State Treasury: Court temporary ruling meant Budapest solidarity collection legal

Budapest’s municipal administration has raised charges in connection with the central government’s solidarity contribution. The municipality complains that the state treasury deducted amounts from the capital city’s coffers even though a court has ordered it not to.

The Budapest administration is seeking redress in the case of legal protection placed on 5.6 billion forints (EUR 14.7m), Ambrus Kiss, a deputy mayor, said on Thursday.

The state treasury initially complied with the court decision for two months but recently started bumping up net deductions from the city’s coffers, Kiss said.

The treasury said in a statement today that there had been no legal obstacles to the collection of the contribution.

Immediate legal protection for the municipality had been provided by the metropolitan court in the second instance temporarily prohibiting the treasury from submitting a collection order against the municipality, the statement said.

On October 17, however, the metropolitan appeals court notified the treasury of its order concluding second-instance proceedings and obliging the first-instance court to conduct the proceedings. The temporary measure ensuring immediate legal protection therefore ceased on that day, it added.

“Everyone must obey the law and everyone must pay the tax; the capital is no exception,” the statement said.