Hungary Wealth Tax Hits Anyone Worth Over $3.1M From January

The Hungary wealth tax will start on January 1 with a harsher top tier than voters were promised, Prime Minister Péter Magyar told a rally in Szolnok on Saturday. The base design hasn’t moved: 1% a year on fortunes above HUF 1 billion ($3.1 million). What’s new is a second bracket for anyone sitting on more than HUF 500 billion ($1.55 billion), where Magyar says the rate “could be more” than 1%.

BUDAPEST, Hungary – 28 September 2026

Magyar’s Tisza government has been drafting the levy since May, when the cabinet ordered the Finance Ministry to prepare wealth tax legislation in a resolution published in the Magyar Közlöny, Hungary’s official gazette. That same resolution also ordered an end to the tax exemption for Hungarian trust asset management (bizalmi vagyonkezelés), which quietly matters more than the headline rate for many family fortunes.

Saturday’s speech was the first time Magyar put a higher bracket on the table. According to Portfolio, he said the tax would arrive “under stricter conditions than we committed to.”

What did Magyar announce about the Hungary wealth tax?

Magyar confirmed the Hungary wealth tax starts on 1 January 2027 at 1% a year on net wealth above HUF 1 billion ($3.1 million), and said fortunes above HUF 500 billion ($1.55 billion) could pay more than 1%. He gave no top rate. Portfolio reports a draft bill will go to public consultation within weeks and will respect Hungary’s double tax treaties.

The Finance Ministry told Telex it’ll only publish details after a formal government decision. So the top rate, the exact asset list and the valuation rules are all still open.

Here’s the part that caught my eye. The same May resolution that launched the wealth tax also ordered the end of the tax exemption for Hungarian trusts. EY Hungary expects assets held in those structures to be pulled into the wealth tax base, “presumably taxed at the grantor level.” Anyone using a domestic trust for a family business should check whether it still earns its keep, or whether trusts and foundations in a jurisdiction with no such levy make more sense.

Who pays the Hungary wealth tax, and what’s the threshold?

The Hungary wealth tax threshold is HUF 1 billion ($3.1 million) of net wealth, using Bloomberg’s conversion, and EY says the tax will apply to Hungarian tax-resident individuals. Anyone above HUF 500 billion ($1.55 billion) faces the higher, still unnamed rate. Telex counts just four people in that top bracket today.

Those four, based on wealth estimates published by Világgazdaság, include Lőrinc Mészáros, the businessman closely tied to the previous Orbán government, and OTP Bank chief Sándor Csányi. Telex puts their combined fortunes at around HUF 3,782 billion ($11.7 billion). Read that number twice: a single bracket built for four people.

One question is still open. Neither the government nor its advisers have said whether the 1% hits only the slice above HUF 1 billion ($3.1 million) or the whole fortune once you cross the line. That single drafting choice can double or halve a bill near the threshold.

Does the Hungary wealth tax cover foreign assets?

Portfolio reports the Hungary wealth tax will cover both domestic and foreign assets, including company shares, real estate and movable property. Bloomberg, citing the tabloid Blikk, reported that non-Hungarian nationals would be exempt on assets they hold abroad. Neither point is in draft legislation yet, so treat both as provisional until the bill is published.

For Hungarian residents, that’s the real wake-up call. Moving a brokerage account to Vienna or Zurich won’t take it out of the base. Tax residence is the lever that matters, and it’s the one most people leave until it’s too late.

I’ve watched this play out before. Clients who call us in the first month after a wealth tax is announced have options. The ones who call in December mostly have paperwork, because changing residence takes months of genuine presence and a real home.

What happens next for the Hungary wealth tax in 2027?

A draft bill is expected to go to public consultation within weeks, followed by a vote in parliament ahead of the 1 January 2027 start date. The Finance Ministry says full rules will follow a formal government decision. Valuation of private company stakes is the likeliest flashpoint, since there’s no market price to lean on.

Hungary isn’t moving in isolation. Norway keeps tightening its rules for people who leave, as we covered in our look at the Norway exit tax. Colombia, by contrast, is heading the other way with its Colombia wealth tax repeal. And the wealthy who do relocate keep landing in the same few places, with Greece tax residency drawing some of the biggest names this year.

A pattern we see often: foreign residents assume a tax aimed at Hungary’s super-rich can’t touch them. On today’s numbers they’re usually right. But once a wealth tax exists, the threshold becomes a political dial, and dials turn. If you’ve read our guide to residency in Hungary, now’s a good moment to revisit your tax residence plan alongside it.

Hungary Wealth Tax FAQ