Still confused about property taxes in Hungary... 4%? This cannot be!?

        I hope to get to the tax office before the end of the year.        -@Marilyn TassyI'd get there as early as possible because they'll start working part-time early to middle of December.           -@fluffy2560I hope we get over there soon.Seems so much is going on at once or perhaps we are just dragging it out?No matter what happens we will not be able to just pick up and leave that quickly.I'm not willing to pay out hundreds of bucks each month to live here and not even get a gift basket!        -@Marilyn Tassy

The fact that DTT is being killed I am not so sure about living in Hungary anymore. It is AWFUL that they are getting rid of DTT because the US failed at bullying Hungary into agreeing with minimum global taxation. Good for Hungary but very bad if you have US citizenship. I wish I could renounce my US citizenship! But as explained in my above post I do not know if can afford to. I don't even know how to invest in stock/bond portfolio from Hungary? I need to research this because I am feeling very dumb right now. It doesn't seem I can invest in VTSAX, VTIAX, VBTLX from Hungary... meaning it would be different funds? This makes me nervous! I have no idea. I plan to live off of my portfolio via the 4% rule. If my portfolio becomes disaster than I am screwed.

I am EXTREMEKY concerned about the DTT expiring in Hungary. Good for Hungary though that they didn't allow the US to bully them into the global minimum taxation... but it really is big problem then for expats who have US citizenship to live in Hungary because they then will be double taxed (very evil and wrong!!!). I am VERY concerned about this... if DTT really is gone... I don't see how I can ever live in Hungary!!

I would LOVE to renounce my US citizenship but I have stock portfolio at Vanguard (VTSAX, VTIAX, VBTLX) in ROTH IRA and Brokerage account... what happens to my retirement investments? I would be taxed to death and US will always want 30% of it... this is INSANITY. I cannot afford to be taxed 30% on my portfolio.
   
    -@juliet1980

You could just take the hit to get out of there.   

The DTT might get resolved but it's political between global minimum tax of 15% vs Hungary's 9%.   

Unfortunately Orban isn't budging so Biden took unilaterally action and no each side is entrenched.  Hungary is unimportant/irrelevant to USA so no-one is in a rush to fix it.   That's what it looks like.

You really need someone professional to look at your affairs and how to get out of it.  Maybe you could move it all to Canada, then move it all to Hungary avoiding dealing with the IRS.  Might be a one way trip as far as the USA is concerned. The DTTs are intact with every other country supposedly.

    I am EXTREMEKY concerned about the DTT expiring in Hungary. Good for Hungary though that they didn't allow the US to bully them into the global minimum taxation... but it really is big problem then for expats who have US citizenship to live in Hungary because they then will be double taxed (very evil and wrong!!!). I am VERY concerned about this... if DTT really is gone... I don't see how I can ever live in Hungary!! I would LOVE to renounce my US citizenship but I have stock portfolio at Vanguard (VTSAX, VTIAX, VBTLX) in ROTH IRA and Brokerage account... what happens to my retirement investments? I would be taxed to death and US will always want 30% of it... this is INSANITY. I cannot afford to be taxed 30% on my portfolio.        -@juliet1980You could just take the hit to get out of there.   The DTT might get resolved but it's political between global minimum tax of 15% vs Hungary's 9%.   Unfortunately Orban isn't budging so Biden took unilaterally action and no each side is entrenched.  Hungary is unimportant/irrelevant to USA so no-one is in a rush to fix it.   That's what it looks like. You really need someone professional to look at your affairs and how to get out of it.  Maybe you could move it all to Canada, then move it all to Hungary avoiding dealing with the IRS.  Might be a one way trip as far as the USA is concerned. The DTTs are intact with every other country supposedly.        -@fluffy2560

Thanks I like that idea I didn't even think of it. You are right I could move it all to Canada. I need professional to help with this. I wouldn't be surprised if eventually Canada will start citizenship based taxation like the US does. Nomad Capitalist makes lot of videos on these topics. I WISH I was a 7 or 8 figure entrepreneur! I would be a client of his and get all the help I need but of course I don't qualify to be their client

Forgive my dumb question, but for how long was the battle between idiotic politicians on global minimum tax of 15% vs Hungary's 9%? I think the DTT was in place for very very long time... crazy how corrupt the world is becoming more and more. I am sick of it!!!!

Thanks I like that idea I didn't even think of it. You are right I could move it all to Canada. I need professional to help with this. I wouldn't be surprised if eventually Canada will start citizenship based taxation like the US does. Nomad Capitalist makes lot of videos on these topics. I WISH I was a 7 or 8 figure entrepreneur! I would be a client of his and get all the help I need but of course I don't qualify to be their client

Forgive my dumb question, but for how long was the battle between idiotic politicians on global minimum tax of 15% vs Hungary's 9%? I think the DTT was in place for very very long time... crazy how corrupt the world is becoming more and more. I am sick of it!!!!
   

    -@juliet1980

The DTT was in place since 1979 so it's a big change.

The argument is between Biden's push for global minimum rate of 15% tax and the Orban ideology of Hungary at 9%.  Orban is thinking his future is in autocratic Russia and who cares about the USA - the rest of us not so much thinking like that. 

Luckily Orban is a very unhealthy looking guy and Putin is rumoured to be cancer stricken. Perhaps that particular bromance will come to an fast end for those people and we'll all be off the hook before we all die.

    Thanks I like that idea I didn't even think of it. You are right I could move it all to Canada. I need professional to help with this. I wouldn't be surprised if eventually Canada will start citizenship based taxation like the US does. Nomad Capitalist makes lot of videos on these topics. I WISH I was a 7 or 8 figure entrepreneur! I would be a client of his and get all the help I need but of course I don't qualify to be their client Forgive my dumb question, but for how long was the battle between idiotic politicians on global minimum tax of 15% vs Hungary's 9%? I think the DTT was in place for very very long time... crazy how corrupt the world is becoming more and more. I am sick of it!!!!         -@juliet1980


The DTT was in place since 1979 so it's a big change.

The argument is between Biden's push for global minimum rate of 15% tax and the Orban ideology of Hungary at 9%.  Orban is thinking his future is in autocratic Russia and who cares about the USA - the rest of us not so much thinking like that. 

Luckily Orban is a very unhealthy looking guy and Putin is rumoured to be cancer stricken. Perhaps that particular bromance will come to an fast end for those people and we'll all be off the hook before we all die.
   

    -@fluffy2560

Yes, let us keep our fingers crossed!!

Taxes are in many forms. Income taxes might be low, but others can top-up, my experience in Hungary was very positive, just aks for the additional (hidden taxes in my view)

Council taxes, not too high I think in Portugal, property taxes (!!!), capital gain tax, health insurance, fees for bureacration, .... Just inform yourself (income tax is not the only tax)

    Taxes are in many forms. Income taxes might be low, but others can top-up, my experience in Hungary was very positive, just aks for the additional (hidden taxes in my view)
Council taxes, not too high I think in Portugal, property taxes (!!!), capital gain tax, health insurance, fees for bureacration, .... Just inform yourself (income tax is not the only tax)
   

    -@cdw057

Not sure if you saw my post here: https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … =2#5803496

... property taxes in Portugal are VERY cheap compared to the US! I do not see why you feel property taxes might be high in Portugal? That does not appear to be the case at all. I am not concerned about property taxes in Portugal.

"You need to understand that socio economy context  in Portugal is completely different from the US. Our minimum wage is 760€/month before taxes. Owning a house is almost a "luxury". Many people live in rentals for their whole lives. So, IMI may be cheap for you, but not for most of the Portuguese."

As a US citizen who wishes to live off the grid and have a bit of land to themselves, why not think about the Big Island of Hawaii?

The soil isn't the best for growing allot of veggies but some can take the volcanic soil.

Many people grow orchads and some coffee.

Then again they may all be growing weed and on paper have a orchard farm!

The place is a bit wild in some areas but not all.

You can still purchase a good sized lot or two, for a reasonable price.

We know a HU guy who built a few homes for other Hungarians on the Island. He is a roofing framer by trade but built really nice solid homes legally in Hawaii. Even his HU wife helped with the building. They are no longer living there as she passed away.

We leased one of the homes for a short while, no leaks, cracks or any issues with the home.

It was up in Mountain View, HI.

I believe you can still get a lot for $30.000 that needs to be cleared, many have utilites that just need to be connected or as many do, live off a generator and have water catchment systems.

We thought about it but age is catching up with us and our son isnt interested in being an off grid Hippie.

Not worth it just for ourselves to rough it.

Maybe they have videos on U tube about off grid in Hawaii.

My friend lives in Hilo, has a nice big modern home there and a few rental properties but she  says that Island is growing fast. Time to make a move is now.

When we lived there they had no Walmarts or Home Depot stores, now they have them all over.

@juliet1980 Question is why owning a house is a luxury, in Hungary the ratio for owning is much, much higher. (Why do people rent and not own)

    As a US citizen who wishes to live off the grid and have a bit of land to themselves, why not think about the Big Island of Hawaii?The soil isn't the best for growing allot of veggies but some can take the volcanic soil.Many people grow orchads and some coffee.Then again they may all be growing weed and on paper have a orchard farm!The place is a bit wild in some areas but not all.You can still purchase a good sized lot or two, for a reasonable price.We know a HU guy who built a few homes for other Hungarians on the Island. He is a roofing framer by trade but built really nice solid homes legally in Hawaii. Even his HU wife helped with the building. They are no longer living there as she passed away.We leased one of the homes for a short while, no leaks, cracks or any issues with the home.It was up in Mountain View, HI.I believe you can still get a lot for $30.000 that needs to be cleared, many have utilites that just need to be connected or as many do, live off a generator and have water catchment systems.We thought about it but age is catching up with us and our son isnt interested in being an off grid Hippie.Not worth it just for ourselves to rough it.Maybe they have videos on U tube about off grid in Hawaii.My friend lives in Hilo, has a nice big modern home there and a few rental properties but she  says that Island is growing fast. Time to make a move is now. When we lived there they had no Walmarts or Home Depot stores, now they have them all over.        -@Marilyn Tassy

I cannot handle humid climate at all. It makes me feel physically ill. I SUFFERED in Florida for 20+ years and it was horrendous. I cannot handle humidity.

    @juliet1980 Question is why owning a house is a luxury, in Hungary the ratio for owning is much, much higher. (Why do people rent and not own)
   

    -@cdw057

I agree agree owning is 100% best and preferrable over renting of course... expect in the US nobody owns. What I mean is that they rent it from the government via extremely high property taxes. It's criminal.

        @juliet1980 Question is why owning a house is a luxury, in Hungary the ratio for owning is much, much higher. (Why do people rent and not own)        -@cdw057

I agree agree owning is 100% best and preferrable over renting of course... except in the US nobody owns. What I mean is that they rent it from the government via extremely high property taxes. It's criminal.
   

    -@juliet1980

Property tax is how you receive local services.  How else does that happen?

If it's so bad, get elected to your city/local government and change it!

As homework, watch the Simpsons episode where Homer demands bear patrols.

            @juliet1980 Question is why owning a house is a luxury, in Hungary the ratio for owning is much, much higher. (Why do people rent and not own)        -@cdw057I agree agree owning is 100% best and preferrable over renting of course... except in the US nobody owns. What I mean is that they rent it from the government via extremely high property taxes. It's criminal.         -@juliet1980

Property tax is how you receive local services.  How else does that happen?

If it's so bad, get elected to your city/local government and change it!

As homework, watch the Simpsons episode where Homer demands bear patrols.
   

    -@fluffy2560

There is NO justifying property taxes!! The government taxes people a TON and they waste a TON... the amount they waste is asinine. People should rebel and force the government to budget/allocate and spend $ wiser than tax people out of their home!!!!

There is NO justifying property taxes!! The government taxes people a TON and they waste a TON... the amount they waste is asinine. People should rebel and force the government to budget/allocate and spend $ wiser than tax people out of their home!!!! -@juliet1980

Government has always been wasteful with some of their projects and services.  National governments are particularly dodgy.

But it's a democracy.  You can get elected and reform it all. 

Or become an advocate for change through a lobby group.

On the other hand, it's not as easy as you think to manage budgets!

Nobody likes taxes but you have to have them. If you don't you end up like Greece that pretty much bankrupt itself.

Below person summed it up nicely:

"Of all taxes, whether it's sales tax, Income tax, even estate tax, I think property tax is the most pure evil. For starters, on virtually all acquired property, you already paid a tax for it. This was done in a sales tax. What the government can/cannot budget for is not an argument, an individual must be understood to own something, this is his right, like a bird owns their nest, a wolf their den, an ant their hill, so on and so forth. Sometimes, people are overburdened by expenses, they lose a job, get injured, and finally get broke, It happens to countless every year. Sometimes they at least have a roof over their head that they've completely paid for. But because now they just can't pay that fee, the government who's constitution demands they protect property rights gets to rob them completely and make them homeless? That’s pure evil and to add salt to the injury, it’s not like any of these taxes goes to anything good. Most if not all is purely wasted."

Property taxes should be abolished!!!

    Below person summed it up nicely:"Of all taxes, whether it's sales tax, Income tax, even estate tax, I think property tax is the most pure evil. For starters, on virtually all acquired property, you already paid a tax for it. This was done in a sales tax. What the government can/cannot budget for is not an argument, an individual must be understood to own something, this is his right, like a bird owns their nest, a wolf their den, an ant their hill, so on and so forth. Sometimes, people are overburdened by expenses, they lose a job, get injured, and finally get broke, It happens to countless every year. Sometimes they at least have a roof over their head that they've completely paid for. But because now they just can't pay that fee, the government who's constitution demands they protect property rights gets to rob them completely and make them homeless? That’s pure evil and to add salt to the injury, it’s not like any of these taxes goes to anything good. Most if not all is purely wasted."Property taxes should be abolished!!!         -@juliet1980

hmmm...needs attribution that quote.  I did try and Google it and maybe it was said around 1888 by some unhappy dude.  As it took too long to get to the answer (more than 2s), I gave up.

What it doesn't answer is who maintains the roads, the sewers, the street lights, the police and all those accoutrements of modern life we've come to expect for our safety and security and comfort.  Someone has to pay and somehow.   If there are no property taxes, it's going to get shifted elsewhere like income tax or VAT. 

And it's not taxation without representation - elected officials/representatives decide where the money goes.  It's a difficult job to argue that stuff out. Someone is going to be a loser and someone is going to be  a winner.

Like I keep saying, get elected and slug it out in local government.  It ain't gonna change otherwise. Or at least get on to your council(wo)man and give them your views.  They are there for that. Don't let them get away with it.

   
    As a US citizen who wishes to live off the grid and have a bit of land to themselves, why not think about the Big Island of Hawaii?The soil isn't the best for growing allot of veggies but some can take the volcanic soil.Many people grow orchads and some coffee.Then again they may all be growing weed and on paper have a orchard farm!The place is a bit wild in some areas but not all.You can still purchase a good sized lot or two, for a reasonable price.We know a HU guy who built a few homes for other Hungarians on the Island. He is a roofing framer by trade but built really nice solid homes legally in Hawaii. Even his HU wife helped with the building. They are no longer living there as she passed away.We leased one of the homes for a short while, no leaks, cracks or any issues with the home.It was up in Mountain View, HI.I believe you can still get a lot for $30.000 that needs to be cleared, many have utilites that just need to be connected or as many do, live off a generator and have water catchment systems.We thought about it but age is catching up with us and our son isnt interested in being an off grid Hippie.Not worth it just for ourselves to rough it.Maybe they have videos on U tube about off grid in Hawaii.My friend lives in Hilo, has a nice big modern home there and a few rental properties but she  says that Island is growing fast. Time to make a move is now. When we lived there they had no Walmarts or Home Depot stores, now they have them all over.        -@Marilyn Tassy

I cannot handle humid climate at all. It makes me feel physically ill. I SUFFERED in Florida for 20+ years and it was horrendous. I cannot handle humidity.
   

    -@juliet1980

The Big Island is a strange place, there are 13 different climates on it.

From hot and dry to snow.

The humid parts aren't anything like FL . The trade winds come in and everything pretty much is mild.

I also hate humidity, was thinking of FL. but reconsidered it while thinking of wearing sweaty clothing and have damp hair all the time.

Hawaii is nothing that bad.

    @juliet1980 Question is why owning a house is a luxury, in Hungary the ratio for owning is much, much higher. (Why do people rent and not own)        -@cdw057

You forget in Hungary and many other countires people tend to stay in one spot for generations and don't move around allot. They just inherite properties from uncle Joe or auntie Sue or granny. The sometimes get mulitple properties from different relatives.

I doubt if half the young people here driving new cars actually worked a 9 to 5 job to afford them. THey just sold their extra properties.

I know our neice got a flat in the 5th, a house from her father and has her own home as well as being able to get her mom's house once she keels over.

She is an idiot really and if she worked for what she has, she'd be more in a homeless shelter then living the life she does.

In large countires like the US people tend to move around from state to state.

I know when I was a child my parents had a cute 2 story home in Conn. with a huge plot of land, we even had a stream running through the back years. It was so large that in winters half the neighborhood would be ice skating in our back yard because it would freeze over .

( My dad loved it, he could show off his skating skills, he once performed in Madison Square gardens with Sonja Hennie.. long story)

They sold that home for $3,000 in 1959 and thought they had made a killing.

By 1966 when my step-father bought another home they paid $17,500.

Now that same home is worth more then a million bucks.

Trying to make payments on something that expensive isn't easy for your average person.

No one really inherits properties in the US.

More people own in Hungary because they were given homes, not that they worked for them.

Bascially not everyone who owns proeprty in Hungary actually did anything for it.

It was given to them.

You'd have to understand the socail stucture here and things that happened in the past.

During commie times  other then those who had connections and could move up the list to get a larger, nicer place first,people were pretty much lucky to have a roof over their heads.

Post WW11 many larger flats and homes were forcably taken away from people or they were told they had to share their place with other people or entire families. Strangers in the some home with you. A young couple might be moved into a home with an old man who smoked and drank all day long while they were trying to have a family of their own and  had no bad habits.

My in-laws were a newly wed couple before the war and they just rented a small flat in the 5th district. My FIL came from a very wealthy family but he blew most of his inheritance by then.

No problem, the small flat was just a temp. place.

Then came baby no. 1 and the war. Later they divorced and my MIL was alone with 3 children in a one room flat.They were never able to move up to a larger flat with all the things going on in the country.

Post war no one owned anything. The gov. owned it all and people rented, leased from the gov.

After the fall in 1989 people were given the option of paying for their properties by purchasing it back from the gov.

Those who could did.

My MIL was already in the process of movng to her land and self built home in Erd so didn't want to keep the flat any longer in the 5th district.

She sold her rights to the purchase for $800.

Really she gave it away.

Other people such as our friends father moved into an empty flat in 1956 when people left in droves.

They  just walked away from what they had and anyone just moved in and took over.

Some people may of moved into one property while another person in their fmaily moved into another.Who knows for sure.

I know when my husband was in his early 20's and ready to have his own place  ( early 1970's)there was nothing available to a single young man at any price.

Families were given first priority on empty flats.

He actually had a great job, made more then his 2 parents did together but couldn't find a place to live on his own. He rented a bed, not a room to himself with an older women.

She needed the income and he needed someone to care for his daily life.She cooked for him, cleaned, did his washing and he paid her extra for these services.

She had no children or family alive and told him that she was giving him her flat when she died.

My husband had other plans, to come to the west and he didn't take her up on that offer.

If he had, he'd be a leg up early in life.

One of our neighbors in our house died a few years ago.

She was an odd lady, a Jehovas witness with a little loud dog and kept too herself.

She we found out after she died was loaded by HU standards. Her apt. was larger and faced the st., with many windows and 2 large rooms.

She passed about 6 years ago and left an unclaimed amount of over 30 million forints plus the flat.

Slowly someone is fixing the flat up but seems in no hurry to do so.

Some distant relation seems to have been found after all.

Another nieghbor lived in ths house for 72 years. During the war, after and when the changes happened. Paid off years ago.

They sold it when the man retired from his job as a ( mob man) protection officer.

They bought a flat in Budapest for their daughter and a home in the countryside for themselves.

The guy never in all the years we knew him actually held down a job that he could tell anyone about.

His wife was an accountant but it wasn't a huge paying job.

I'm not impressed much by what anyone owns here. Most people just stayed put and inherited things.

Having a life of travel and adventure is much more interesting.

I'm sure it was more complicated then I have tried to explain but that's basically it.

   
    Below person summed it up nicely:"Of all taxes, whether it's sales tax, Income tax, even estate tax, I think property tax is the most pure evil. For starters, on virtually all acquired property, you already paid a tax for it. This was done in a sales tax. What the government can/cannot budget for is not an argument, an individual must be understood to own something, this is his right, like a bird owns their nest, a wolf their den, an ant their hill, so on and so forth. Sometimes, people are overburdened by expenses, they lose a job, get injured, and finally get broke, It happens to countless every year. Sometimes they at least have a roof over their head that they've completely paid for. But because now they just can't pay that fee, the government who's constitution demands they protect property rights gets to rob them completely and make them homeless? That’s pure evil and to add salt to the injury, it’s not like any of these taxes goes to anything good. Most if not all is purely wasted."Property taxes should be abolished!!!         -@juliet1980

hmmm...needs attribution that quote.  I did try and Google it and maybe it was said around 1888 by some unhappy dude.  As it took too long to get to the answer (more than 2s), I gave up.

What it doesn't answer is who maintains the roads, the sewers, the street lights, the police and all those accoutrements of modern life we've come to expect for our safety and security and comfort.  Someone has to pay and somehow.   If there are no property taxes, it's going to get shifted elsewhere like income tax or VAT. 

And it's not taxation without representation - elected officials/representatives decide where the money goes.  It's a difficult job to argue that stuff out. Someone is going to be a loser and someone is going to be  a winner.

Like I keep saying, get elected and slug it out in local government.  It ain't gonna change otherwise. Or at least get on to your council(wo)man and give them your views.  They are there for that. Don't let them get away with it.
   

    -@fluffy2560

Few years ago they renovated our square and our community buildings it cost €4 million

Few years ago they renovated our square and our community buildings it cost €4 million

-@SimCityAT

Looks nice. An investment in the citizenry's well being.  All it needs is an ice cream shop nearby for a summer stroll and sit down to watch the world go by. 

    Few years ago they renovated our square and our community buildings it cost €4 million -@SimCityAT

Looks nice. An investment in the citizenry's well being.  All it needs is an ice cream shop nearby for a summer stroll and sit down to watch the world go by. 
   

    -@fluffy2560

Oh we do, its more like a Bistro

Oh we do, its more like a Bistro


-@SimCityAT

I hope they serve nice ice cream.

They are in the process of finishing up outside with new wiring in our building.

They removed the inside meters for electric and put them outside each door in a clear box.

The job was billed per sq. meter of each flat.

Out cost was about $800. , about 45 flats in the building.

Most of the work was done outside though they came in and removed the meters from inside.

Not sure they included the cost of repainting outside in the spots where the concert was removed and patched back up.

Probably extra knowing the deals that go down here.

Anyways, our neighbor is a real clean freak, she refused to allow the workers in her flat to remove th meters until they brought in clean sheets of plastic to hang up so her kitchen wouldn't get dusty.

It really wasn't a messy inside job at all.

She bugged them almost everyday even asked them to cover her windows in plastic from outside etc.

She asked thm just how much money they thought it cost to do the job.

The guy said he thought we all paid in just about 30,000 forints. No, not even close.

Someone must of pocketed allot, our house manager comes to mind...

From the start, my husband at the house meeting told everyone it was a scam and they all looked at him like he was just a big,"meany". Well, the proff is in the pudding!

    They are in the process of finishing up outside with new wiring in our building.
They removed the inside meters for electric and put them outside each door in a clear box.
The job was billed per sq. meter of each flat.
Out cost was about $800. , about 45 flats in the building.
Most of the work was done outside though they came in and removed the meters from inside.
Not sure they included the cost of repainting outside in the spots where the concert was removed and patched back up.
Probably extra knowing the deals that go down here.
Anyways, our neighbor is a real clean freak, she refused to allow the workers in her flat to remove th meters until they brought in clean sheets of plastic to hang up so her kitchen wouldn't get dusty.
It really wasn't a messy inside job at all.
She bugged them almost everyday even asked them to cover her windows in plastic from outside etc.
She asked thm just how much money they thought it cost to do the job.
The guy said he thought we all paid in just about 30,000 forints. No, not even close.
Someone must of pocketed allot, our house manager comes to mind...
From the start, my husband at the house meeting told everyone it was a scam and they all looked at him like he was just a big,"meany". Well, the proff is in the pudding!
   

    -@Marilyn Tassy

I do quite a lot of electrical work at my own house, I've rewired houses and outbuildings myself in the past and I've had other people do the work.   It's not very difficult to do.  But I do know looking at my MIL's place, the wiring was badly designed.   Those were times when people put one socket in each room.  People didn't have so many electrical devices as they do now - TVs, chargers, microwaves, fridges, computers etc.

To move the meters, the actual materials aren't that expensive but it depends on what is really going on.

If it's direct payment to the power company, then once they are involved, the price goes up as they are the only ones who can connect the meters.   Gas is the same. You can only get their approved installers on the job.

As a complete job, I'd estimate it as anywhere between 80K and 100K HUF per unit including any tidying up ("making good" - like plastering etc).

My house has overhead cables connecting to a pole in the street.  I'm not too happy about it as it looks ugly, not very modern and could fail in severe weather.   The power company has been seen slowly rewiring streets around the village to put the cabling under the ground and re-routing people's houses to street boxes.  All that street stuff is on their cost.

My house electrical system was designed so they could do that easily enough using street boxes. And anything from the box or pole to their side of the meter is down to them.

The cost of the repairs in our house came to 200,000 for us.

Times that or more for 45 flats...

Hardly looks like much was done really.

My husband ( always the skeptic) said they brought over old wires just to pile up in the yard to make it look like they did something.

I doubt that but it's always good to keep an eye on what's really going on.

The house meeting awhile back where they spoke of these repairs was more like a list of projects the manager wanted to do.

He manages at least 12 buildings and has this crew doing work in all of them.

He is making a killing on the side.

That's the down side of owning a flat, if the house makes a vote you have to go along with it.

Most of the new people in the house seem to be young and dumb. Their parents , well many of them, had parents that just bought the flats for them and they don't care what anything costs.

We also know most people went out and got a bank loan to pay for the new wiring.

Interest rates aren't very good,They will be paying for this for years to come.

Now to us it looks like time to paint the railings again and repaint the entire house.

The gravy train for the manager will never end.

    The cost of the repairs in our house came to 200,000 for us.Times that or more for 45 flats...Hardly looks like much was done really.My husband ( always the skeptic) said they brought over old wires just to pile up in the yard to make it look like they did something.I doubt that but it's always good to keep an eye on what's really going on.The house meeting awhile back where they spoke of these repairs was more like a list of projects the manager wanted to do.He manages at least 12 buildings and has this crew doing work in all of them.He is making a killing on the side.That's the down side of owning a flat, if the house makes a vote you have to go along with it.Most of the new people in the house seem to be young and dumb. Their parents , well many of them, had parents that just bought the flats for them and they don't care what anything costs.We also know most people went out and got a bank loan to pay for the new wiring.Interest rates aren't very good,They will be paying for this for years to come.Now to us it looks like time to paint the railings again and repaint the entire house.The gravy train for the manager will never end.        -@Marilyn Tassy

Yes, could another 100K HUF if all the internal wiring was replaced at the same time. It'll all have to go back to several main switch panels maybe in a basement or on the landings for groups of apartments on that floor or section.  That means the meter reader can just turn up and read them in groups without disturbing the occupants.  Even better, make it all digital and install all digital meters and send signals down the cables and read them directly.  Or even better, have a building management system to collect the info directly on a computer and send it straight to the power company. I doubt they can be bothered to do that in HU.  It's not rocket science.

If they replaced your own switch board/panel (aka consumer unit) with the various circuit breakers, I hope they installed an RCD (Residual Current Device in the UK), also called in the USA a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter).   

They should be compulsory in all rewired and new buildings.  Could save someone's life.  I've been in rewired buildings and flats in HU and they don't install them by default.  I had to intensely insist in my house.  They tried to argue against  it but I insisted vigorously.  My way or the highway! 

In my previous house an RCD saved Mrs Fluffy when she switched on a dodgy electric kettle.   She got a shock but the RCD tripped and she wasn't injured.  Now I always insist, everywhere!

BTW, we're ignoring Absolutely Anything Else!

I'll switch to Absolutely Anything Else.