Fine levied by NAV, the Hungarian Tax Authority is against EU Law

An EU regulation on the prevention of illegitimate international movement of cash requires that any natural person entering or leaving the EU and carrying cash of a value of EUR 10 000 or more shall declare that sum to the competent authorities of the Member State through which they are entering or leaving the EU. Under Hungarian law the fine levied for a breach of such obligation to declare depends on the magnitude of undeclared amount of cash and for sums above EUR 50,000 the fine to be paid on the spot is 60 per cent of the undeclared cash. According to the ruling of the European Court of Justice this provision is not consistent with the principle of proportionality.

A flourishing office market

Napi.hu reported that the upswing of the European office space market will prevail in the period between 2015 and 2017 and a significant boom in London, Dublin, Barcelona and Stockholm may give new impetus to the entire region. According to a survey involving 20 European capitals the region’s rental office market will continue to show signs of good health in the next two years. Office space prices will increase, although the percentage of vacant properties will increase in Moscow, Warsaw and Istanbul.

In Western Europe 12 out of 13 markets will see higher rental fees in the next three years with London expected to experience a rise of 15 per cent. Good performers of the CEE region will likely be Prague and Budapest, even though with a mere 0.8 per cent increase between 2015 and 2017.

High on the Airbnb-fever: Hungarians dreaming of becoming a millionaire

According to hvg.hu a huge property market bubble is growing in Budapest: anyone with at least a free room to spare wants to get a slice of the short-term property rental cake through Airbnb. Three years ago American Airbnb had about 500 Hungarian members; today there are more than 5000 in Budapest alone, and their number is on the constant increase. The hype is based on the fact is that in recent years early birds could cash millions with a comparatively easy job. Many fail to see that this does not hold true anymore and embark on a risky undertaking nevertheless. Huge failures are sure to follow. The Airbnb-fever is also partly responsible for the exorbitant property and room rental prices in Budapest.