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Finance Minister: Government measures to whiten economy have worked spectacularly

The finance minister said the tax evasion rate in Hungary was 21 percent in 2013 before dropping to 6.6 percent by 2019.

 

Finance Minister Mihály Varga said government measures to whiten the economy have worked spectacularly, noting that the tax evasion rate was 21 percent in 2013 before dropping to 6.6 percent by 2019.

This means Hungary is performing better on this score than many Western European countries, Minister Varga told MTI, commenting on the European Commission’s VAT study released today. He said the European Commission has acknowledged Hungary’s results, adding that Hungary had been among European Union countries with the highest rate of tax evasion.

The minister noted that the government began its campaign to whiten the economy in 2014, when the use of online cash registers became obligatory. A raft of other measures followed in subsequent years, he added. As a result, the rate of decline in tax evasion in Hungary was the sharpest among European countries in 2018, Minister Varga said.

Photo credit: kormany.hu