How's this for embarrassing: last week Hungarian tax authority APEH was forced to release a special communiqué admitting that it had included leading brewer Dreher Sörgyárak Zrt on a public list of corporate deadbeats by mistake.

The ongoing uproar over forced auctions of residential properties owned by indebted homeowners continued last week, this time with a twist that seems to be equal parts chilling and goofy. According to tabloid Bors, the Budapest Gas Works (Budapesti Gázművek) has threatened to have an apartment belonging to a man named Sándor Horváth (left) auctioned off to cover the debts of a different man named Sándor Horváth.

How's this for an utterly predictable storyline: Construction of a new building to replace the now-closed Erkel Theater on Köztársaság tér in Budapest's District VIII is being delayed - and may be halted indefinitely - due to obstructionism on the part of the local government. According to mr1-kossuth.hu, municipal officials say they don't like the plans, which call for a building larger than the 1952 original, and would cut into some of the not-very-green greenery on the square. Meanwhile, not all of them even agree a new building is necessary, instead arguing that the original structure should be restored to its gulag-era glory.

Despite the ongoing chaotic failure of the national government to put in place a property tax, some local governments in Hungary are going ahead with new levies on real estate, though in one case with similarly goofy results. On January 1, Budapest's District XIV (Zugló) introduced a property tax, but apparently without notifying locals. According to ingatlanmagazin.com, the deadline for owners to send in details on properties located in the district was January 31, but the majority of such folks had no idea they needed to do this.