How a developer lives in Hungary: relocation, salary, and taxes
Today we are going to talk about Budapest. A rather unpopular, but very interesting city for an IT professional to move to. The culture, the prices, the offices of big IT giants – these are the reasons to move. It’s easy to find a job in this city. The Alcor team has prepared an article in which we will look at Hungary developers rates, how to find accommodation, salary levels and taxes.
Budapest and IT
In 2019, Budapest made the list of 100 Best Cities to Live in with a ranking of 76th. The city has the most developed transport infrastructure. If you choose public transportation, you can understand the taste of this city. With private transportation you just experience nine circles of hell. The country has a developed IT-sector, heavy, light and food industry.
If we talk about IT, it is quite a large percentage of GDP – 10%. The offices of Google, Microsoft, IBM and HP are located here. Outsourcing is also well developed here, for example, Tata Consultancy Services and EPAM are present in this niche.
The cost of living in Hungary is lower than in other European countries. The country is also part of the Schengen area and it is part of the European Union, so it is a very attractive option for IT professionals to relocate to this country.
Payroll taxes in Hungary
When receiving an offer of official employment and receiving a “transparent” salary in
In Hungary an employee is obliged to pay taxes. Funds are spent on infrastructure development, social security, benefits, road repairs, etc. The main taxes in
Hungary include:
- Hiking – the rate is 16% for both employed locals and foreigners.
- It is paid according to the results of the tax year. In case of delinquency, an interest rate of 50% and a penalty is paid.
- On profits – applies to companies, law agencies, foundations, universities operating in Hungary;
- Payroll deductions – even if you receive the minimum wage in Hungary, an employee pays 33% and 22% directly by the employer;
- Contribution to the pension fund – 10% of salary;
- Health insurance policy payment – 4%, optional, payable voluntarily
Monthly living costs in Hungary
The estimated cost of living in Hungary in 2021-2022 is €350-400 per month with minimal housing and food costs. To rent a one-room apartment in a residential district will cost 120-250
It is more profitable to rent an apartment or a place in a hostel. The cost of utilities costs 60-100 euros per month, during the heating season it rises by 15-20%.
For food foreigners spend every month 100-200 euros from the budget for independent living.
Popular grocery supermarkets are Tesko, Aldi, CBA, Lidl, and fast food is kürtoškláč (fried dough with stuffing) costing 2 euros.
The quality of medical services in Hungary complies with European standards, always at the highest level. But most facilities are paid and expensive, which increases the demand to sign insurance contracts (cost about 1200 per year). The program is not mandatory, mostly popular with skilled migrant workers.
If you have any questions about the choice of jobs and the preparation of the necessary permits, we recommend contacting the profile specialists.
Legalization
If you move, you can get a residence permit. If you get it, you can leave the country for no more than 90 days. It is valid for 6 months to three years, if marked Employee, you can work on it. If you have a family, they can also apply for a residence permit, but without the possibility of employment. With a permanent residence permit, you can stay outside the country for up to 6 months.
To get it, you can apply to the Hungarian Migration Service in Budapest. The employer can help with the documents, if you have agreed with him in advance to help on the occasion of the move.
You do not need to pass the language exam to obtain a permanent residence permit, it is only required for citizenship. Permanent residence permit is issued for 5 years, and then it can be extended for another 5 years, if necessary. It is also possible to have dual citizenship in Hungary.
If you have to deal with the questions of obtaining a residence permit on your own, you will encounter a number of difficulties. You will need an interpreter, in Hungary there is very little English in the migration service. All documents will have to be translated into Hungarian, and you will also have to pay for a lawyer. Legislation in Hungary is also not easy and not always the interpretation of laws is obvious.
Prices, housing and transport
Budapest ranks 169th in the ranking of cities by cost of living.
The city is divided into two halves, Buda and Pest, by the Danube River. There are 23 districts in the city. The prestigious districts are the second and twelfth. The worst district is the eighth, it has a very high crime rate and is not worth visiting.
It can take you several months to find a place to stay. Renting is cheap here, but there’s a lot of competition of seekers too, especially for long term rentals. The best time to look is June-July, but in the fall it will be difficult to find cheap and comfortable accommodation in nice areas. To search you can use such services: Ingatlan.com.
In decent comfortable and quiet areas a two-bedroom apartment will cost from HUF 200,000 per month. In simpler areas the rent will be less. In districts 6, 7, 8 a studio can be rented with a rent of HUF 176,000 per month. Also, there is a deposit of two months’ rent and will not be refunded if the tenant moves out early.
Total
Considering such factors as not very obvious laws, difficult to learn language, high taxes Budapest is a comfortable place to live: the best in the world development of transport infrastructure of public transport, pleasant climate, low prices for products and goods, the quality of which will satisfy even the most demanding consumers.
Hungary with a very developed IT-sector, you can find here a decent number of options to realize yourself as a developer.
Budapest itself has many beautiful places, bars, entertainment and it is very convenient to go to any other interesting place in Europe.
Write to us and our Alcor team will help you with all your difficulties. Which may arise and which we have described above.