Hungary Plans to Check Income from Property Rentals and Cryptocurrency Trading

Photo: Daily News Hungary

Hungary is preparing radical changes in the taxation of the digital economy, reports Daily News Hungary. Bills submitted to parliament would require landlords, couriers, and crypto traders to disclose their income through automatic data exchange. If approved, the tax authority (NAV) will gain direct access to information from international platforms and services starting in 2026, making tax evasion much more difficult.

The initiatives are based on OECD rules. They require digital platform operators and crypto services to provide tax authorities with detailed information about users. This data will be automatically transferred to Hungary’s tax office (NAV) annually and then shared with countries with which agreements are in place, including Japan, Switzerland, and the Cayman Islands. As a result, NAV will no longer have to rely solely on taxpayers’ own declarations: the authority will gain direct access to real income data of both individuals and companies, received domestically and abroad.

The new rules will cover virtually all participants in the digital economy: a private apartment owner renting via Airbnb, a Wolt courier, an Uber driver, or an investor trading cryptocurrency on Revolut and Binance. From 2026, companies will be obliged to provide NAV with information about themselves—name, registered address, tax number, and a full list of managed platforms. At the same time, they must transmit standardized data on Hungarian users: name, address, tax ID, date of birth, and transaction volume.

The government explains the tightening by pointing out that a significant share of digital sector income goes unreported. The new system is expected to reduce tax evasion and improve discipline. According to government estimates, tax revenues will rise significantly, as NAV will gain a complete picture of how much landlords, couriers, drivers, and crypto traders actually earn.

If parliament approves the bills, the new system will come into force on January 1, 2026. All platforms and crypto services will be required to provide data, regardless of whether they are registered in Hungary or abroad. For apartment owners renting out property and private investors, this means a transition to transparent tax reporting, while for the state it means extending oversight to previously opaque segments of the economy that will now fall squarely under NAV’s supervision.

Hungary has already taken radical steps against cryptocurrencies. Forbes writes that in summer 2025, amendments came into force introducing criminal liability for trading digital assets via unauthorized services. For amounts above 5 million forints (€12,855), violators face up to two years in prison; for transactions from 50 million to 500 million (€128,550–1.29 million) up to five years; and for transactions exceeding 500 million forints (€12.9 million), up to eight years.

The strict rules prompted an immediate market reaction. Major fintech companies, including Revolut, were forced to shut down or temporarily suspend crypto services for Hungarian clients due to legal uncertainty and the risk of criminal liability. For the local market, this signaled that the new laws may not only curb “shadow” operations but also drive away legitimate international companies, depriving users of familiar services.

The outlet Telex reported that around 500,000 Hungarians purchased cryptocurrencies with legal, taxed income. Due to vague legal wording and the absence of enforcement guidelines, legal uncertainty arose: what had been considered lawful activity could now result in criminal prosecution.

“The problem is, this is a law that no one will be able to comply with,” said an industry representative on condition of anonymity. Legal uncertainty is intensifying amid broader European harmonization. The EU’s MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation, aimed at establishing unified rules for the crypto industry, has already come into force, but Hungary’s approach significantly diverges from the bloc’s framework. Analysts find it puzzling why Hungary is introducing such restrictive measures just as the EU is building common standards.

Some Hungarian companies are considering relocation to more crypto-friendly jurisdictions—such as the Baltic states or other European countries. “The startup ecosystem depends on access to foreign markets,” experts explained. “These steps will lead to an outflow of projects and could seriously damage the industry.” The current measures are seen as part of a broader trend toward tighter regulation: restrictions have also affected acquisitions of foreign companies and other types of business activity.

Prosecution of global platforms (Coinbase, Binance, Bitpanda) looks unlikely, but companies registered in Hungary and private investors face high legal uncertainty. In effect, a situation is emerging where it is difficult for Hungarian crypto firms to operate legally, while foreign players continue to serve local users.

Other significant tax amendments were also passed in the summer, covering Hungary’s corporate tax, global minimum tax, personal income tax, and VAT. According to WTS, the changes expanded the powers of NAV and strengthened the government’s supervisory functions. Against this backdrop, the initiative for automatic data exchange appears as part of a consistent course toward greater tax transparency and inclusion of the digital economy.