VAT in Hungary in 2026

Consultoria EHERO

6 minutos de lectura

In Hungary, VAT is called általános forgalmi adó, abbreviated áfa, and it has the highest standard rate in the European Union: 27 %. Below that there are two reduced rates, 18 % and 5 %, and a 0 % rate for newspapers and, from 1 September 2026, for prescription medicines. These are set by § 82 of the Hungarian VAT Act (Act CXXVII of 2007), which refers to its Annexes 3, 3/A and 3/B to determine which product falls under each rate.

Rate	Percentage	Applies to
Standard (általános adómérték)	27 %	Default rate: everything not listed in the law’s annexes, such as clothing, electronics, cosmetics or alcoholic beverages
Reduced (kedvezményes adómérték)	18 %	Dairy products such as yogurt, butter or cheese, flavored milk, bread and pastries, breakfast cereals and tickets to occasional outdoor events
Reduced (kedvezményes adómérték)	5 %	Over-the-counter medicines, infant formula, books (also in another physical format) and magazines, milk, eggs, fresh or frozen pork, poultry and beef, fish, food served in restaurants, hotels and other commercial accommodation, internet access and, from 15 September 2026, firewood, pellets and wood briquettes
Zero (0 százalékos adómérték)	0 %	Newspapers published at least four times a week and, from 1 September 2026, prescription medicines and compounded medicines for human use

Rates verified on 11 September 2026 against NAV information leaflet no. 14, the Hungarian tax authority, published in January 2026 (nav.gov.hu).

Three changes in 2026 and real-time invoices

The 27 % rate is not changing, but the list of exceptions is. From 1 January 2026, fresh, chilled or frozen beef and offal move to 5 %. From 1 September, medicines dispensed only by prescription — until then, 5 % — and compounded medicines for human use are taxed at 0 %; online in Hungary, only non-prescription medicines can be ordered, and they remain at 5 %. And from 15 September, firewood, pellets and wood briquettes drop from 27 % to 5 %.

The other special feature is Online Számla. Anyone with a Hungarian tax number sends NAV, the tax authority, the data for every invoice issued under Hungarian rules, including invoices to private individuals since 4 January 2021. With invoicing software, the transmission is automatic, without human intervention, when the invoice is issued.

If you sell from Spain and report through the one-stop shop, you invoice under Spanish rules and this does not apply to you. If you register in Hungary — for example, because you store stock there — the invoices you issue for those sales do go to NAV.

Which VAT you charge customers in Hungary if you sell from another EU country

This is the part no rate table covers, and usually the real question. The rate you charge does not depend only on the destination: it depends on how much you sell to consumers in other EU countries.

Below €10,000 a year in distance sales to the rest of the EU — added up across all countries, not country by country — you charge your own country’s VAT.
Above that €10,000 you charge the destination VAT: 27% as the standard rate in Hungary, or the reduced rate that applies to the product. You declare it through the One Stop Shop (OSS) in your own country, with no need to register in the destination country.

The threshold adds up all your B2C sales to other EU countries plus digital services, and the switch does not wait for next year: the very sale that crosses the threshold already carries the destination rate.

Selling to a business with a valid EU VAT number is a different story: the sale goes without VAT because the customer accounts for it in their own country, but you have to check that number in VIES and keep proof of the check.

How to set this up in WooCommerce

WooCommerce includes tax rates by country, but it does not distinguish rates within a country by product class or monitor the threshold for you. There are three things you need to set up:

A tax class for each rate you use, assigned product by product and not at store level.
VAT number validation at checkout against VIES for business customers, so VAT is not charged when the transaction falls under reverse charge.
A control for the €10,000 threshold, because the day it is exceeded the rates change at once across all countries.

All three are covered by EHERO Woo VAT, which we built precisely because these are the three points where stores selling to the rest of the European Union break.

Selling to other EU countries from WooCommerce?

EHERO Woo VAT applies each country’s rate product by product, checks VAT numbers against VIES at checkout and keeps an eye on the €10,000 threshold for you.

See EHERO Woo VAT →

Frequently asked questions

What is the standard VAT rate in Hungary in 2026?

27 %, in force since 2012 and the highest standard rate in the European Union. Alongside it there are two reduced rates, 18 % and 5 %, and a 0 % rate for newspapers and, from 1 September 2026, for prescription medicines.

Does Hungary have the highest VAT in the EU?

Yes. Its 27 % is the highest standard rate among the 27 member states. It is followed by Finland, at 25.5 %, and Denmark, Croatia and Sweden, at 25 %. Compared with Spain’s 21 %, that is six points higher: if you keep the same final price after exceeding the threshold, each sale to Hungary leaves you 4.7 % less net.

I sell to Hungary from another EU country — which VAT do I charge?

Your own country’s VAT while your distance sales to the whole EU stay below €10,000 a year. Once you cross that threshold, the destination VAT (27% standard rate), declared through the One Stop Shop.

Do I have to register for VAT in Hungary?

Not if you only ship from your own country: that is what the One Stop Shop is for. You do if you store goods there — for example with Amazon’s fulfilment network — because stock held in the country creates a registration obligation regardless of how much you sell.