Juliane Kokott, the German advocate general of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), has said that Hungary’s telecom tax is compatible with EU rules.
Quoting a report by the news agency MTI, BBJ adds that her opinion was issued in response to a request from the Budapest Administrative and Labour Court in a case involving Vodafone Hungary.
In the ruling Kokott said that the tax, which is direct and revenue-based, does not violate the directive on the common system of VAT and is in line with the principle of freedom of establishment. Furthermore, it does not offer any advantage to companies with lower revenues that would be incompatible with rules on state support.
Significantly, the opinion expressed by Kokott is not binding on the court.
Broadband TV News notes that following an ex post tax inspection of Vodafone Hungary for the period April 1, 2011- March 31, 2015 Hungary’s tax authority found a discrepancy of HUF8,371,000 (€26,000).
The company was asked to pay this, along with tax surcharges and fines, and after an appeal that was partially successful decided to take legal action.
