The Hungarian NAV suppresses illegal vending machine operations across the country

During the summer period, Hungary states that more than six hundred unmanned food and beverage vending machines were restarted nationwide on the news of the inspections of the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV); the number of reconnections jumped fourfold compared to the previous period before the inspections started. Operators who operate their vending machines irregularly risk millions in fines and subsequent inspections with more penalties, the NAV said in a statement.

The NAV announced in the Tax Speedcam section of its website that from June 1, it will intensify inspections of unmanned automatic equipment, especially where the operator previously operated the equipment without a monitoring unit or announced the suspension of the automatic. As a result of the news, many entrepreneurs settled the status of their vending machines before the expected inspection.

Some of the vending machines tested mainly in factory buildings, production halls, hospitals, schools, public places, and railway stations still turned out to be in violation of the law by making one or more of the following offenses:

• They are operated without notification or without a monitoring unit.
• They do not have their registration number, AFE code received and used,
• Despite the pause or end of work announced on paper, some of these machines are still caught operating illegally even though they have noted the end of usage.
• or with similar non-compliance behaviors.

The audits also revealed that the operator of the property often does not even know about gray area operations, nor does it even assume that his partner, circumventing the rules, operates his vending machines unannounced.

Inspectors may impose a default fine of up to one million forints (HUF) on violators, in addition to which the tax on concealed revenues, as well as late payment surcharges and tax penalties, must also be paid. Since the fact of deliberate tax concealment is unquestionable in the case of an illegal operation, the amount of the tax penalty may be twice the amount of the unpaid tax.

These irregularities damage not only the public budget but also fair operators who perform all of their duties towards the Hungarian authorities. This is why NAV continues to intensify the inspection of vending machines, which continues to focus on those that only pause or report completion on paper but actually continue operation or operate without a monitoring unit.