Major changes from May 2018
Hungarian government is desperately shifting from paper-based administration to electronic one.
During this process, the government changed the way the Tax Office accepts authorizations.
Those authorization are needed to submit electronic tax returns. Until May, paper-based and/or scanned versions of apostilled authorizations were accepted and processed by the Tax Office (NAV).
However, from May, Tax Office refuses to accept any of those solutions. All of the authorization should be validated electronically by using the government’s system.
Methods of electronic validation
There are 3 methods of electronic validation of a Hungarian document:
- Convert the ordinary document to a validated electronic document
- Place a qualified electronic signature on the document by the general manager or the legal representative
- Validate the document by using the free validation system of the government called AVDH
To use the last option, the general manager or the representative of the company should open an electronic government gate (Ügyfélkapu).
And here comes the complication. Ügyfélkapu may be opened only personally. That may be done in Hungary or at any Hungarian embassy all around the world.
This may be a major barrier for our Clients: additional cost, travel and waste of valuable time.
Solution
Since it is a new procedure introduced by the Hungarian government, there are many unknown terms and unfilled gaps around the validation in case of foreign citizens.
We and our legal specialist are working on a legal, cheap and practical solution of the problem, so our Clients may sign the authorization without visiting Hungary and/or the Hungarian embassy.