Payment Difficulties: Installments and Deferral at NAV

Automatic, interest-free installments: no review, no justification

On request, a private individual, including a sole proprietor and a VAT-liable individual, can get an interest-free installment plan from NAV for a recorded tax debt of up to 2,000,000 HUF, once per calendar year, over up to 12 months, with no review of income or assets, and no justification required. The request can even be filed before the debt becomes due.

This relief isn't available for a private individual's income tax advance, already-withheld income tax, or contributions withheld from a private individual. If the taxpayer misses an installment, the automatic plan is voided, and the remaining debt, plus late-payment interest, becomes due in full immediately. There's no appeal against a decision granting the automatic request.

Reliable taxpayers: a separate, larger allowance

Independent of the universal 2,000,000 HUF option above, if you hold "megbízható adózó" (reliable taxpayer) status, you can request an automatic, no-review, no-justification, interest-free installment plan of up to 5,000,000 HUF under this separate allowance, over up to 12 months, also once per calendar year. You can check your status on NAV's client portal.

A separate rule for vehicle tax

Separately from the above, for the current year's vehicle tax, a request filed by June 30 of that year gets an automatic, also interest-free installment plan of up to 5 months, once a year. Requests filed after the deadline can't be granted.

For larger debts: discretionary payment relief

If your debt exceeds 2,000,000 HUF, or you've already used the automatic option that year, NAV can grant a deferral or installment plan (together: "fizetési könnyítés") on request, but unlike the automatic form, this isn't guaranteed. For other taxes, it can be granted if all three of the following hold:

• the taxpayer has a genuine payment difficulty and can't pay the debt in a lump sum because of it;
• the difficulty isn't attributable to the taxpayer, or they acted as could reasonably be expected in the situation to avoid it;
• the difficulty is temporary: meaning it's likely the debt can be paid at a later point.

For private individuals, relief can be granted even despite attributability, if the applicant shows or makes plausible that paying in a lump sum would be a disproportionately heavy burden given their family, income, asset, and social circumstances.

An important nuance as a sole proprietor: if you justify the request with your own family, income, and social circumstances, it's evaluated under the (lighter) rules for private individuals. If instead you cite difficulties in the business itself, the stricter rules for business entities apply. It's worth deliberately choosing which basis to argue from.

NAV can attach conditions to the relief: for example, requiring collateral (a guarantee, a pledge, a mortgage), or ongoing compliance with other taxes falling due during the term. If these aren't met, the relief is voided, and the remaining debt, plus late-payment interest, becomes due in full.

What can never get payment relief?

Neither the automatic nor the discretionary form is available for a private individual's income tax advance, withheld income tax, contributions withheld from a private individual by a payer, or collected tax (for example, VAT you collected from clients but haven't yet remitted).

Reduction or waiver: how is that different?

Reducing or waiving a debt is different from deferring or paying it in installments: here it's the amount itself that shrinks, not the timing. An important limit: the tax itself (the principal) can only be reduced or waived for private individuals. As a sole proprietor citing difficulties in the business, only the interest and penalty portion of the debt can be reduced or waived, not the tax itself.

How do you apply?

The request is filed on form FAM01 (or, for the automatic installment plan, form AUTRESZ via ONYA), electronically or, if you're not required to communicate electronically, on paper, with the competent county tax and customs directorate. The first-instance procedure is free of charge.

What happens if you don't request relief and don't pay?

If a debt becomes due and neither payment nor a relief request follows, late-payment interest accrues, and NAV can start enforcement action (wage garnishment, bank account seizure, or seizing movable/immovable assets). That's why it's worth filing a request as early as possible, ideally before the deadline passes, as soon as you see you won't be able to pay on time.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute tax advice. Source: the Rules of Taxation Act, 2017. évi CL. törvény (net.jogtar.hu), and the Tax Administration Procedure Act, 2017. évi CLI. törvény, NAV information booklet "Fizetési kedvezmények magánszemélyeknek és egyéni vállalkozóknak" (2026. 03. 18.), and NAV information booklet no. 71, "Az adózói minősítéssel kapcsolatos tudnivalók" (2026. 01. 21.).

Last updated: July 31, 2026.