To read the action plan for 2009 please click here.
The mission of the Tax Committee is to
- identify and implement changes needed in the Hungarian tax legislation with the
aim to make it more competitive - assist members in their lobbying effort
- respond to members’ common upcoming requests with direct dialogue with decision makers and
- provide members with the opportunity to keep up to date with tax changes and key developments (seminars, breakfasts, etc.)
As the competitiveness of the country decreased in the last few years, our main objective was to voice our dissatisfaction with the direction in tax strategy somewhat louder than before. We have used the Big 4 strategic tax reform paper to support our position. Some of our suggestions were accepted (e.g. reduction of payroll related taxes) but the magnitude of changes was far from our target and what would be necessary. We continued our efforts but the political and economic climate of our country limited our expectations for bolder steps.
We have helped several of our members to meet with main decision makers, gave them continuous support and guidance on how best to achieve their goals. The most important additional achievement of this year was the creation of a new Tax Council from the Tax Committee. This additional emphasis derives from the fact that AmCham considers taxation high on the agenda and decided to elevate the issue to a higher organizational level to give representation of tax issues at the Board level.
The Tax Committee discussed how to take forward our competitiveness initiatives in the current market situation and to make sure that it gives appropriate answer to the challenges the country’s tax system faces especially in comparison with the developments in neighboring countries. We have joined forces with leading tax experts and companies. We are planning to organize a high profile tax conference to highlight the issues that are still very relevant for our competitiveness agenda.
