Hungary rolls out e-system to control goods movements

According to the source, the measure is designed to boost transparency in the movement of goods, combat food product related fraud, and reduce tax evasion. This new system, developed by the Tax and Customs Authority and based on the generation of a e-document (XML) and its remote submission, is designated EKÁER (Electronic Trade and Transport Control System) and must now be used for submissions to the administration.

The EKÁER system is currently in a test phase, scheduled for completion by March 1, 2015. In other words, as of that date, taxpayers who do not comply with these rules will be sanctioned by the Hungarian authorities. The measure affects not only domestic goods, but also those transported from Hungary to any European Union country.

With the implementation of this e-document, the route of the products and their features (name and quantity of the goods, recipient, sender, and other) is recorded. Although there are some exceptions, in general it is necessary to notify the authorities of the following activities. The first one is the purchase or importation of products from any country in the European Union into Hungary. In this case, the recipient of the goods is responsible for submitting the declaration.

The second activity is represented by the sale or export of items from Hungarian territory to other European Union member countries. The sender or shipper will be responsible for notifying the authorities. The third activity is represented by the initial sales of taxable products to end users in the domestic trading area, when carried out with vehicles subject to tolls (i.e. vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons). In the case of road freight of hazardous goods, it is mandatory to declare them even when they are not transported with a vehicle liable to tolls (weighing less than 3.5 tons). In this type of activity, the shipper is responsible for filing the declaration.

Once the goods have been declared, the Tax and Customs Authority provides the EKÁER code. Then, the person receiving it shall notify the carrier by any means, so that they have the identifier to hand during the review by the authority.