Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Saturday that the United States has terminated its double taxation avoidance agreement with Hungary signed 43 years ago. The reason for the step is clear: Hungary is opposed to the introduction of the global minimum corporate tax rate and the resulting tax increases, Minister Szijjártó said on Facebook. The European economy needs to operate in a long-term wartime inflation environment, he said. If the tax burden of producing companies is increased further amid these circumstances, the effect will be “dramatic”, he added. Europe’s competitiveness is “in ruins” because of runaway energy prices, and the introduction of a global minimum corporate tax rate would be the “coup de grace”, he warned. He said Hungarians have worked hard to make the country’s taxes the lowest in Europe, adding that introducing the global minimum corporate tax rate would “practically double” the tax burden of Hungarian producers, putting “tens of thousands” of local workplaces at risk. “We will continue professional consultations on tax matters with our Republican friends,” he added.
Photo credit: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter