Price it in your money
Tell me where you live now and what you spend a month, and every cost here becomes your number — the same life, priced country by country, in your own currency.
A guide, not a quote. I move your monthly spend by each country’s official price level (Eurostat and the World Bank, whole-economy, EU-27 = 100) — no exchange rates, so it stays in your own currency. But averages hide rent and the city you pick, and changing country is rarely a straight swap. Read these as the right ballpark, then price the real thing.
EU-27 = 100 · 2025. Living in Hungary runs about 22% cheaper than the EU average.
Eurostat (prc_ppp_ind) / World Bank, 2025, CC BY 4.0. Whole-economy price level — country averages hide big regional and rent spread.
A €2,500 a month reference life runs about €1,940 a month here — roughly €23,280 a year, and a ×30 number near €698,000.
The reference life the calculators use, scaled by the index above — the same whole-economy figure, a guide not a quote.
Where in Europe
Continental — cold winters, hot summers.
a new-build asking price
in Budapest — about €840/mo for 70 m²
a roof here, against the EU-27 average
In Hungary, buy prices are up 267% since 2015 (+18.3% last year); rents up 105% since 2015.
Read these as the shape, not the price. Housing is the most divergent cost in Europe, and a national average buries the thing that actually decides it — the city, the street, new-build against old. Treat it as a ballpark, then price the real place. Not property or mortgage advice.
Buy price and rent: Deloitte Property Index 2025 (14th ed., 2024 data). Level vs the EU: Eurostat comparative price level for housing (prc_ppp_ind, EU-27 = 100, 2024). Trend: Eurostat house price index and actual-rentals index (2015 = 100, 2025).
The rules that matter for an exit.
Gains on listed shares and exchange-traded funds are taxed at a flat 15% — and, sold through a broker on a regulated EEA or OECD exchange (the US counts), they escape the separate 13% social tax entirely. The catch is the instrument: a fund unit redeemed straight from a bank rather than traded on an exchange is taxed as interest — 15% plus the 13% on top.
The long-term investment account (TBSZ) is the headline. Fund it in its opening year, leave it untouched, and the tax falls with time: broken early it runs up to 28%, lighter after three years, and after five full years — nothing, income tax and social charge both. Roll it into a fresh one and the tax-free status carries on. (Accounts opened before 2025 never pay the social charge at all.)
Dividends take 15% plus the 13% social tax — though EEA-listed dividends are spared the 13%, and the social charge is capped. An accumulating fund sidesteps the question: nothing is taxed until you sell.
No wealth tax, and no exit tax on individuals leaving.
Duty of 18% in general (9% on homes) — but transfers to the direct line and the surviving spouse are fully exempt, so most family estates pass duty-free.
The social tax on early exit from the account is recent — 2025, and only for accounts opened since — and the forint thresholds re-price every January, so date-check the fine print. Confirm your exact broker-and-fund counts as an exchange trade before you rely on skipping the 13%.
Can you actually move here?
Hold an EU or EEA passport and the door isn't the question — freedom of movement covers the move itself. The clocks and the tax-residency rules below still run for you.
With your passport, skip the doors — the clocks and the tax-residency rules are what matter for you.
No EU passport means one of the doors on the left — each checked against the authority that issues it.
No passive-income category — the White Card wants active remote work (€3,000/mo net) and is barred from ever becoming permanent residence.
Open on paper — €250,000 into approved real-estate funds for a 10-year permit — but thin in practice: few approved funds, few applications, and advisors calling it stalled.
permanent residency at 3 yrs · dual allowed · a naturalisation exam in Hungarian on constitutional basics — the de facto language test
as the fallback; a permanent home or your centre of vital interests decides first
Hungary's doors are newer than they look and narrower than advertised: the nomad White Card can never convert to settlement, and the guest-investor permit — ten years for €250,000 in fund units — is open in law but stalled in practice, with barely any approved funds. The national residence card at three years is Europe's fastest settlement clock, if you arrive through a door that qualifies for it.
The guest-investor programme is the thing to watch — advisors flagged it as stalled in mid-2026 and the direct-property option was scrapped before launch; confirm its state before counting on it.
Check it yourself: OIF — guest investor permit · PwC — Hungary tax residence
Getting-in rules checked July 2026. They move faster than tax law — confirm the current rule with the authority before you plan a move around it. Education, not immigration advice.
A non-working resident buys state care for HUF 12,300 a month (2026) — but only after a year of continuous registered Hungarian address; until then it's private cover or a paid agreement with the county office.
Private cover: permits (the White Card included) require full health insurance or proven means.
Healthcare access checked July 2026. Systems are stable but details shift — confirm before you rely on them. Education, not health-insurance advice.
Common questions
- What is the tax on ETF and share gains in Hungary?
- Gains on listed shares and exchange-traded funds are taxed at a flat 15% — and, when sold through a broker on a regulated EEA or OECD exchange (the US counts), they escape the separate 13% social tax entirely. A fund unit redeemed straight from a bank rather than traded on an exchange is taxed as interest instead — 15% plus the 13% on top — so confirm your exact broker-and-fund counts as an exchange trade before you rely on skipping the 13%.
- How does Hungary's TBSZ long-term investment account get taxed?
- Fund the TBSZ in its opening year and leave it untouched, and the tax falls with time: broken early it runs up to 28%, lighter after three years, and after five full years nothing — income tax and social charge both. Roll it into a fresh account and the tax-free status carries on.
- How are dividends taxed in Hungary?
- Dividends take 15% plus the 13% social tax, though EEA-listed dividends are spared the 13% and the social charge is capped.
- Does Hungary have a wealth tax or an exit tax?
- No wealth tax, and no exit tax on individuals leaving.
- Can an American or a Brit retire early in Hungary?
- No passive-income category — the White Card wants active remote work (€3,000/mo net) and is barred from ever becoming permanent residence. An EU or EEA passport skips the visa question entirely — freedom of movement covers the move itself. Confirm with the immigration authority — routes open and close.
- How long until a Hungary passport?
- 8 years of legal residence is the general naturalisation rule, with a naturalisation exam in Hungarian on constitutional basics — the de facto language test. Dual citizenship is allowed. Permanent residency usually comes at 3 years.
Run your own numbers.
The Exit Calculator
Years to your number, at your savings rate.
OpenWhere You Live
What an annual wealth tax does to the maths — illustrative, deliberately.
OpenThe Geoarbitrage Map
The same life, priced across 58 countries.
OpenThe whole system — wrappers, funds, withdrawal, the blank page — is in the guide: The European FIRE guide
None of this is tax or investment advice — it's education, kept deliberately at the level that survives fact-checking. Rules shift with every budget round; the specifics of your situation belong with a licensed adviser in your country. I'm happily not one.
This page was last verified against official sources on 9 July 2026. What's changed on the map
Know a figure here that’s wrong or out of date? Point me to the line and a source — every correction gets checked, and it’s how the map stays right.
Report a correctionBring me a challenge.
The Exit Audit, then ninety minutes: a straight verdict, real alternatives with their pros and cons, and your first move. If you want someone to nod along, I’m the wrong person to pay.
Ninety minutes, online, €600 — the Exit Audit included.