AmCham CEO Lippai-Nagy submitted further proposals to address the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic in a video conference with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Andrea Bártfai-Mager, Minister without Portfolio for National Wealth, Dr. László Palkovics, Minister for Innovation and Technology, Mihály Varga, Minister of Finance, other members of the government and fellow business chamber leaders on Monday, March 30th.
AmCham has consulted with the government in recent weeks, highlighting the most important issues businesses face and presenting recommendations to mitigate the crisis based on input from the members.
The proposals are aimed to help maintain liquidity, preserve jobs, ease taxation, ensure the flow of goods and raw materials and support the most impacted sectors in general.
The suggestions include measures among others to:
- Facilitate the preservation of jobs
- Decrease wages from 100% base salary to 75% during shutdown; 75% of decreased salary to be paid by the government for 3 months; and by the employer for the following 3 months
- Companies should be able to decide on the length of the workweek on a unilateral way to be able to decrease it to 20 or 24 hours and pay proportional salaries (never below minimal wage)
- Social contribution and tax reduction or elimination on salaries paid during company shutdown
- Flexible labor laws and rules
Tax-related recommendations:
- VAT to be paid only if invoices already settled
- The planned 2% decrease on social contribution tax to be introduced as of now or if possible, with retrospective effect from January 1, 2020.
- Removing the paper-based registration of new taxpayers to Client Gate electronic administration service during the pandemic.
- Delayed tax payments should not result in immediate removal from the list of reliable taxpayers during the epidemic.
- Revised tax administration procedures, reporting obligations and extended deadlines
- Temporary tax reduction on “SZÉP kártya” benefit
Other actions:
- Changing the law on excise duties to enable beverages companies to produce disinfector
- Enable manufacturing plants operating three shifts to reopen company canteens above the current restrictions.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Orbán also said this year’s budget must be adjusted radically to mitigate the crisis and restart the economy. Moreover, preparation is underway for the 2021 budget, a stripped down plan allowing maximum amount of flexible funds to revitalize the economy.
In addition, the Prime Minister announced that the biggest economic stimulus action plan will be presented next week with three main goals: restarting the economy and initiating growth, job preservation and job creation.