Andersen Says it is Well Ahead of its Growth Plans

The sales revenue of Andersen Adótanácsadó Zrt., a member of Andersen Hungary, reached HUF 2.1 billion in 2022, almost 37% up on the previous year. That considerably exceeds the annual growth rate of 10-15% envisaged by the management. The Budapest-based company has further reinforced its position in the market of tax advisory services.

Despite the adverse economic trends, Andersen Adótanácsadó Zrt. improved its growth rates substantially in 2022 over previous years.

“There is considerable progress in all our business lines and service areas. With an overall 37% growth in sales revenues, we are well above the market average. The last time we were able to jump this much was in 2016 when our base was just a third of the current size,” says CEO Károly Radnai of last year.

Several service areas performed above the 37% average, with the tax allowances and state subsidies business line topping the list. This area practically doubled its sales revenues compared to 2021. Andersen has made no secret of its ambition to break the dominance of the Big Four consultancies in this area and provide the highest level of service in Hungary.

There was also massive growth in the areas of indirect tax (VAT, customs, green tax) and M&A advisory (restructuring, acquisitions, and transaction tax planning), with the former generating 63% and the latter around 73% more sales revenues compared to the previous year, the company says.

Andersen’s tax services for the film industry also deserve special attention, as they reported growth of almost 50%. This business line has always been one of the best performing for the company, and the 2022 figures mean Andersen has further reinforced its position as the market leader in tax advisory services to the film industry in Hungary.

Positive Feedback

Alongside its business results, professional feedback and recognition also show a very positive picture of the quality of Andersen’s work and its services, the firm says. Prestigious tax magazine International Tax Review again assessed Andersen Adótanácsadó Zrt. as the top-performing Hungarian tax advisor in 2022. It means that, for the second year in a row, the company has earned the highest professional accolade of the year while also collecting the Indirect Tax Firm of the Year award.

Opening up to Far East markets has emerged as a new strategic element of Andersen’s medium-term plans.

“The goal is first to approach those Asian businesses and large corporations which have operating investments, sites, manufacturing capacities or subsidiaries in Hungary, or are laying the groundwork for such investments,” Radnai explains.

“In this regard, we do not only intend to provide special services for our Far Eastern clients but are also continuously developing our professional team towards the needs of this market,” he adds.

Law firm Szabó, Kelemen & Partners Andersen Attorneys and Andersen Adótanácsadó Zrt. collectively makeup Andersen Hungary. The Budapestbased tax consultancy and legal outfit is currently the fifth largest player in the Hungarian market after the Big Four companies. Andersen Hungary has more than

100 employees at its clients’ disposal. To maintain the growth rate outlined in the business plan and satisfy client needs, the firm says that Andersen Adótanácsadó Zrt. will continue expanding its professional team in 2023.

Opposition MP: Hungary Offered CATL EUR 800 mln in Grants, Tax Breaks

It has been suggested that Hungary offered EUR 800 million in grants, tax breaks, and infrastructural support to the EUR 7.4 bln greenfield investment by the world’s largest EV battery maker CATL, which is building its second European production facility in the Hungarian industrial hub of Debrecen (225 km east of Budapest). The figure was alleged by an opposition MP, citing Chinese media, according to intellinews. com. If true, the size of the government subsidy demonstrates Hungary’s aggressive strategy for luring FDI over the past few years, particularly in Asia and the battery sector, which the government sees as strategic. Hungary has the world’s fourth-biggest electric battery production capacity after China, the United States and Germany. The Hungarian government has sought to attract the world’s leading EV battery producers and suppliers to diversify dependence on traditional vehicle manufacturing.

Gov’t Covering Dunaferr Payroll Tax

The government has decided to cover payroll for troubled steel maker Dunaferr for six months, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a video message posted on Facebook. The expenditure will come to more than HUF 16 billion, Orbán said. “Dunaferr has been ruined by its former owners and management, and finally Brussels’ sanctions,” he added. He said work would be done in the coming months to ensure a “dependable, reliable owner” can take over the steelworks when the six-month period ends. Dunaferr was ordered under liquidation in mid-December. Dunaferr pleaded for government support in September after shutting down its blast furnaces. Low steel prices paired with the rise in energy prices, supply chain issues, and

Are the war in Ukraine put the company in a situation with which it is “unable to cope alone,” Dunaferr said at the time.

OXO Adopts IFRS, Accounting in EUR

Listed OXO Technologies Holding switched from Hungarian Accounting Standards to International Financial Reporting Standards at the start of this year and is now doing its accounting in euros, not forints, it said. It added that the currency in which OXO’s shares trade has been euros since February 15, 2023. Its board has also cleared the company to start looking for a new headquarters elsewhere in the European Union that provides its targeted investors “with a more familiar operating environment,” according to an announcement on the website of the Budapest Stock Exchange. OXO has begun establishing ties with investors in Western Europe and Asia and is expanding its staff abroad. The change of HQ does “not impact in any manner” the trade of OXO shares on the Budapest Stock Exchange, OXO said.

NAV Donates Protective Masks to Charity

The Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) has offered hundreds of thousands of seized protective masks for charity, according to profitline.hu. Some 400,000 FFP2 protective masks had arrived at the Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport from the Far East. Since the customer did not pay the duty and VAT imposed by customs clearance, NAV confiscated the goods. The customs office stated that the masks would have been destroyed if not given to charities.

MTel Wins Deloitte’s ‘Green Frog’ Award

This year’s Green Frog Award was won by Magyar Telekom, according to profitline.hu. For the 22nd time, Deloitte Hungary has announced the initiative to recognize companies with outstanding performance in non-financial reporting. At this year’s tender, Budapest Airport won the award in the first sustainability report category, and the Bátor Tábor Foundation also received recognition.

NAV Consulting Users on GitHub

The National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) is asking for users’ opinions on the XSD schema drafts of the machine-to-machine connection of the eVAT system on the GitHub online development platform, writes novekedes. hu [Growth]. NAV says it considers it essential to incorporate practical user suggestions into the concepts, which is why it is making the draft accessible to everyone on the best-known development platform, GitHub. The purpose of the VAT return via machine-to-machine connection is that taxpayers can import data that can be used to prepare the return into their own administrative systems. That return can be submitted with a machine-to-machine link, which can also be used for VAT analytics by taxpayers and NAV. This would make it easier for businesses and accountants to fill out and check the VAT return, and there would be less administration.

Provisions of Double Taxation Treaty with U.S. to Cease in 2024

The provisions of a double taxation avoidance agreement between Hungary and the United States will cease to apply from January 1, 2024, the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) said on its website. NAV noted that the States informed Hungary through diplomatic channels on July 8, 2022, of the unilateral termination of the agreement. The deal ceases to have effect with respect to taxes withheld at source on January 1, 2024, and concerning taxable periods beginning on or after January 1, 2024, for other taxes, it added. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said days after Hungary was informed of the termination of the treaty that America took the step because of Hungary’s opposition to the introduction of the global minimum corporate tax rate and the resulting tax increases. The double taxation treaty was signed in 1979.

Despite ‘Extreme High Taxes,’ MOL Earnings Rise

Hungarian oil and gas group MOL posted a surge in full-year EBITDA for 2022 at USD 4.7 billion, up from USD 3.5 bln in 2021, supported by strong upstream and downstream contributions, news wire Reuters reported. The company outperformed its EBITDA target of USD 4.1 bln to USD 4.4 bln. “The robust EBITDA in 2022, even with the extreme high taxes, price caps and regulatory measures in place, gives the possibility to continue our transformational and development journey,” CEO Zsolt Hernadi said. MOL, which operates refineries in Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia, reported a net profit of USD 1.66 bln in 2022, down from USD 1.75 bln in 2021. The company posted a quarterly net loss of USD 106 million, down from USD 351.2 mln in the fourth quarter of 2021. The quarterly upstream EBITDA grew by 8% to USD 492 mln year-on-year.