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According to a report by the Austrian Press Agency, the complaint concerns changes to the disputed tax introduced under the Orbán government.
Spar executive Peter Manhartsberger described the amendment as “absurd” and “chicanery,” saying the company’s Hungarian operation, which has hundreds of stores, could not be divided into hundreds of separate companies.
According to the report, Hungarian-owned shops and franchises pay a sectoral tax equivalent to between 0% and 0.15% of turnover, while larger, foreign-owned supermarket chains pay 4.5%.
Spar expects the tax to cost its Hungarian business EUR 90 million this year. Mandatory caps on retail markups are expected to impose a further EUR 40 million in costs.
APA noted that Spar is Hungary’s second-largest supermarket chain, behind Germany’s Lidl.
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