Summer is a busy season for many businesses. Whether it is because of increased turnover or employees taking their holidays, your business might be in need of temporary workers. You have various options, just make sure to declare the employment correctly to avoid fines. Summer is also the season when the Hungarian Tax Authority increases the number of inspections focusing on temporary work.
What to do when you need more hands?
When there is an increased workload at your business, the obvious answer is to hire more people. If you think the situation will be prolonged, hiring people in regular employment is the easiest. However, if the situation is temporary, you can find employees on an ad hoc basis.
Simplified employment
You can employ a temporary worker for just one day (or maybe more). You must register them the latest on the morning of the day they start working for you – you can register them for several days in a row or separately. Mind you, such a person can do temporary work for you only for 90 days each year. For a longer period, it already makes sense to employ them regularly. Simplified employment comes with a simplified tax scheme too: as long as the wages are less than double the minimum wage, you only need to pay a fixed daily payroll tax. Read more about simplified employment here.
Student work
You can also partner with a so-called student organization (“diákszövetkezet”), which lets registered students find work on an hourly basis. The organization can help you with recruitment as well as a big chunk of the administration, and your company does not have to pay the social contribution tax after student workers. Read more about student work here.
Inspections to encourage compliance
Every summer the Hungarian Tax Authority increases the number of inspections focusing on the compliant registration of temporary work. This year a coordinated effort was made between 26 June and 14 July. In this period, 852 companies and 2,818 employees were inspected. 25.8% of these employees (727 temporary workers) had not been registered. This seems a high ratio, but in fact this is significantly lower than the result of summer 2022, which was around 30%.
The most affected sector is traditionally construction, but this year its result at 25.96% was only slightly higher than the average. This is also the best result in this sector since 2015.
Make sure to report temporary work on time
Whichever form of temporary work you consider the best fit for your Hungarian operation, make sure to discuss your options with your HR specialist and your accountant. The accounting team at Helpers Finance can make sure your company remains compliant with regulations at all times, so you can focus on growing your business without worrying about fines.
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