Govʼt to lower VAT on brownfield home construction to 5%

Telco

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Hungaryʼs government will lower the VAT rate for home construction at brownfield sites to 5% from 27%, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Ministerʼs Office, said at a regular press briefing on Thursday, according to a report by Hungarian news agency MTI.

Image by Pixabay

The measure was among several Gulyás said the government is taking to ease the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.

In a bid to support the hard-hit tourism industry, the government has decided to exempt employer top-ups of the SZÉP voucher card from payroll tax until June 30, 2020, he said. Annual caps on SZÉP card top-ups enjoying payroll tax preferences will also be raised in an effort to boost domestic tourism after the crisis has passed, he added.

The SZÉP voucher card may be used for spending on catering, commercial accommodations and recreation.

The government decided to require companies to pay a monthly healthcare contribution for all employees, even ones on unpaid leave, Gulyás said.

State of emergency extended for another week

Gulyás said the government decided at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday to extend a state of emergency declared to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus for another week from Saturday.

He noted that the government had earlier decided to take decisions on a weekly basis on extending the state of emergency.

The minister added that the practice of allowing local governments to enforce special restrictions on movement in their communities at the weekend would be continued.

The state of emergency was initially declared on March 11.

HUF 500 bln spent on pandemic defense

Gulyás said the government has so far spent about HUF 500 billion on pandemic defense.

Fielding a question, he detailed an earlier announced central budget reallocation for a newly established pandemic defense fund. He said the reallocations include HUF 37 bln from postponing a capital raise at the project company upgrading the Paks nuclear power plant as well as a further HUF 82 bln from the Prime Ministerʼs Office, HUF 20 bln from the Agriculture Ministry, HUF 28 bln from the Interior Ministry, HUF 21 bln from the Finance Ministry, HUF 334 bln from the Innovation and Technology Ministry, HUF 22 bln from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, HUF 81bn from the Human Resources Ministry and HUF 46 bln from the Prime Ministerʼs Cabinet Office. 

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