Plan contractor hiring in Hungary

A foreign business should onboard the Hungarian supplier in the status they actually use: egyéni vállalkozó, adószámos magánszemély, or a company such as an egyszemélyes kft. That choice decides whose tax registration appears on the invoice and whether Hungarian contribution work can still reach the payer. A recurring independent service is cleanest when an active sole proprietor or company is the contractual supplier. KATA needs an immediate check. Service revenue from a foreign legal person or organisation ends KATA status on the day before receipt, and the contractor must notify NAV within 15 days. Confirm the route before signature, then keep the contract, registry record, invoice identity, and payee name aligned.

Sources: NAV, Applying for a tax number, NAV, Taxation of income from independent activities, NAV, KATA guide for 2026

If the line is crossed

If the facts amount to employment, the foreign business becomes an employer for Hungarian social-security administration even though it has no Hungarian entity or registration obligation as a company. It must register the insured person, calculate and deduct the employee contribution, pay the amounts, and file the foreign-employer return. If it has no Hungarian representative and fails to register, the employee must perform those duties and bears the non-penalty consequences of the failure. Salary paid from abroad also leaves the Hungary-resident worker calculating advance income tax from personal records when no Hungarian payer withholds it. The corrective route is payroll and employment treatment, followed by reconciliation of prior invoices and contributions.

Sources: NAV, Instructions for the 2608 monthly return, NAV, Foreign-source income of private individuals for 2026

Hatósági bizonyítvány az Egyéni Vállalkozók Nyilvántartásából

Official certificate from the Sole Proprietors Register

This NAV certificate confirms the data held for an egyéni vállalkozó and gives procurement a stable onboarding record alongside the public register query. Collect it when the individual claims sole-proprietor status, then use the registration number to check that the activity is active before accepting the first invoice. Ask for a refreshed record after a suspension, restart, activity change, or name change. The certificate establishes registration facts at the time shown. Employment status still depends on the working arrangement, and KATA compatibility still depends on who pays, so neither conclusion should be copied from the certificate.

Issued by: NAV, at the contractor's request through the Vállalkozói Ügysegéd

Timing: Collect before contract activation and refresh whenever the public register shows a status or activity change

Sources: NAV, Sole proprietor administration and public register

An ordinary B2B service is invoiced without Hungarian VAT when the foreign customer's relevant business establishment is outside Hungary. The VAT place follows that customer under the general rule, subject to separate rules for property, admission, events, transport, and other specially located services. An EU business branch requires both Community VAT identifiers and the wording for reverse charge because the customer accounts for tax there. A non-EU branch uses a clear statement that the supply is outside the territorial scope of Hungarian VAT after the supplier verifies business status. Hungarian invoice rules and NAV invoice-data reporting can still apply even when no Hungarian VAT appears.

Sources: NAV, Basic rules for issuing invoices and receipts, NAV, EU transactions of VAT taxpayers under the general rules

What an invoice has to show

• The supplier's Hungarian adószám and exact registered identity

  The invoice leads with the tax number under which the service was supplied, plus the supplier's legal name and address. Reconcile those fields to the NAV or company record and to the contracted payee. A sole proprietor's registration number belongs in the onboarding file as separate proof of status; the adószám remains the invoice identifier required by VAT law itself.

  Sources: NAV, Basic rules for issuing invoices and receipts

• Both Community VAT numbers and the words fordított adózás for an EU B2B service

  For a general-rule service to an EU business, the document carries the supplier's and customer's Community VAT numbers and states fordított adózás, meaning reverse charge. Validate the customer's identifier before booking because it supports the foreign business treatment and the customer's obligation to account for tax. This combination belongs to the EU branch and should not be copied onto an invoice for a buyer established outside the EU.

  Sources: NAV, Community VAT number guide, NAV, Basic rules for issuing invoices and receipts

• An Áfa tv. területi hatályán kívüli statement for the non-EU B2B branch

  For an ordinary service to a business established outside the EU, NAV recommends clear wording that the supply falls outside the territorial scope of the Hungarian VAT Act. The statement explains the missing Hungarian VAT and keeps this invoice distinct from the EU reverse-charge branch. Retain the customer's business-status and establishment evidence with the invoice, since a consumer or a specially located service can move the VAT result back to another rule.

  Sources: NAV, EU transactions of VAT taxpayers under the general rules

• A unique invoice sequence, performance date, and data that matches the NAV report

  Hungarian invoice law requires a number that identifies the invoice without ambiguity, the issue date, a service description, the performance date when it differs, and the consideration. These are the fields most likely to expose a mismatch between monthly work, acceptance, and billing. The supplier's report to Online Számla should reproduce the document data, so accounts payable should return an invoice whose sequence, performance date, correction reference, or reported identity does not reconcile.

  Sources: NAV, Basic rules for issuing invoices and receipts, NAV, Invoice data reporting rules

The contractor bills against the contract's performance and acceptance points, while the contract fixes the commercial due date. For a general-rule service to an EU business, the Hungarian invoice must be issued by the 15th day of the month after the month of performance, so a delayed internal approval cannot push the supplier past that tax deadline. The non-EU branch does not borrow that special EU deadline. Keep billing frequency, the performance date, acceptance evidence, invoice delivery, and the due-date calculation in one schedule. This lets both sides identify when the invoice must exist and when the payment clock starts.

Sources: NAV, Basic rules for issuing invoices and receipts

When invoices are settled

The contract should state the due date because that date starts commercial default. If Hungarian law governs and no payment period is fixed, interest begins automatically 30 calendar days after the customer receives the invoice or payment request; where receipt is unknown, the clock runs from service delivery. A late business payment also carries the statutory recovery-cost amount. Governing law is the gate for an offshore customer. Rome I permits an express choice, and without one a service contract generally follows the service provider's habitual residence, here Hungary, unless the circumstances show a manifestly closer connection elsewhere. Record invoice receipt so the default date is provable.

Sources: Hungarian Civil Code, Act V of 2013, EUR-Lex, Rome I Regulation, European Union, Late payment in commercial transactions

The currency on the invoice

The invoice may be issued in HUF or another currency agreed in the contract. Hungarian VAT law leaves the commercial denomination to the parties. For a domestic taxable supply, any VAT amount is generally also displayed in HUF, while an invoice for a service whose place is abroad is expressly outside that HUF VAT-display requirement. The contractor still needs a consistent exchange-rate policy for Hungarian tax records, using a permitted credit-institution rate or a previously notified MNB or ECB choice where the VAT conversion rules apply. Fix the contract currency, price, and conversion date so the paid amount cannot drift with an accounts-payable rate.

Sources: NAV, Basic rules for issuing invoices and receipts

Accepting KATA status for a foreign-business invoice

A foreign legal person or organisation counts as a foreign payer for KATA. When the sole proprietor receives service consideration from that customer, KATA status ends on the day before receipt and the contractor has 15 days to report the receipt to NAV. A buyer that asks only for a tax number can miss this entirely and leave the contractor changing tax methods after work has started. Ask for the selected income-tax method in writing, state that the customer is a foreign business, and require an invoice issued under an eligible sole-proprietor method or by the correctly registered company supplier.

Sources: NAV, KATA guide for 2026

Treating an adószámos magánszemély invoice as a complete supplier check

The tax number proves registration for invoicing. It does not establish that an adószámos magánszemély sits outside Hungarian insurance rules. If the mandate or other personal-services relationship creates insured status, the engager has contribution assessment, deduction, payment, and reporting work; the foreign-employer procedure can apply without a Hungarian entity. If the foreign employer fails to register, the individual takes over filing and payment and bears the non-penalty consequences. Route recurring independent delivery through an active sole proprietor or company where that matches the facts, or obtain Hungarian contribution analysis before approving this private-person route.

Sources: NAV, Taxation of income from independent activities, NAV, Instructions for the 2608 monthly return

Using one zero-VAT invoice template for every foreign customer

The EU and non-EU documents explain the missing Hungarian VAT differently. An EU business invoice uses both Community VAT numbers and fordított adózás because the customer accounts for tax. A non-EU business invoice uses the territorial-scope explanation and keeps proof that the customer acts as a business. Both can remain subject to Hungarian invoice-data reporting. A template that omits the EU customer number, carries reverse-charge wording for a non-EU buyer, or never reports the invoice to NAV creates a correction cycle even where the underlying service is correctly outside Hungarian VAT. Select the branch from the customer's establishment before issuing the document.

Sources: NAV, Basic rules for issuing invoices and receipts, NAV, EU transactions of VAT taxpayers under the general rules, NAV, Invoice data reporting rules