Global Tax 50 2014: Hungarian protestors

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Global Tax 50 2014: Hungarian protestors

Popular uprising

 Hungarian protestors

Hungarian protestors is a new entry this year

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has cut a controversial figure since being re-elected with a two-thirds majority in April.

Although his party – which he was a founding member of and has led since 1992 – also performed well in May's European elections, he has disillusioned the public with a series of industry-specific taxes.

One such tax, introduced in the summer, was levied on advertising revenues generated by media organisations, affecting companies in several bands up to a maximum rate of 40% on revenues of more than about $80 million.

However, the tax was criticised as an attack on media plurality, because much of its revenue would be garnered from just one broadcaster, providing a competitive advantage to state broadcaster TV2. The tax bill on German company RTL's revenues would have amounted to about $18 million – nine times the TV station's profits from the previous year.

While the public reaction to this levy could be described as disgruntled, there were no significant popular objections, despite RTL and TV2 both going off the air for a day in protest.

When the government proposed implementing a tax on internet usage of Ft150 ($0.61) per gigabyte, however, the public was incensed.

Within a week, 10,000 people had marched against the proposed tax in Budapest.

"The move… follows a wave of alarming anti-democratic measures by Orbán that is pushing Hungary even further adrift from Europe," said the organisers of the march.

"The measure would impede equal access for cash-poor schools and universities," they added.

The reaction forced the government to add an amendment to the Bill, capping the potential charge for individuals at Ft700 per month and for companies at Ft5,000 per month.

However, the concessions were not enough to quell the demands of the protesters that the tax be scrapped and as many as 100,000 in Budapest – a city of 1.8 million – again took to the streets.

Protests were recorded in other Hungarian cities, as well as solidarity protests in Poland, Germany and the UK, and Orbán had no choice but to back down on the tax less than a week after the first protest.

There is no doubt that other countries will have been closely observing the tactic of industry-specific taxes, both for the purpose of revenue collection – the 'internet tax' was set to raise more than $115 million per year – and for targeting specific industries.

One lesson they should take from Hungary is that taking on one of the most organised demographics in the world – internet users – is likely to end in defeat.

The Global Tax 50 2014

View the full list and introduction

Gold tier (ranked in order of influence)

1. Jean-Claude Juncker  2. Pascal Saint-Amans  3. Donato Raponi  4. ICIJ  5. Jacob Lew  6. George Osborne  7. Jun Wang  8. Inverting pharmaceuticals  9. Rished Bade  10. Will Morris


Silver tier (in alphabetic order)

Joaquín AlmuniaAppleJustice Patrick BoyleCTPAJoe HockeyIMFArun JaitleyMarius KohlTizhong LiaoKosie LouwPierre MoscoviciMichael NoonanWolfgang SchäubleAlgirdas ŠemetaRobert Stack


Bronze tier (in alphabetic order)

Shinzo AbeAlberto ArenasPiet BattiauMonica BhatiaBitcoinBonoWarren BuffettECJ TranslatorsEurodadHungarian protestorsIndian Special Investigation Team (SIT)Chris JordanArmando Lara YaffarMcKessonPatrick OdierOECD printing facilitiesPier Carlo PadoanMariano RajoyNajib RazakAlex SalmondSkandiaTax Justice NetworkEdward TroupMargrethe VestagerHeinz Zourek

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

There are unanswered questions as to how foreign investors could reclaim money via tax credits, advisers suggested
Amid an ever-changing tax environment, India’s advisory market is bustling with competition ahead of the 2025 World Tax rankings and ITR Awards
The deal comes after PwC had accused Paul McNab of using confidential information; in other news, McDermott hired a new London tax head from a US rival
Looking at transfer pricing simplification is “obviously helpful”, but it should be done in line with current standards, a senior government figure reportedly said
The UK Government’s plans to close the tax gap via increased HM Revenue and Customs investment have failed to impress local tax advisers
Under the merged scheme for R&D tax relief introduced last year, rules on contracted out R&D have changed. James Dudbridge argues for a proactive approach when reviewing companies’ commercial arrangements
Cultural nuances could account for tax advisers’ perceived poor cost management, a local partner told ITR
Updated rules represent a significant shift in the Luxembourg TP landscape and emphasise the need for robust arm’s-length calculations, says Vanessa Ramos Ferrin of TransFair Pricing Solutions
KPMG Law US revolves around contract managed services and the US is the largest market for that, Stuart Bedford tells ITR in an exclusive interview
The US law firm’s tax counsel tells ITR about inspirations from a ‘legendary’ German tax scholar, perfecting riesling wine and what makes tax cool
Gift this article