At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote working became the “new normal” in many industries: large numbers of people who had previously worked and commuted across the border within the EU or Switzerland, had been forced to work from home. Telecommuting, however, worked out so well that most people would want to continue in this way. However, in terms of taxation, this can put them on thin ice, and not just them, but the companies employing these workers.

On September 9, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that the Kapolyi Law Firm had advised Duna House, a property brokerage group in Central and Eastern Europe, on its participation in the National Bank of Hungary's Growth Bond Program. CEEIHM spoke with Duna House Chief Financial Officer Daniel Schilling to learn more.

MVM has brought on Emese Szitasi as its Transaction Manager in Hungary.

The extended deadline for implementing Strong Customer Authentication (“SCA”) expires on 31 December 2020. Originally, Hungarian laws prescribed 14 September 2019 as a deadline for the implementation of the new SCA, however, in parallel with the decision of the European Banking Authority, a new deadline has been set to 31 December 2020 by the Hungarian National Bank.

Noerr has advised UniCredit on financing it provided to South Korean real estate investment trust JR AMC for its acquisition of the Nordic Light Trio office building in Budapest from Skanska. Partos & Noblet — the Budapest office of Hogan Lovells — advised JR AMC on both the financing and the underlying acquisition, while Kinstellar advised Skanska.

DLK Legal in Poland and Kinstellar in Hungary and the Czech Republic have advised Infosys on its EUR 30 million acquisition of GuideVision. Osborne Clarke’s offices in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Germany, Sorainen in Belarus, and Castren & Snellman in Finland, reportedly also advised Infosys on the deal. Havel & Partners reportedly served as GuideVision’s advisor in the Czech Republic.

The coronavirus pandemic has an unprecedented effect on economy on a global level. Similarly to central European countries, the special situation caused by COVID-19 had an adverse effect on the performance of most branches of the national economy in Hungary as well. The Hungarian GDP declined with a historical 13.6% in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019.

DLA Piper Hungary’s busiest practice lately has been its Litigation and Regulatory team, headed by Partner Andras Nemescsoi. COVID-19-generated legal uncertainty and a set of opportunities arising from a relaxation on state-aid rules fuel the workload.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the physical distancing measures force many employers to introduce telework (working from home) on a large scale. In order to respond the current challenges, in September 2020 the Hungarian Government set the objective to reform the regulations on teleworking. The purpose of the new rules is to allow more employers to introduce telework and also to make the regulation more flexible.

On 1 September 2020, a new government decree entered into force on travel restrictions during the pandemic period. Based on the new rules, Hungarian citizens arriving from abroad may get through a health inspection and in case of suspicion of contamination, the Hungarian citizen must be placed in quarantine. In case the suspicion of contamination has not been established by the health inspection, the Hungarian citizen also must be placed in official home quarantine or in quarantine determined by the pandemic authority for 14 days. In certain circumstances, the Hungarian citizen may be exempted from this quarantine obligation, if he/she arrives from the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic or the Republic of Poland.

Schoenherr’s Budapest and Prague offices have advised Covivio on its lease of the Carlo IV hotel in Prague and the New York Palace and New York Residence hotels in Budapest to the NH Hotel Group. CMS advised the NH Hotel Group on the deal. 

Who hasn’t queued at the in-store customer service desk to have their warranty stamped? Who hasn’t spent hours figuring out which brand service centre to take a faulty product to? And there are many more, similar nuisances we could add. However, changes in the warranty regulations are set to put an end to these from next year. But what’s good for consumers represents a major additional burden for vendors.

Jozsef Antal, the former Head of Legal and Compliance at Metro Cash & Carry Hungary, has returned to private practice by joining Kapolyi Law Firm as a Partner.

The NGL Symbio law firm alliance has announced its creation in five countries of CEE, and its plans to be fully operational by January 1, 2021.

"I have a Slovak address card, so I don’t have to pay taxes in Hungary…" "I just have to make sure not to spend more than 183 days at home". "I’m a digital nomad, I don’t pay taxes anywhere." Many similar misconceptions circulate in Hungary regarding the rules of tax residence. However, tax regulations are “much smarter” than that and those who follow false illusions may even be exposed to criminal liability.

The Kapolyi Law Firm has advised Duna House, a property brokerage group in Central and Eastern Europe, on its participation in the National Bank of Hungary's Growth Bond Program. 

The Hungarian Government adopted the Government Decree 408/2020 (VIII.30.) ("Government Decree") on 30 August 2020. In the Government Decree it was announced that Hungary will close its borders to foreign citizens as of 1 September. 

Jeantet Local Partners Ioana Knoll-Tudor and Bertrand Barrier have been promoted to Global Partner at Jeantet in Budapest and Kyiv, respectively.