Update on VAT regulation: Are e-receipts coming to Hungary?

Based on the current regulation that is in force, the retailer is obligated to issue a receipt to his customer in paper form. As for the usage of e-receipt in Hungarian retail sales, this form of receipt issuance is not considered valid if the paper receipt hasn’t been issued to the customer, since such a receipt is currently considered only as an addition to a paper one. However, the Hungarian parliament has published a bill as an amendment to the VAT Act. This change is creating a legal base for future regulation on the topics of issuing e-receipts, new ways of inquiring about the receipt that is issued, and connected topics for which rules do not exist right now.

As a further step in a more digital approach to the economy, also taking into consideration aspects of environmental awareness, the regulation in the area of e-receipts would prepare the introduction for the usage of the e-receipt.

This would be done by extending the obligation to report receipt data to cases where the receipt is issued (even electronically) by using a technical solution approved by the relevant authority other than a cash register. The related detailed rules would be regulated by a decree of the competent ministry that is expected sometime during 2023, according to currently available publications.

Parallel to the data reporting requirement, the cash register system would be revisited in the future, taking technological advances into account, which could also encourage the spread of electronic receipts. As a first step towards achieving these objectives, the said bill authorizes legislators at the ministerial level to lay down detailed rules regarding the general reporting of data on receipts and on the devices and techniques other than cash registers that can be used to issue receipts.

It is not clear from the published bill when the government plans to create and put into practice the technical implementation of the inquiry of receipt data and the introduction of the relevant regulation for e-receipts.