAT increased. The question is who will bear the cost of implementing the necessary technological changes. From 2013 the so-called social security contribution ceiling will be abolished: formerly the monthly ceiling was HUF 662,000 – no contribution had to be paid after income above this level. In the future there will be no such ceiling and the government expects HUF 51 billion for the budget from this. This July the government introduced the reverse VAT system for cereals and oily seeds and now it also plans to use it in the pig sector; the budget hopes to acquire an extra HUF 10 billion. Another change is that from 2013 the selling of tobacco products will be a state monopoly. It will be the government who issues the licence to sell tobacco products to retailers; products will be sold in units set up according to specified criteria. It was also announced that excise duties would increase significantly from next year.