As of 1 January 2023, the Hungarian Accounting Act (Act C of 2000) was amended in more than forty places, together with Government Decree No. 479/2016 (XII. 28.) on the specific reporting and bookkeeping obligations of certain other organisations subject to the Accounting Act. Among the newly introduced changes, there are provisions for which businesses have 90 days to implement the practical requirements. It is important to emphasise that deficiencies in the mandatory internal accounting policy regulations required for certain companies may result in a tax authority fine of up to HUF 500,000.
What should companies therefore pay attention to when preparing their accounting policy?
• Auditor’s report: In the future, two important elements of the auditor’s report will be the statement relating to corporate tax and information on whether the financial statements comply with the statutory requirements.
• Balance sheet of assets and liabilities of a legal successor created through transformation: The reserve created for taxes arising from the transformation and the waiver of previous supplementary capital contributions must be recognised in retained earnings.
• Supplementary capital contribution: The rules on supplementary capital contributions also apply to “entrepreneurs”.
• New reporting obligation for companies preparing financial statements under IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards): Reports must be filed and published concerning the financial statements, corporate tax-related information and the consolidated report, which is the report on payments made to governments.
• Companies preparing simplified annual financial statements: If companies rely on the statutory possibility to depart from the itemised requirements relating to the content of the notes to the financial statements, they are required to present all such departures and their effects in the notes.
• Long-term lease liability: Since the amount recognised as such may no longer include instalments due in the following year, the lease instalment due in the financial year following the balance sheet date must also be presented in the balance sheet among current liabilities, in accordance with the general rules applicable to liabilities.
• Accrued income and deferred expenses: Although previously the entire amount of a grant not yet accounted for could be deferred, in the future only that part of the grant not yet accounted for may be recognised in this way which is proportionate to the costs and expenses already incurred.
• Other long-term equity investment: An equity interest held in a healthcare, social, cultural or educational institution must also be recognised as such even if it does not qualify as an equity interest under the statutory definition.
• Business company established by demerger: For such companies, the form of the financial statements, including revenue, balance sheet total and headcount, must be determined according to the rules applicable to companies established without a legal predecessor.
As can be seen from the above, amending accounting policies is relevant not only in the context of tax authority inspections, but also during the annual audit. If you have any questions regarding the implementation of the amended accounting legislation or require assistance, please feel free to contact the law firm NZP NAGY LEGAL through any of the contact details indicated on our website. This article is for information purposes only; the detailed rules applicable to a specific company can in each case be determined precisely only within the framework of an individual engagement.
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