Hungary launches eÁFA, NAV's draft VAT return system, from 1 January 2024
This page records one dated change. For the rules in Hungary as they stand today, see the Hungary guide →
- Jurisdiction
- Hungary
- Tax
- VAT
- Change type
- E-invoicing
- Status
- In force
- Impact
- FYI
- Announced
- 30 November 2023
- Effective
- 1 January 2024
- Instrument
- HU-ACT-LXXXIII-2023
- Authority
- NAV (Nemzeti Adó- és Vámhivatal / National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary)
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
Hungarian VAT-registered businesses filing VAT returns; the eÁFA web interface is open to taxpayers handling fewer than 100,000 invoices in a return period.
No action — monitoring only.
Act LXXXIII of 2023 (promulgated in Magyar Közlöny on 30 November 2023) rewrote the VAT return rules of the VAT Act (s.184, with transitional s.362) so that, from the tax period including 1 January 2024, the VAT return can be filed through NAV's eÁFA system (machine-to-machine or the NAV web interface) or on the ÁNYK electronic form. eÁFA builds a draft return from e-invoice, online cash-register and customs data, which the taxpayer approves, supplements or corrects. NAV switched eÁFA on on 1 January 2024, and returns could be filed in it from 1 February 2024. Taxpayers filing through eÁFA (web or M2M) are exempt from the M-sheet data report on invoices received.
What changed in detail
Act LXXXIII of 2023 on the amendment of certain tax laws, promulgated in Magyar Közlöny on 30 November 2023, rewrote the VAT return provision of the Hungarian VAT Act (section 184, with a transitional rule in section 362) so that, from the tax period that includes 1 January 2024, the return can be filed in three ways: through NAV’s eÁFA web interface, through an eÁFA machine-to-machine connection, or on the ÁNYK electronic form.
eÁFA builds a draft return from data NAV already holds: online invoice data, online cash register receipts and customs declarations. Each item receives a tax code that places it on a return line; the taxpayer can change the coding, defer or apportion input VAT, add items such as handwritten receipts, and then approve the draft. Approving the draft is filing the return.
NAV switched eÁFA on on 1 January 2024, with query functions in January; returns could be prepared and filed in it from 1 February 2024. The web interface is available to taxpayers handling fewer than 100,000 invoices in a period. Taxpayers filing through eÁFA (web or M2M) do not have to provide the M-sheet data on invoices received, and M2M filers are relieved of the self-revision surcharge for corrections made within 15 days of filing, and no later than 15 days after the return due date.
What it means
eÁFA is in force and is now the main channel. NAV’s stated plan is to withdraw the ÁNYK client on 31 December 2026 (Hungary retires the ANYK tax-filing client), but on 15 October 2026 it proposed a phased move instead, with most VAT filers on mandatory eÁFA from 1 January 2028 (NAV proposes a phased move from ÁNYK to eÁFA). That proposal is not yet decided, so check which timetable applies before retiring an ÁNYK workflow. The system shifts the work from compiling a return to reviewing NAV’s draft, and the draft is only as good as the source data. An error in online invoice reporting cannot be fixed on the eÁFA web interface; it has to be corrected at source, so invoice-data quality is now part of VAT return preparation.
Proof
az év első napján élesítette az elektronikus áfarendszert (eÁFA)switched on the electronic VAT system (eÁFA) on the first day of the year
Source snapshot of the official page. Open full size ↗