Health isn’t tax-free

Fidesz MP Roland Mengyi has suggested that next year’s tax package should include new health screenings offered as benefits by employers tax-free. The MP thinks it is much cheaper to prevent health problems than to treat them. His bill would have been profitable in the long term, but in the short-term this system would mean less tax revenue for the budget so to parliament didn’t give its consent. The good news is that basic services (available free or at reduced prices) stipulated by the work health and safety law will remain tax-free. According to the law, the employer is also obliged to provide basic work health services to employees in order to create the best work conditions possible. These services can be provided directly by the employer or indirectly by an external service provider. So-called other, personnel-type costs emerging in connection with this basic work health service qualify as operating costs, therefore this doesn’t increase the pre-tax result if the service is provided to an employee, personally contributing member of the company or an old age pensioner of the company.