Hungary's media industry repeats call for revoking ad tax as government signals changes

Hungary's media industry has reiterated its call for the revocation of an advertising tax after signals from the government indicating some changes would be made.

The Advertising Association on Wednesday called for talks with the government after Minister Janos Lazar said he would propose a single, lower rate while also extending the number of companies forced to pay the tax, introduced last year.

Lazar said the European Union had expressed concerns about the tax's fairness and its effects on competitiveness.

The tax's highest bracket — 50 percent on annual advertising revenues above 20 billion forints ($75 million) — is paid only by the Hungarian affiliate of Luxembourg-based broadcaster RTL Group.

The Advertising Association said making small media companies pay the tax would likely put many out of business.