Hungary: Same-sex registered partners to receive all tax benefits afforded to spouses
29.01.17
Following a report by the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights the National Tax and Customs Administration announced to revise its earlier policy discriminating against same-sex registered partners in matters of inheritance and personal income tax.
The Commissioner launched his investigation following a petition by Háttér Society that received several related complaints.
Registered partnership, a family law institution for same-sex couples similar to marriage was introduced in Hungary in 2009. The law stipulates that besides the few exceptions explicitly mentioned in the Registered Partnership Act, all legal provisions that apply to spouses shall also apply to registered partners. Exceptions relate to taking the partner’s name and parenting, thus do not cover taxation issues.
As opposed to the clear legislation, two surviving registered partners approached the legal aid service of Háttér Society in 2015 complaining that they were ordered to pay inheritance tax, even though spouses have full inheritance tax exemption. Following the intervention of Háttér Society the tax authority revoked both decisions and returned the already paid inheritance tax. The two very similar cases, however, made it likely that the tax authority was systematically disregarding the existing legislation, so Háttér Society requested the National Tax and Customs Administration (NTCA) to reopen all inheritence tax files of registered partners in order to make sure the legislation was applied properly.
