Pensioners to receive separate card for VAT refund

Pensioners will receive a separate card for VAT refunds which they will be required to have validated by the merchant when shopping; according to the government’s plans, the elderly may be refunded up to HUF 10,000 to HUF 15,000 a month, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on Facebook on Wednesday. 

In a video posted on his social media account, the Prime Minister recalled that the government had reduced the VAT on a number of products in the past; however, their experience was that the bulk of the amount was retained by supermarket chains, rather than landing in the pockets of those it was intended for. 

Therefore, instead of a VAT reduction, the government is introducing a VAT refund scheme in the case of basic foodstuffs where the VAT is higher than 5 per cent. This will be available to pensioners, and for them the simpler a method, the more usable, he added. 

The Prime Minister said they will use a simple technical solution: pensioners will receive a card which they will have to “tap” or have validated by the merchant when shopping, and they will automatically receive the sum they are entitled to. 

According to the government’s plans, this sum will be between HUF 10,000 and HUF 15,000 a month, this is how much pensioners will receive in the form of VAT refunds, he said.