(Photo: LaMography/Moni Lazar)

Under the proposal, the bill would set the annual limits on remuneration eligible for payroll tax preferences at HUF 450,000 for employees in the private sector and at HUF 200,000 for people who work in the public sector, Hungarian news agency MTI reported. Varga said that HUF 100,000 of each amount could be awarded in cash, while the remainder would top up the SZEP national voucher cards, MTI added. 

The Hungarian government has asked National Economy Minister Mihály Varga how the conversion of a part of the country’s voucher system into cash could be implemented, Cabinet Chief János Lázár said last week, according to reports.

The European Court of Justice ruled on February 23 that elements of the SZÉP leisure card and Erzsébet food-voucher systems, which enable Hungarian employers to offer their employees reduced tax benefits as part of Hungary’s unified voucher system, conflict with EU law.

On March 10, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said the government would scrap its unified voucher system, adding that instead of vouchers, employers could reward their employees with cash, thereby eliminating the “veiled” system of double remuneration.