Accountants and company formation in Hungary

Setting up a company in Hungary

To set up a company in Hungary as a foreign founder, you choose a legal form (usually a Kft., the Hungarian limited liability company), instruct a Hungarian attorney to draft the founding document, and the attorney files it electronically with the court of registration for the company’s registered seat. The tax number comes through the same filing. After registration you pay in the capital, open a bank account, register with the local municipality for business tax and keep the books under Hungarian rules.

On paper the route is short, and the registration itself is fast. What slows non-residents down is everything around it: finding an attorney who works in your language, choosing a registered seat, getting a Hungarian bank to accept you, and setting up the accounting before the first invoice. This guide takes each step in the order you’ll meet it, with the official figures linked to their source.

The short version:

1. Pick the company type, the name and the registered seat.
2. Instruct a Hungarian attorney, who drafts the articles of association (or the deed of foundation for a single-owner company).
3. Sign the founding document. The attorney countersigns it and files it electronically with the court of registration.
4. The court registers the company, and the tax authority issues the tax number through the same filing.
5. Open the bank account and pay in the registered capital.
6. Register for local business tax, set up bookkeeping, payroll if you hire, and the annual filings.

What you’ll need before you start

Gather these before you call an attorney or an accounting firm. With them in hand, a vague timeline becomes a firm one.

• A valid passport for every founder and for the managing director, plus a residential address.
• For a corporate founder: a recent extract from the parent company’s register and a resolution approving the Hungarian company, usually with a certified translation and an apostille or legalisation.
• A short description of the business, including the activities you’ll carry on, the countries you’ll trade with and where the capital comes from. The attorney, the bank and later the accountant all ask for this.
• A registered seat in Hungary, either premises you own or rent, or a seat service provider.
• A decision on who manages the company, and whether that person can sign in Hungary or will sign abroad.
• A clean tax record for the people involved. The tax authority checks the managing director and the members before it issues a tax number (more on this below).

None of these is unusual, but each one that arrives late adds days or weeks.

What changed for companies in Hungary in 2026

Company registration in Hungary moved to a new statute this year. The government’s business portal lists Act V of 2006 on company registration as no longer in force from 1 January 2026, replaced by Act XCII of 2021 on the register of legal persons and the registration procedure.

For a founder, the practical route hasn’t changed: an attorney still prepares and files the documents electronically, and the court of registration still keeps the register. Some official pages and many private guides still cite the 2006 act. Ask your attorney which procedural deadlines and fees apply on the day you file, rather than relying on a guide written before 2026.

Pick the legal form first

For most foreign founders, the Kft. is the natural starting point. The government’s business portal says a Kft. can be founded by one or more natural or legal persons, with at least HUF 3,000,000 of registered capital. A single-owner Kft. is founded by a deed of foundation; a Kft. with several members signs articles of association.

The capital figures for the three company types come from the European Commission’s EURES guide to Hungary, which notes that the law sets a mandatory minimum only for these corporate types.

A foreign company that only wants a presence in Hungary can also register a branch instead of a subsidiary. A branch has different liability, accounting and tax consequences, so get advice on which route fits before you commit.

Sole traders

Trading in your own name as a sole trader (egyéni vállalkozó) is a separate route, registered with the authorities rather than through the court. EURES lists who may do so: Hungarian nationals, EU and EEA citizens and people with equivalent status, and certain residence permit holders. For most non-residents, a Kft. is the practical vehicle.

Instruct an attorney and prepare the documents

In Hungary you can’t file a company registration yourself. The courts state that legal representation is mandatory in company proceedings, so a legal representative must be authorised to found the company and file the application. The government’s portal says you’ll need an attorney to draft the Kft.’s articles and submit them to the court of registration.

The attorney prepares and you sign:

• The articles of association (or the deed of foundation for a single-member Kft.), setting out the name, seat, activities, capital, members’ contributions and the managing director.
• The managing director’s acceptance of the appointment and the specimen signature.
• The seat documents, showing the company may use the address, or the seat service contract.
• Powers of attorney and translations for anyone signing from abroad.

Name and registered seat

The company name has to stand apart from existing ones. The portal states that a name must differ by at least 3 characters from the names of companies already registered, and you can check names in the national company register.

The seat is the company’s registered office and mailing address. It can be property the company owns, property it has the right to use, or a registered seat service provider. If the company will operate from other addresses too, those are named as sites or branches. Many foreign founders start with a seat service, which is where a virtual office in Hungary comes in.

Members, managing director and the tax record check

The founding document names the members, their contributions, the managing director, and whether the company has a supervisory board or an auditor. Hungary’s tax authority runs a check here that surprises some founders. Before it issues a tax number, NAV examines the tax records of the managing director and of members with majority or qualified majority votes, and it refuses the tax number on the grounds the law lists, such as tax debts above a set amount at another company. If anyone involved has run a Hungarian company before, check that record first.

File with the court of registration

Once the documents are signed, the attorney countersigns them and files the application. The court’s rules are clear on how:

• Electronically only. The application goes to the court of registration of the regional court for the company’s seat, by electronic means, within 30 days of founding. Company registration has been an electronic procedure since 1 July 2008.
• Fees first. The duty and publication costs are paid electronically before filing, through the State Treasury or the Justice Payment Portal.
• Simplified or general procedure. If the founding document follows the model contract in the ministerial decree, the attorney can use the simplified procedure.

Fees and timing

The courts’ fee and deadline table lists the duty for registering a Kft., Bt., Kkt. or sole proprietorship as free of charge, in both the simplified and the general procedure. For a Zrt. it lists HUF 50,000 in the simplified procedure and HUF 100,000 in the general one, and a publication fee of HUF 5,000 applies in the general procedure except for a Kft., Kkt., Bt. or sole proprietorship. The same table gives a decision deadline of 1 working day in the simplified procedure and 15 working days in the general one. The government’s own guide is plainer: the court usually registers a Kft. within 1 to 2 working days.

Those figures cover the state’s side. The attorney’s fee, translations, the seat service and the bank are separate costs, and the government’s guide lists them as variable. It also lists a chamber contribution of HUF 5,000.

The tax number comes with registration

You don’t apply to the tax authority separately. NAV runs a one-stop system: the company meets its tax registration duty by filing for registration with the court, and NAV handles the tax registration within 1 working day as a main rule, or within 8 working days if it suspects an obstacle. The registration form also records whether the company will be liable for VAT.

Open the bank account and pay in the capital

The order here differs from some other countries. The government’s guide says the registered capital must be paid into the Kft.’s bank account or cash desk within 2 years of registration, and part of it can be contributed in kind under rules set in the founding document. Ask your attorney how much you plan to pay in at the start, because a supplier or a bank will look at it.

The bank account is usually where foreign founders lose time. Banks run their own identity and source-of-funds checks, may ask the managing director to come in person, and set their own fees. The bank account also feeds the beneficial owner register, so it matters beyond payments. If you can’t travel, ask early whether the bank accepts documents signed abroad, or use a bank account assistance service.

Beneficial owners

Hungary keeps a central register of the people who ultimately own or control a company, run by NAV under Act XLIII of 2021. According to NAV, the data is uploaded through the payment service providers that hold the company’s account, based on their customer due diligence. The company is responsible for giving the bank correct data, and it must record changes to its beneficial owners in its own records within fifteen days. Keep the ownership chart up to date from day one.

Register for VAT and local business tax

Registration in the company register doesn’t settle every tax question. Three points come up straight away.

• VAT. NAV states that the general VAT rate is 27 percent of the taxable amount, with lower rates of 0, 5 or 18 percent for goods and services listed in the VAT Act. The VAT status is declared at registration. A small business can choose individual exemption if its turnover stays within the HUF 20 million limit, but then it can’t deduct input VAT. Talk to an accountant before you choose; our page on VAT in Hungary covers the questions to ask.
• Local business tax. Municipalities levy a local business tax at a maximum rate of 2% on business activity carried on permanently in their area, collected by the municipality’s own tax office. The rate and the registration depend on where the seat and sites are.
• Payroll. Hiring staff brings employer registrations and monthly returns. See payroll in Hungary for what a payroll provider takes on.

Run the company: tax, bookkeeping and annual reports

A Hungarian company keeps its books under the Accounting Act and reports every year.

• Corporate tax is 9% of the positive tax base, the rate NAV has applied since the 2017 tax year. A Kft. can instead choose the small business tax (KIVA), which the government’s portal lists as the alternative to corporate tax.
• The annual corporate tax return is filed by 31 May of the following year for a calendar-year company.
• The annual report is published and deposited electronically through the Ministry of Justice’s electronic report portal, by a deadline that depends on the type of business. Ask your accountant for your company’s date and whether it needs an audit.

These are rates, not a recommendation. The country that taxes your profits is decided by where the company is managed, where you live and the treaties linking the two. Get advice in both countries before relying on any rate. For the monthly routine, see what local firms do under tax compliance in Hungary and accounting in Hungary.

Doing it with an attorney and an accountant

Hungary is unusual in one way: you can’t do the filing alone, because an attorney has to act for you. In practice many foreign founders work with two professionals, an attorney for the founding documents and the filing, and an accounting firm for the tax registrations, bookkeeping, payroll and annual reports. Some firms coordinate both.

In Hungary, 63 of the 79 listed firms offer company formation. Of the 79, 43 say they focus on foreign clients and 52 work in English. Our page on company formation in Hungary is the place to compare them: it covers a provider’s role, the contents of a good quote and how to verify a firm.

Common mistakes foreign founders make

• Treating the court as the slow step. Registration is quick. The bank account, the seat and the signatures take longer, so start those first.
• Ignoring the tax record check. A managing director or member with an unpaid tax debt at another Hungarian company can block the tax number.
• Signing abroad without checking the format. Agree the exact wording, translation and certification of any power of attorney before you sign.
• Leaving the beneficial owner data to the bank. The duty to give correct data is the company’s, and changes have a fifteen-day window.
• Forgetting local business tax. It’s a municipal tax with its own registration, separate from NAV.
• Using guides written before 2026. The registration act changed on 1 January 2026, so confirm current fees and deadlines with your attorney.

Where to find an accountant in Hungary

Almost every firm on Accountanty in Hungary is based in Budapest: browse accountants in Budapest (77 firms). If you want firms that work mainly with non-residents, start with accountants for foreign clients in Hungary, and if you’d rather work in Italian, see Italian-speaking accountants in Hungary. For a residence permit linked to your business, see residency and visas in Hungary, and for changes after registration, corporate secretarial services in Hungary.

To skip the firm-by-firm outreach, send a single free quote request through Accountanty. We review it and forward it to firms that match your company type, language and needs.

Your next move: set up a company in Hungary

The legal route is clear: a Kft. with at least HUF 3 million of capital, founding documents drafted and filed by a Hungarian attorney, electronic registration with the court of registration, and a tax number through the same filing. After that come the bank account, the capital, VAT and local business tax, and the annual reports. The work that decides how fast it goes is the preparation, so line up the attorney, the seat, the bank and an accountant before you file. With those in place, you can set up a company in Hungary and run it from day one.