The foreign minister said the introduction of the OECD’s global minimum tax on corporate profit would result in big tax hikes and endanger “tens of thousands” of jobs in central Europe.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told Kossuth Rádió that the global minimum corporate tax would put jobs at risk around the world, while producing companies would raise prices as their tax burden increases, creating further inflationary pressure. The plan to roll out the global minimum corporate tax in Europe from next year would put European companies at a competitive disadvantage, he said. At talks with the United States at the ministerial level, he said Hungary’s government made it clear that it could not support the introduction of the tax. He added that the US Republicans and the Hungarian government agree that the smaller the tax on labour, the bigger the opportunities for economic growth.
Szijjártó said the economic impact of the war in Ukraine is starting to show on a global scale. As a member of NATO, Hungary takes the stand that a direct conflict between NATO and Russia should not be allowed to come about, he said. He expressed hope that “common sense will prevail” at an upcoming NATO summit in Madrid, and that no decision would be taken that would cause the conflict to escalate.
Photo credit: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter