The Ombudsman on registered partners' tax and duty allowances, on interpretative disputes

Registered partners shall be entitled to the same tax and duty allowances that are guaranteed by the law to married couples, concluded the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights while investigating a petition submitted by a civil society organization. The Ombudsman also warned that the Ministry for National Economy (MNE) and the National Tax and Customs Administration (NTCA) levy a significant duty on real property received as a gift or inherited by a widowed registered partner as a result of incorrect interpretation of the law.

In the course of his investigation, László Székely requested the Ministry of Justice to interpret the law, and the MoJ asked for the opinion of the Ministry of Human Capacities. According to the two Ministries' common position, registered partners shall be entitled to the same (tax, labor, social, immigration, naturalization etc.) allowances, defined by sectoral legislation, as married couples.

In his report, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights highlighted a provision of the Act on registered partnership, according to which any provisions of any legal regulation, applicable to married couples, should also be applied to registered partners as well, unless the Act on registered partnership stipulates otherwise or contains any explicit restriction. In accordance with the above, the Act on registered partnership lists all cases when rules different from those applicable to married couples should be followed (determination of a person's surname, joint adoption, reproductive procedures). In all other areas of the law, all provisions relevant to married couples shall be automatically applied to registered partners as well. Therefore, interpretation of the law by the MNE and the NTCA deprives the above provision of its substance and leads to the lowering of the level of legal protection.

In his report, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights also pointed out that interpretation of the law by the Ministry for National Economy and the tax authority infringes on the requirements of legal certainty and equal treatment, guaranteed by the Fundamental Law, and penalizes people living in registered partnership, as well as persons belonging to any sexual minority. That is why the Commissioner asked the heads of the two institutions to implement the law unequivocally, and requested the head of the tax authority to have all gift and inheritance duties collected on the basis of the incorrect interpretation of the law refunded.