“A fiscal paradise”: mothers of two children soon exempt from life for life to increase the birth rate in Hungary

The Hungarian Parliament adopted on Tuesday, April 29, as part of the Nat, Viktor Orban offensive, measures aimed at exempting all mothers from at least two children in life.

As of next year, children under 40 will be affected before a progressive extension to cover the over 60 years by 2029, according to this legislative package adopted by a large majority.

Currently, and this since 2020, only the mothers of four and more children benefit from this fiscal advantage.

The ultra conservative prime minister, the ardent defender of “traditional” values, extends its policy aimed at stopping the decline of the population of the country of central Europe threatened by aging.

9.5 million inhabitants against 10.7 million in 1980

Hungary has lost residents for more than 40 years: they are currently 9.5 million, compared to 10.7 million in 1980.

Free nursery, housing assistance or purchase of a vehicle, “Baby loans” … The list of advantages has been extended over the years.

This strategy, which arouses the interest of conservative circles, especially in the United States, is very expensive for mixed effects.

Announced a year of the legislative elections that announce strict, the new measures will cost 2.3 billion euros by 2029, according to government estimates, economists care about an aggravation of a deficit and already high inflation.

A “financial challenge”

“This is a financial challenge,” said Viktor Orban at the end of February, but “this tax reduction program, the most important in Europe” will transform Hungary into “Family Tax Refuge.”

Will the birth rate say? The fertility index fell to 1.31 children per woman in March, according to official statistics, after a peak of 1.61 in 2021 for a European average that was then 1.53.

The Hungarian leader, the Father of five children, can argue that when he arrived, the rate was in a historical lower of 1.23.

But it is still far from the threshold of 2.1 necessary for the renewal of generations, an objective that the Government, forced to repel the deadline, now expects to arrive in 2035.