VAT fraud still responsible for most financial crimes

Tourism

Hungaryʼs National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) says it has discovered more than 3,500 financial crimes in the last six months, amounting to HUF 50 billion in total value.

In an interview with government-friendly daily newspaper Magyar Idők, NAV director András Tállai boasted that it is getting more difficult to commit tax evasion, and it has also become more difficult to move the wealth obtained illegally out the country. The administration managed to take back HUF 30 billion from fraudsters, which is a very high rate, he said.

Currently, NAV is focusing on crime prevention, which means that it is trying to identify suspicious procedures in their early stages and stop them before a crime is committed. These efforts make necessary a closer international cooperation, Tállai said.

In most of the cases, financial crimes were related to VAT fraud involving cooking oil, coffee or fertilizer. The product itself is not that important, however, and VAT fraud can occur with anything from milk to used cars.

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