Hungary could unveil proposals on amending its controversial ad tax law sometime this month.
Speaking to a meeting of parliament’s economic committee and quoted by Portfolio, János Lázár, the minister leading the PM’s Office, added that the changes were necessary as two European Commission directorates were investigating the ad tax.
Significantly, Lázár also said that the existence of the tax itself was not in question. Rather, the objections to it were largely methodological and technical in nature.
Put another way, the debate is about how much companies will have to pay. The current maximum rate of 50%, which affects RTL, the country’s largest broadcaster, contrasts with a maximum rate of 5% levied in Austria.
Other countries with a similar tax – Sweden, Denmark, Greece and Belgium – have an even lower maximum rate.
Lázár confirmed that the government was holding talks with the EC about changing the tax.
It had also engaged in several “economic type negotiations” with Bertelsmann.
