Filing Your Local Business Tax (HIPA) Return as a Sole Proprietor

What this guide covers

This article covers the 2025 tax year's 25HIPAK return. For a calendar-year business, the general deadline is the last day of the fifth month after the tax year ends, that is, May 2026 31, but since that date falls on a Sunday in 2026, the actual deadline is June 1, 2026. The tax itself is due the same day.

You file the return electronically through NAV's system: the Általános Nyomtatványkitöltő program (ÁNYK), or, starting in 2026, the Online Nyomtatványkitöltő Alkalmazás (ONYA). The form is bundled: you submit a single return that includes a separate M sheet for your registered office and each of your business locations, and NAV's system splits it apart and forwards each municipality its relevant part. You pay the tax itself directly to the collecting municipality's account, not to NAV.

If you're a flat-tax (KATA) entrepreneur, HIPA still applies to you, but KATA entrepreneurs have their own, further simplified rule: a fixed HUF 2,500,000 tax base per business location, regardless of actual revenue. This article is aimed mainly at sole proprietors taxed under vállalkozói szja or átalányadó.

Who must file, and where

Anyone on the sole proprietor register is a local business tax payer (a "vállalkozó" under the Htv.) for the registered activity, with two exceptions: you don't count as a vállalkozó for Htv. purposes if your only activity is renting out property, or if you choose to tax certain accommodation-services income under the self-employment or itemized flat-tax rules instead. A mezőgazdasági őstermelő (registered small-scale agricultural producer) is also liable if their unsubsidized agricultural revenue exceeds half the annual minimum wage, HUF 1,744,800 in 2025.

You owe tax, and must file, in every municipality where you have a registered office or business location, provided that municipality has introduced local business tax. A business location includes any permanent business establishment (office, shop, workshop), regardless of the legal basis for using it, and in some cases a property you rent out.

Choosing a method: the general rule or the simplified tax base

Before you start the return, decide which tax base method you're using, since it determines which forms you fill in. The choice itself is covered in detail in the HIPA calculator article; here's just the difference that matters for the return:

• Simplified, banded tax base (Htv. 39/A. §): if your revenue for the tax year is under HUF 25,000,000 (HUF 120,000,000 for a flat-rate sole proprietor doing exclusively retail trade), you can choose this method: your tax base is a fixed figure set by your revenue band, regardless of your actual costs. You only fill in the EGY form, not the forms that derive net revenue and cost items.
• General rule: the tax base is net revenue, reduced by the cost of goods sold (ELÁBÉ), the value of mediated services, material cost, and subcontractor cost. You fill in the 01-01, 03-01, and ALAP forms.

You declare your choice on block C of form 25HIPAK_A-NY-01: this is where you state whether you determine the tax base under the general rule or the simplified method. To change your choice for the next tax year (2026), declare it on line 9 of the same form; if you don't, your earlier choice carries over.

Where to find the numbers in EV Napló

For a sole proprietor, the Htv.'s net revenue concept works out in practice to the same figure as your SZJA return's revenue line: the VAT-excluded consideration received directly in connection with your activity. So:

• Net revenue: the same amount as line 21 of form 25SZJA-13-03 (vállalkozói szja) or line 115 of form 25SZJA-13-06 (átalányadó). In EV Napló, this is the year's total for the 1xxx category group in the Insights tab's Results view.
• ELÁBÉ and material cost: the year's total for the 3xxx (materials and goods) category group. If you can meaningfully tell apart what you resold unchanged (ELÁBÉ) from what you consumed producing your own work (material cost), it's worth splitting these into separate categories, since both reduce the tax base the same way but land on two different lines of the return.
• Value of mediated services: if you rebilled, unchanged, a service you had purchased, its value reduces the tax base too, but only if it's shown separately on your invoice and in your contract.
• Subcontractor cost: if you used a subcontractor under a construction-type contract, their fee also reduces the tax base. If you don't have a category for this in EV Napló, it's worth creating one (Settings → Accounting Categories) in the 6xxx group so it totals separately in the Results view.

If you choose the simplified, banded tax base (EGY form)

• Line 21 (Revenue): your Htv. revenue. As a sole proprietor under the personal income tax act, this is your SZJA revenue, the same figure described above.
• Line 22 (Tax base for your band): the form fills this in automatically based on the band your line 21 revenue falls into:
  • up to HUF 12,000,000 revenue, the tax base is HUF 2,500,000,
  • between HUF 12,000,000 and HUF 18,000,000 revenue, HUF 6,000,000,
  • above HUF 18,000,000 revenue (up to your eligibility ceiling), HUF 8,500,000.

If your revenue exceeds your eligibility ceiling, the form can't be submitted this way; you have to fall back to the general rule.

A sole proprietor using the simplified tax base typically doesn't even have to file a return if the computed tax doesn't exceed the advance already paid. You only need to file if the tax year's tax exceeds the advance you paid, or if you're requesting a refund of the difference.

If you use the general rule

Net revenue (form 25HIPAK_A-01-01)

• Line 1 (Net revenue): this line totals your business-level net revenue. For most sole proprietors it matches the revenue figure described above, since lines 2 to 11 (royalty income, excise duty, service charge, sports-business revenue, and so on) rarely apply to a typical service or retail business. This line is carried over automatically to line 1 of the ALAP form.

ELÁBÉ, mediated services, and other deductions (form 25HIPAK_A-03-01)

You only need this form if you have ELÁBÉ, mediated services, material cost, or subcontractor cost you want to deduct from the tax base.

• Line 1 (ELÁBÉ): the purchase cost of goods bought and resold unchanged.
• Line 2 (Value of mediated services): the value of a purchased service rebilled unchanged.
• Line 15 (ELÁBÉ and mediated services usable in the tax base): for annual net revenue up to HUF 500 million, simply the sum of lines 1 and 2 (the banded cap that applies to larger businesses isn't relevant in practice for sole proprietors). This line is carried over automatically to line 2 of the ALAP form.
• Line 21 (Subcontractor cost): the fee paid for a subcontractor's service under a construction-type contract. Carried over to line 3 of the ALAP form.
• Line 22 (Material cost): the year's spending on materials purchased, increased by the paid-for opening stock and reduced by the paid-for closing stock. Carried over to line 4 of the ALAP form.

The business-level tax base (form 25HIPAK_A-ALAP)

• Line 1 (Net revenue): carried over from line 1 of form 01-01.
• Line 2 (ELÁBÉ and mediated services): carried over from line 15 of form 03-01.
• Line 3 (Subcontractor cost): carried over from line 21 of form 03-01.
• Line 4 (Material cost): carried over from line 22 of form 03-01.
• Line 6 (Business-level tax base): 6 = line 1 - (line 2 + line 3 + line 4), at least zero. If you have a single registered office and no business location in another municipality, this figure (carried through to line 15, which for most sole proprietors equals line 6) is what goes into the local return, on the M-KÖT form.

If you have a registered office or business location in more than one municipality, you need to apportion the business-level tax base among them using forms 25HIPAK_A-04-01, 04-02, and 04-03, plus form 25HIPAK_M-OSZT, following whichever apportionment method the Htv.'s appendix designates for your activity. Most sole proprietors with a single registered office don't need any of this.

Calculating the tax owed to each municipality (form 25HIPAK_M-KÖT)

You fill in this form separately for every municipality involved; with a single registered office, you only need one M sheet.

• Municipality data: pick the relevant municipality from the dropdown (or type its name); the form fills in its tax ID automatically.
• Line 1 (Share of the tax base allocated to this municipality): if you're filing for a single municipality, this is 1 (filled in automatically).
• Line 2 (Tax base allocated to this municipality): for a single municipality, equal to the business-level tax base (line 6, or line 15, of the ALAP form).
• Line 7 (Taxable tax base): line 2 reduced by any local exemption the municipality's own ordinance may grant (say, for small businesses below a given tax base, or for family doctors, if that municipality's ordinance provides for it). For most municipalities and most sole proprietors, these lines are empty and line 7 equals line 2.
• Line 11 (Tax rate): the rate set by the municipality's ordinance, capped at 2%. NAV's system fills this in automatically from municipal data, but it's worth checking against your municipality's own website or the Hungarian State Treasury's hakka.allamkincstar.gov.hu page.
• Line 14 (Computed tax): 14 = line 7 × line 11.
• Lines 15 to 22 (Tax-reducing allowances): allowances a municipality's ordinance may grant for road tolls, R&D, or investment, if any apply. For most sole proprietors these lines are empty.
• Line 23 (Tax year's local business tax liability): 23 = line 14 reduced by whatever's entered on lines 15 to 22. This is your final, municipality-specific annual HIPA.

Declaring the advance (form 25HIPAK_M-EL)

The same return also declares your advance for the upcoming period, under self-assessment: once declared, you must pay it by its due date without further notice from anyone.

• For a calendar-year business, the advance period runs from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. The first installment is due September 15, 2026, in the amount of the tax computed on line 23, reduced by whatever advance you already declared for March 15, 2026. The second installment is due March 15, 2027 (weekend and holiday shifts aside), equal to half your annual tax.
• For a sole proprietor using the simplified tax base, the rule is different: the advance period runs January 1 to December 31, and you only declare and pay a single installment, due the same day as the return itself (June 1, 2026). This is, in effect, the whole year's advance paid at once.

More than one municipality or business location

If you opened or closed a business location, or relocated your registered office, during the period covered, note this on the relevant M sheet's block C, as the reason for a period that differs from your business-level filing period. You also declare on block I of form 25HIPAK_A-NY-01 whether you have a registered office or business location in one municipality or several.

Payment and self-correction

You transfer the tax directly to the collecting municipality's local business tax account, not to NAV. If you spot a mistake afterward, you don't correct it on the return's main sheet, but on the affected municipality's M sheet, using the 25HIPAK_M_ONEL attachment; see the fixing a filed return article for the general principles, though its SZJA-specific detail doesn't carry over to HIPA.

Quick summary

• Net revenue: the same figure as your SZJA return's revenue line, the year's total for the 1xxx category group in EV Napló's Results view → line 21 of the EGY form, or line 1 of form 01-01.
• ELÁBÉ, material cost, mediated services, subcontractor cost (general rule only): the 3xxx and 6xxx category groups → lines 15, 21, and 22 of form 03-01 → lines 2 to 4 of the ALAP form.
• Tax base: line 22 of the EGY form (simplified) or line 6 of the ALAP form (general rule) → lines 2 and 7 of the M-KÖT form.
• Final tax: lines 14 and 23 of the M-KÖT form, per municipality.
• Advance for the next period: the M-EL form, in two installments for a calendar-year business, in one lump sum for a simplified-base taxpayer.

If you get stuck at any step, EV Napló's Results view holds most of the numbers this return needs; if you work with an accountant, hand these over together with what you've gathered for the SZJA return, since the two returns lean on a lot of the same figures.

This article is for general information only, does not constitute tax advice. Source: the Local Taxes Act, 1990. évi C. törvény (net.jogtar.hu), NAV's 25HIPAK completion guide, and its technical guide for the ONYA interface.

Last updated: August 10, 2026.