February 2025 – It has become standard
practice in Hungary for solar power plants to be developed on
greenfield agricultural land owned by third parties. Due to legal
restrictions regarding the use of agricultural land, developers are
unable to acquire these plots until the project is completed.
Unlawful taxation practice challenged
Recently, the National Tax and Customs Authority (the
"Tax Authority") calculated the transfer
duty not only based on the market value of the underlying land but
also included the market value of the solar park entirely
constructed by the developer, which resulted in exorbitant tax
burdens.
The Hungarian Supreme Court (the
"Kúria") recently ruled against
the Tax Authority regarding its above-described practice of levying
real estate transfer duties.
