Property transfer duty in Hungary 2026 – full guide

What is this duty, and who pays it?

When you buy property in Hungary, you must budget for a one-off state charge on top of the purchase price. Its official name is transfer duty (visszterhes vagyonátruházási illeték); people usually just call it the property duty. It is always paid by the buyer – the seller has nothing to do with it.

The duty is not collected by the lawyer, and it is not payable at signing. NAV, the Hungarian tax authority, assesses it afterwards in a payment notice that arrives once the land registry procedure is complete – typically weeks, sometimes months, after you have moved in. This delay is the most common trap: if you put every last forint into the price and the renovation, the notice is an unpleasant surprise.

One detail worth clarifying up front: the base is not necessarily what you paid. The law starts from the market value of the property, as determined by NAV. If the contract price is realistic, it is accepted. But if it is conspicuously low – for instance, to reduce the duty – NAV may revalue the property and assess the duty on the higher figure.

The basic rate: 4%

The main rule is simple: 4% of the market value. On a HUF 45 million flat that is HUF 1.8 million. On a HUF 80 million house, HUF 3.2 million. There are no bands and no exempt slice – 4% from the first forint to the last.

There is one exception, for very high-value property. Up to HUF 1 billion per dwelling the rate is 4%; above that it drops to 2%, and the duty is capped at HUF 200 million per property. This does not affect the vast majority of the Hungarian market, but it is useful to know it exists.

So 4% is the starting point. The real question is whether you can reduce it – and this is where it gets interesting, because three substantial reliefs exist that many buyers never hear about.

Replacement purchase: the biggest relief

This is the most important rule for anyone who is not buying their first home. The essence: if you sell your old home and buy another, you do not pay duty on the full new price, but only on the difference between the two market values.

Suppose you sell your HUF 30 million flat and buy one for HUF 50 million. Without the relief you would pay 50m × 4% = HUF 2 million. With it, you pay only on the HUF 20 million difference: HUF 800,000. That is a saving of HUF 1.2 million.

If the new home is cheaper than the old one – say you are downsizing – you pay no duty at all. The difference is negative, so the duty is zero.

And here is the 2026 change that many articles and calculators still get wrong. The old rule required you to sell the other home within 3 years before the purchase or 1 year after it. From 1 January 2026 the look-back period was extended to 5 years. The 1-year forward window is unchanged.

This matters for many buyers who previously fell outside the relief. If you sold your flat in 2022 and are buying now, the old rule would exclude you – the new one does not.

First-time buyers under 35: 50% relief

If you are under 35 and this is your first home, you pay half the duty – effectively 2% instead of 4%.

There are two conditions. First, the market value must not exceed HUF 15 million. At today's prices this ceiling is tight – in Budapest it is effectively out of reach, though in the countryside it can still be realistic. Second, you must never have owned a home outright, nor a share of 50% or more in one.

Watch the ceiling, because it is a hard cliff: at HUF 15 million the duty is HUF 300,000 (half of 600,000); at HUF 15.1 million you pay the full 4%, i.e. HUF 604,000. A flat that costs HUF 100,000 more carries HUF 300,000 more duty.

Newly built homes: HUF 15m exempt – but only up to 30m

On the first sale of a newly built home, the first HUF 15 million is exempt, and 4% applies only above that. On a HUF 28 million new flat: (28 − 15) × 4% = HUF 520,000, instead of the full HUF 1.12 million.

But there is a sharp boundary worth remembering: the relief applies only up to a market value of HUF 30 million. Above that, the exempt slice disappears entirely and you pay 4% on the full value.

Consider what this means in practice. On a HUF 30 million new flat: (30 − 15) × 4% = HUF 600,000. On a HUF 30.5 million one: 30.5m × 4% = HUF 1,220,000. A flat that costs HUF 500,000 more carries HUF 620,000 more duty. If negotiations are hovering near the 30 million line, that argument alone may be worth a round of haggling.

When no duty is payable at all

In some cases the duty falls away entirely:

• CSOK or CSOK Plusz (the family housing subsidy): full exemption, with no value limit.
• Between direct-line relatives and spouses: buying from your parent, child, grandparent or spouse carries no duty.
• A plot with a building commitment: if you buy land and undertake to build a home on it within 4 years, it is exempt. If the deadline passes with no house built, the duty is assessed with a late-payment surcharge.

Important: the exemption must be declared. It does not apply automatically just because you qualify. It is usually handled by the conveyancing lawyer on form B400, but it is worth asking whether it has actually been done.

Deadlines and payment

The sale must be reported to NAV within 30 days. This is handled by the lawyer as part of the land registry procedure, so you normally have nothing to do.

NAV then calculates the duty and issues a payment notice, due within 30 days of receipt. If you cannot pay in one go, you can request instalments – a genuine help for many, since money is usually tightest right after a purchase.

The practical advice is simple: when you build the budget for the purchase, write the duty next to the price and set it aside. Alongside the legal fee, the land registry fee and any valuation, it is the largest ancillary cost.

Our property purchase duty calculator gives you an estimate for your own situation in a few clicks, reliefs included.

Frequently asked questions