Hello everyone,
Better job prospects in Hungary can most certainly be an incentive to leave your country of origin. Securing a contract with the right salary and benefits for you can be crucial to make your move successful.
Is salary and benefits negotiation regarded as common practice in Hungary? If yes, how should you go about negotiating your package (during the hiring process, on a monthly/yearly basis...)?
What do you expect to be included in terms of benefits in your package? Which benefits do you deem necessary in Hungary?
Is tax on the salary of an expat applicable in Hungary or do you have to turn to tax bodies in your country of origin to pay your taxes?
Do the exchange rates of currencies impact your salary as an expat?
Looking back, are there some changes you would have made during the negotiation of your salary and benefits package?
Thank you for sharing your experience,
Bhavna
Negotiating salary and benefits in Hungary
Bhavna wrote:Is tax on the salary of an expat applicable in Hungary or do you have to turn to tax bodies in your country of origin to pay your taxes?
For USA citizens, like myself, it is both. The USA taxes citizens world wide* and one must deal with tax Authorities in both countries if one lives in Hungary long enough to gain tax nexus to Hungary.
Cross reference the US-Hungarian tax treaty how to avoid double taxation.
* I have no problem with this myself, as my taxes also go to support the US Embassies and Consulates in countries around the world that expat use, so they should pay for it. Ergo - I get taxation, but I also get representation. 
klsallee wrote:....
* I have no problem with this myself, as my taxes also go to support the US Embassies and Consulates in countries around the world that expat use, so they should pay for it. Ergo - I get taxation, but I also get representation.
It's good you get some local services out of your US taxes.
I cannot say the same of British Embassies who don't seem to do anything at all - they don't even issue passports. They issue consular birth certificates and a few other things but they utterly rip you off for the cost of that "service".
From a distance they seem about as useful as a chocolate fireguard.
klsallee wrote:Bhavna wrote:Is tax on the salary of an expat applicable in Hungary or do you have to turn to tax bodies in your country of origin to pay your taxes?
For USA citizens, like myself, it is both. The USA taxes citizens world wide* and one must deal with tax Authorities in both countries if one lives in Hungary long enough to gain tax nexus to Hungary.
Cross reference the US-Hungarian tax treaty how to avoid double taxation.
* I have no problem with this myself, as my taxes also go to support the US Embassies and Consulates in countries around the world that expat use, so they should pay for it. Ergo - I get taxation, but I also get representation.
Yes, my experiences using the US embassy here in Budapest have been alright. Fast service and always polite office workers.
We no longer work but we did our time working in the US.
Too bad the UK embassy isn't as good, they sure had a lovely building near Vaci utca in the past.
They seem to book appointments around non US citizen times so usually it is mostly quiet and only a few people at the US embassy waiting for services.
My first visit at the embassy before they redid their set up had us all lumped into a huge crowded room with people seeking visas as well as US citizens. Now it appears that they have a separate couple of windows and small waiting area just for US citizens.
The first time there however I was super impressed by the tall ,black, fit young US Marine in his dress white standing at the enterance of the building. I am not usually super patriotic but he was impressive and made me a bit proud of the states. Now no Marine greeting you, just a nice old HU man who opens the door for you.
I personally like country life and a quiet environment, in my view the only place where to get a good package is in Budapest (a place where I do not want to live). I am therefore not applying with Hungarian companies and have therefore created my own company (in practice working for companies in Luxembourg, France and the UK (not full time though and with ups and downs, but working from home and abroad for a month per year in my case will deliver a sufficient income for the year)).
I have worked sufficient in my life and one of the reasons to come to Hungary is the quiet lifestile with low living expenses (as compared to Western Europe).
Working 2 months per year would allow us to do something extra.
I am close to retirement age, so will have to do with the pensions built up in Europe over the years, but as no taxes are (and hopefully will not be) withheld, all should be fine.
In summary, for Western expats in my view no reason to move to Hungary if you want big packages (negotiation or not), more lifestyle and cost of living should/are the drivers.
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