Hungary Plans to Introduce Phone Call Tax in July, Welt Says

Hungary plans to introduce a minute-based tax on phone calls in July this year to help it raise about 170 million euros ($225 million), after a previous proposal for a sales tax on telecommunication companies was challenged by the European Commission, Welt newspaper said.

A phone call using a mobile phone or a landline would be taxed at 2 forint ($0.01) per minute, and mobile phone text messages would also be taxed, the German newspaper reported in a preview of an article to be published tomorrow. The report cited unidentified people familiar with the government’s plan.

Telephone companies including Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE)’s Magyar Telekom Nyrt. would collect the tax themselves and transfer it to the Hungarian government, Welt said. Hungary plans to inform the European Union about the proposed tax this week, according to the report.

To contact the reporter on this story: Niklas Magnusson in Hamburg at nmagnusson1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net