If leasing companies must pay HUF 7.5bn of the planned extraordinary financial sector tax, as proposed in a preliminary agreement, it could cause the collapse of the leasing market in Hungary, the Hungarian Leasing Association said in a statement on Wednesday.
Members of the association closed 2009 with combined losses of HUF 24bn, according to the statement. Registered capital of members was cut by 15pc to HUF 66bn, it added.
Most leasing companies will be able to pay the tax only with the help of their parent companies in 2010 and 2011, but there is little chance of this on a market which continues to contract, the association said.
During talks on the tax the government has promised to hear the proposals of leasing associations aimed at stimulating the market, association secretary Gabor Levai told MTI on Wednesday.
The association also has to make a recommendation regarding the form of the planned extraordinary financial sector tax, Mr Levai said noting that they prefer a tax based on interest income rather than on balance-sheet totals.
The leasing association plans to recommend, among others, to include financial leasing in EU-co-funded and other programmes in a way similar to loans. Their proposals would include direct access to refinancing of state-owned development bank MFB, and not through banks as at present. They will also propose the elimination of a 2pc special duty on property leasing.