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LMP calls for 25 percent corporate tax rate for multinationals

Opposition LMP has proposed introducing an upper 25 percent corporate tax rate to ensure that multinational companies take their fair share of the public burden, the head of the party's parliamentary group said on Sunday.

The government claims that the itemised tax for small businesses (kata) is a form of legalised tax fraud which must be terminated, Peter Ungar told a press conference. LMP, however, believes it is the very low corporate tax paid by multinational companies “that is the real legalised tax fraud”.

Revenues from corporate tax amounted to 500 billion forints (EUR 1.25bn) in 2021, Ungar said, whereas Hungarian oil and gas company MOL had revenue of more than 300 billion forints in the last quarter of last year — less than two-thirds of the total corporate tax revenue in Hungary that year. He added that Audi repatriated 4,000 billion forints of profits from the country over the past ten years. Partly due to strategic partnership agreements and partly to the very low corporate tax rate, large companies in Hungary are not taking their fair share of the public burden, Ungar said.

Ungar said it is far easier to collect money that is needed in the budget during a crisis from such large companies than from a small entrepreneur who, say, works in film production and therefore invoices to companies.

He also said that LMP believes it would be highly effective to implement a building insulation programme in the energy crisis. This would reduce household energy costs, Hungary’s energy dependence and greenhouse gas emissions, while creating jobs and stimulating the economy, Ungar said.

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