Evolution of banking services in Hungary

Very quick answer, Hungary is part of EU (and Schengen) I would say the same quality as in other EU countries, good!

We actually closed our bank account in Hungary a couple weeks ago.

Just got tried of their games.

My husband handles the banking and he had enough of the double talk and poor service.

They even charged us a fee to withdraw our cash.

Was banking with them for about 15 years.

We almost reopened with another bank, husband read the small print for days, almost went blind with the double speak and tiny details they have.

Need a law degree t understand it all.

Guess it's back to just using our US account and ATM.

    We actually closed our bank account in Hungary a couple weeks ago.Just got tried of their games.My husband handles the banking and he had enough of the double talk and poor service.They even charged us a fee to withdraw our cash.Was banking with them for about 15 years.We almost reopened with another bank, husband read the small print for days, almost went blind with the double speak and tiny details they have.Need a law degree t understand it all.Guess it's back to just using our US account and ATM.        -@Marilyn Tassy

HU banking system is pretty bad but it's also interfered with by the government here and abroad.  Some of it is rather murky.   OTP is particularly singled out for facilitating sanctions by Ukraine.

They recently merged MKB Bank, Takarek Bank and Budapest Bank.  Why this took place, no-one really knows but one can imagine all sorts of plots and conspiracies.  Fees are very high in my mind.

Cash is still popular but if you go to other countries, it's almost all debit cards and no cash.   There's no history of cheques (US: checks) here.   I haven't written a cheque anywhere for years.   But I still use cash in Hungary and many people here must be unbanked - particularly the pensioners and countryside people.

US citizens must get it in the neck because of FACTA.  It'd be almost impossible for a US citizen to open bank accounts as the banks don't want the hassle.

Apart from excessive expenses I had no problems whatsoever. (Then again I am Dutch)

The day we closed our account we saw a large group of Phillipinos opening new accounts. They had a women helping them. She came with them like a guide.

We probably will reopen an account here. My husband gets mad and does things quickly at times.

I think he was mad over a few different bank issues and he just blew up and closed the account.

He and I too remember the days in the US where they didn't want to know every detail of your life before allowing you to give them YOUR money.

As he was looking at different banking options he saw a family plan with credit cards for children!

Can't get them into the Matrix early enough!

Good grief I was lucky if my parents gave me a dime to buy a candy bar with let alone have my own credit card!

    The day we closed our account we saw a large group of Phillipinos opening new accounts. They had a women helping them. She came with them like a guide.We probably will reopen an account here. My husband gets mad and does things quickly at times.I think he was mad over a few different bank issues and he just blew up and closed the account.He and I too remember the days in the US where they didn't want to know every detail of your life before allowing you to give them YOUR money.As he was looking at different banking options he saw a family plan with credit cards for children!Can't get them into the Matrix early enough!Good grief I was lucky if my parents gave me a dime to buy a candy bar with let alone have my own credit card!        -@Marilyn Tassy

Our kids have got kids' debit cards.  Obviously we wouldn't let them have credit cards.

It's an important thing for them to know how the system works.  They need to know if they have jobs, have to pay rent, insure and fuel cars.  There's no way around it. And for the banks, it's a plan to get them in early and to try and keep them. 

I think the banking system works better in the Eurozone than here. Charges are too high and the settlement and clearing system is too slow or more specifically delayed to make more money. 

Mrs F said she saw an article saying HU will probably join the Euro as HUF inflation is not under control and the government is out of ideas and there's no-one further to blame.  Only recourse in the short term (i.e. election related, people are out of cash and fed up).

IDK about banks here in Hungary.

The other day we went to open a new account.

We closed our old account with another bank about 3-4 weeks ago. Just had enough of their double speak and a few other things.

Well. I don't know why it's so difficult to be a beneficiary on my husbands account.

We are waiting for my gov. approval to get my own money if my husbnd should kell over!

Unreal.

I heard it was hard for Americans to open their own accounts here but to be a beneficiary?

I had to submit every ID I have even my US SS number.

My husband was getting madder and madder by the min in the bank, I had to calm him down , it wasn't the clerks fault that the HU gov. is demanding so much info.

Like little old me is a money laundrying maniac.

14-15 years ago when he opened his old bank account they just wanted to se my ID and have me sign a paper, now It's really the 3rd degree.

One thing for sure, not going to be transfering any large amounts over here after knowing how they run the show.

Well, actually my husband sat up for hours for several nights reading the fine print on the bank contract. I don't think he still understands even half of it.

Read all 13 pages in small print.

There's FATCA that requires banks to get SS numbers from Americans.

But there's also the OEDC-led Common Reporting Standard "CRS" that requires banks to get home-country tax ID numbers from all foreigners. Balances are then reported annually to your home country, like FATCA.

    There's FATCA that requires banks to get SS numbers from Americans.But there's also the OEDC-led Common Reporting Standard "CRS" that requires banks to get home-country tax ID numbers from all foreigners. Balances are then reported annually to your home country, like FATCA.        -@zif

I'm sure they will,"approve" me but still it seems insane.

We remember the days in the US when you could drive and your driving paperwork didn't even have your photo on it!

In NYC my husbands first US driving papers had no photo!

Slowly they wanted fingerprints etc.

It's just strange to see the world changing and not really for the better.

A few crimmies ruined it all for everyone. Now we all are treated like crimmies and not good citizens.

It's just sad that most people do not pay any attention when new laws are passed.

Slowly but surely we are losing all of our rights and freedoms.

It's not just criminals. It's computers and everything associated with them that make tracking you so easy.

Imagine what J Edgar Hoover would have done if cell phones were around when he was alive.

    It's not just criminals. It's computers and everything associated with them that makes tracking you so easy.Imagine what J Edgar Hoover would have done if cell phones were around when he was alive.         -@zif

USA is odd in that it taxes its citizens wherever they live.   One reason why former UK PM gave up his US citizenship.  Renouncing citizenship isn't that easy.  Costs plenty.   The only other country that taxes worldwide is The Philippines. From a European perspective FATCA looks deranged.  CRS is everywhere in the OECD but I doubt it is effective as people are usually one or two steps ahead of the government.

It's amazing Hoover had time to invent the vacuum cleaner, build a dam and power station near Vegas, setup Ness to catch Capone and Hoover still found time to dress up for special occasions. 

"The only other country that taxes [its non-resident citizens] worldwide is The Philippines."

Not quite. Look right here.

If you're a Hungarian citizen but not resident in Hungary you're still taxed as if you were resident on your worldwide income unless you're tax resident in another country (to simplify a bit).

Point is to trap any Hungarians who leave Hungary and somehow manage not to become subject to tax anywhere else.

Not sure, but Hungary may be the only country with this kind of rule.

    "The only other country that taxes [its non-resident citizens] worldwide is The Philippines."
Not quite. Look right here.

If you're a Hungarian citizen but not resident in Hungary you're still taxed as if you were resident on your worldwide income unless you're tax resident in another country (to simplify a bit).

Point is to trap any Hungarians who leave Hungary and somehow manage not to become subject to tax anywhere else.

Not sure, but Hungary may be the only country with this kind of rule.
   

    -@zif

That's the case just about everywhere if you're tax resident.   The OECD guide is more than 185 days in a country to be tax resident.  There are also all sorts of subjective rules like centre of interests, family, property, nationality and blah-blah.

My understanding is US citizens still have to submit a return to the IRS always and have to pay at least minimum tax but gets a $80K (or similar) allowance.

Another citizen, say a British person working and resident in Germany with no additional income arising or affairs within the UK, does not have to tell the UK anything at all.   A German tax return is all that's needed.

But as usual, the only certainties are death and taxes.

No, the Hungarian rule is completely different and may be unique.

As said, it traps a Hungarian citizen who isn't resident in Hungary but who then tries to avoid being a tax resident ANYWHERE by limiting his time in and ties with any other country.

(The US expat exemption roughly $80,000 applies only to income from working, not "unearned" income like dividends and capital gains.)

    No, the Hungarian rule is completely different and may be unique.As said, it traps a Hungarian citizen who isn't resident in Hungary but who then tries to avoid being a tax resident ANYWHERE by limiting his time in and ties with any other country.(The US expat exemption roughly $80,000 applies only to income from working, not "unearned" income like dividends and capital gains.)        -@zif

That's nothing special.

HU like many has agreements on double taxation.  It's the OECD model (of which HU is a subscriber). 

Normally in DTAs (Double Taxation Agreement), if a HU person is living and working in Germany (for more than 185 days), there's no option but to comply and pay taxes there. 

The German Finanzamt (DE Tax Office) would give the HU person a statement of taxes paid which that person could give to NAV (HU Tax Office) if the need arose.  That's a credit against any tax claim the NAV might try and pursue.

If some HU person tried to claim they were resident somewhere else with zero or some low tax, the tax office usually has sweeping powers to determine residence - property to use availability, business interests, habitual residence, time in country, family, nationality etc.  It's an amorphous blob of catch all measures they can throw at it. One way or another they can do it.     

If the other country has a DTA with HU, they can "claim" that person as their tax resident.  Then it's a matter of negotiation state to state.

We're not talking about someone who's tax resident elsewhere. Point doesn't seem to get through.

    We're not talking about someone who's tax resident elsewhere. Point doesn't seem to get through.
   

    -@zif

Maybe I'm not getting it.

It's very difficult to be tax resident nowhere.  People have tried but it's hard work.  Only rich people can avoid paying as they can construct all sorts of legal structures to avoid paying.  But once they become super rich, then they usually want to pay (something) in order to wield political influence. 

What the HU government probably mean is if you didn't pay somewhere else with a DTA, they'll say you're resident in HU because you're a HU citizen.   I don't think it's very unusual.

What is unusual is having to send a yearly tax return to the IRS regardless of where you live or earn.  It's based on citizenship rather than where you base your life. Seems quite strange to me.