Orban Touts Income Tax Exemption for Mothers Before Election
- Minister estimates annual cost of three-children tax exemption
- No timing for planned VAT refund on basic food for pensioners
A family walk past billboards promoting the government's economic measures, in Budapest.
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban plans a lifetime income-tax exemption for mothers of two or more children, in a high-stakes attempt to turn around flagging poll numbers a little more than a year before crucial elections.
The exemptions will take effect in October for mothers of three children and in January for those with two offspring, Orban said in an annual state of the nation speech in Budapest on Saturday. Mothers of four or more children already don’t pay income tax in Hungary. The existing lavish family subsidies have failed to stem Hungary’s demographic decline, with births falling to a record low last year.