Hungary’s draft wealth tax proposes 1% on wealth above HUF 1 billion

On 6 October 2026 Hungary’s Ministry of Finance posted a draft wealth tax Act for public consultation, which closed on 14 October. The draft would tax residents on net wealth worldwide above HUF 1 billion and non-residents only on real estate in Hungary, rights over it and certain company holdings. It is not adopted: on 26 October the Ministry told the news agency MTI it was evaluating the comments received.

For a Vietnamese investor or family, the draft answers three questions that an earlier report left open: who is taxed, how far the base reaches, and how assets are valued and declared. It does not mention the guest investor residence permit, and it names no nationality other than Hungarian.

What the draft would tax

The taxpayers would be individuals and wealth-holding vehicles such as trusts and private foundations, each either resident or non-resident.

The explanatory memorandum describes the last category as a company with more than 75% of its balance-sheet assets in Hungarian real estate, cash and similar items aside.

The tax base would be the net wealth above that threshold, which would belong to each spouse separately, according to the content summary. The rate would be 1% on the part of the tax base up to HUF 100 billion and 1.5% on the part above it.

The Ministry’s news item of 6 October puts the 1.5% rate on the part of wealth above HUF 100 billion. The draft attaches both rates to the tax base, which already excludes the first HUF 1 billion.

The liability would arise on one day a year, the last day of the reference year, and the return and payment would fall due by 31 August of the following year. The draft would enter into force on 15 December 2026, with 31 December 2026 as the first reference day and 31 August 2027 as the first deadline.

Reuters wrote on 6 October of a start in January 2027, and Origo quoted the finance minister in similar terms on 10 October; the draft says 15 December 2026.

Real estate would be valued by a recent deal value, an indexed older one, the tax authority’s mass valuation model or an expert. Unlisted company holdings would be valued by a formula combining equity with three years’ average after-tax profit.

Who counts as a resident

A resident individual would be anyone resident under the personal income tax act, plus a Hungarian citizen who also holds another nationality, even without an address in Hungary. The draft makes three exceptions:

• a Hungarian citizen who, on the last day of the reference year, has lived abroad on a settled basis for at least 10 years;
• a non-Hungarian posted by a foreign employer not registered in Hungary, for five years from starting work;
• a holder of a national-interest residence card under section 85 of Act XC of 2023 who spends fewer than 183 days in Hungary in the year.

For a third-country national outside those exceptions, the income tax act asks in order whether the person holds a long-term residence entitlement, whether the only permanent home is in Hungary, where the centre of vital interests lies and where the habitual abode is.

The four documents do not mention the guest investor permit or any residence permit by name. Under Act XC of 2023 the permit is a residence permit valid for up to 10 years, and section 74(1) does not list a residence permit among the long-term entitlements. The draft’s only residence-status carve-out names the section 85 card.

This means the permit is not itself a status in the draft: whether a holder is a resident turns on the income tax act’s tests, which depend on facts.

The permit’s fund route requires a real estate fund unit of at least EUR 250,000. The draft’s definition of a company holding excludes the collective investment security, and its list of non-resident categories names no fund units.

None of the four documents mentions Vietnam. The draft says that a treaty containing a rule on the wealth tax prevails over the Act.

Where the draft stands

Twenty-two of the memorandum’s 23 pages state that the Government has not discussed the submission and that it cannot be regarded as the Government’s position. The impact sheet, dated 28 September and marked preliminary, counts 15,000 wealthy individuals and 2,000 wealth-holding vehicles.

The Government does not rule out changes, Telex reported on 9 October. On 15 October 444 reported that 14 professional organisations asked for a third rate of 0.3% to 0.5% for wealth of HUF 1 billion to 5 billion.

On 8 October MTI reported the finance minister saying that the wealth tax and changes to two other taxes would be submitted together, and the 2027 budget at the end of October. At the Government’s briefing on the 2027 budget on 20 October, Telex recorded an expected HUF 200 billion a year from the wealth tax.

What this article has not established

The National Assembly’s bill register could not be read on 26 and 27 October 2026, because the site asks for a CAPTCHA, and the Hungarian gazette site could not be opened. No report of a submission was found, so whether the bill has been submitted is not established.

The draft applies the 1.5% rate to the tax base, while the Ministry’s news item applies it to wealth; no worked example for the upper rate was found.

How a real estate fund unit held by a non-resident would be treated is not stated in the draft, the memorandum or the summary.

Whether a particular guest investor permit holder is a Hungarian tax resident is not established.

The draft does not define the phrase “lived abroad on a settled basis”, used in its 10-year exception for Hungarian citizens.

The text of the Hungary–Vietnam double taxation agreement was not read. The OECD list titles it as one on taxes on income, and whether it has a wealth-tax rule is not established.

The general tax procedure acts, to which the draft refers penalties, and the transfer duty act’s definition of a property-rich company were not read.

The status of the 2027 budget bill, and whether it contains a wealth-tax chapter, is not established.