Publications
October 2012 – Effective from 1 January 2013, Hungary will impose tax on insurance premiums. The new insurance premium tax (IPT) regime will have extraterritorial effect, taxing insurance premiums collected by non-Hungarian insurance companies insuring Hungarian risks on a freedom-of-services (FOS) basis (in addition to taxing Hungarian subsidiaries and branches of foreign insurers as well).
Following the EU-wide initiatives for the introduction of special levies and taxes on financial institutions, the Slovak draft “Act on Special Levy for Selected Financial Institutions” aims to introduce a levy on the banks and branches of foreign banks in Slovakia. This article gives a short overview of the draft Bill.
The general elections in June 2010 resulted in a change of government and the ruling coalition in Slovakia. Several new ministers (including the Minister of Finance responsible for tax policy) were members of the government during the period 1998–2006 and were responsible for reforms which earned Slovakia the label “economic tiger of the CEE”. One might expect a similar development in the tax system, in particular, in the context of the ongoing economic crisis, the rising state budget deficit, and the need to consolidate public finance.