US Treasury to end 1979 treaty with global minimum tax holdout Hungary

WASHINGTON: The US Treasury has said it was moving to terminate a 1979 tax treaty with Hungary in the wake of Budapest’s decision to block the European Union’s (EU)  implementation of a new, 15% global minimum tax.

A Treasury spokesperson said that since Hungary lowered its corporate tax rate to 9% – less than half the 21% U.S. rate – the benefits of the tax treaty unilaterally benefit Hungary and no longer benefit the United States.

“The benefits are no longer reciprocal – with a significant loss of potential revenues to the United States and little in return for U.S. business and investment in Hungary,” the spokesperson said.

The timing of the termination following years of US concerns about the treaty suggests that Treasury is using it to try to pressure Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to agree to implement the 15% global minimum tax agreed by nearly 140 countries. read more

The termination is expected to completed in six months after the Treasury sends formal notification to Hungarian authorities.

“Hungary made the U.S. government’s longstanding concerns with the 1979 tax treaty worse by blocking the EU Directive to implement a global minimum tax,” the Treasury spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added, “If Hungary implemented a global minimum tax, this treaty would be less one-sided. Refusing to do so could exacerbate Hungary’s status as a treaty-shopping jurisdiction, further disadvantaging the United States.”