eVAT 2027: who prepares and files your Hungarian VAT return?

What changes in January 2027?

Two things change at once: the return has to be filed in eVAT, and it is built from transaction-level data. In eVAT, NAV compiles a draft return from the data it already holds (invoice data, e-receipts, online cash register data and customs data), and your team reviews it, completes it and submits it. The system has been running since 2024. Because it does not hold all the data a return needs, NAV also allows companies to load a return they have prepared themselves into eVAT. This was needed because from 2027 VAT returns can only be filed through eVAT, either on its interface or through an eVAT system-to-system (M2M) connection.

Whichever route you take, every transaction type in the business has to be assigned the right NAV standard tax code. This task carries real responsibility, and NAV’s own preparation guidance calls it an essential step. Without sound VAT expertise, systemic errors can develop and lead to unwanted consequences later, so professional support for the tax code mapping is strongly recommended.

How should the return be filed?

The choice depends on your monthly transaction volume and your existing systems, and three options are available.

Web interface

Your team reviews and completes the draft return in eVAT and submits it there. This works when volumes are manageable and one person can check the draft.

XML upload to the web interface

Your team prepares the return in the eVAT interface, but loads the data as an XML file: the VAT analytics you use today are converted to NAV’s standard VAT analytics structure, and the return is built from that file.

System-to-system connection (M2M)

Your systems send the data to eVAT automatically, which requires a technical user with signing and exchange keys and some interface development. With several entities and high transaction volumes, this is usually the realistic choice.

What should you test before the first return on eVAT?

NAV recommends trying out the individual functions before the first return is prepared. In practice that means four things:

• whether the tax code mapping holds up on a set of typical transactions, including the exceptions;
• how your team handles NAV’s ERROR and WARNING messages;
• whether you can take a correction all the way from the draft return to a resubmitted return;
• for a system-to-system connection, whether the technical user’s permissions and keys work.

If the process is not thought through and set up in advance, the VAT return may be filed incorrectly or miss the statutory deadline.

Why does this need a group-level decision?

Three parts of this sit above the Hungarian entity and need an owner at group level.

Budget

If the tax coding structure needs redesigning, the cost lands in the ERP, and the ERP is rarely a local budget line.

The ERP template

If one template serves several countries, a change for Hungary either stays a local exception that someone has to maintain, or becomes a template change that touches entities with no Hungarian obligation.

Risk ownership

From January, someone has to file, respond to NAV’s error messages and run corrections against a statutory deadline. If nobody is named, it falls to whoever holds the access.

Who should prepare the data, and who should file?

This decides how much work stays with your team from January. You can split the tasks with a provider in four ways, from filing entirely in-house to a full compliance service.

Client-managed submission

Your team prepares the VAT analytics and the return and files it through the eVAT web interface. For a smooth transition, Process Solutions can support the readiness review, the tax code mapping and filing through the eVAT web interface.

Client-operated provider platform

Your finance team prepares the VAT analytics, and filing runs on a platform that supports a system-to-system connection, operated by your team. The provider supplies the platform, onboarding and technical support.

Managed submission

Your team hands over a ready-to-file data package in a format and content agreed in advance. The provider files it, handles NAV’s system messages and coordinates corrections.

Full VAT compliance service

Your team hands over the accounting and source data, and the provider handles every related task, from preparing the VAT analytics to filing the return, regardless of who does the bookkeeping.

Which option fits your organisation?

Four questions settle it: the number of VAT-relevant transactions, the source of the data, your team’s spare capacity, and how ready your accounting software is, including the cost of any development.

What is your monthly transaction volume?

If one person can still review the draft return, the web interface may be enough. It also has a technical limit: files larger than 120 MB cannot be uploaded to the eVAT web interface, and above that a system-to-system (M2M) connection is the solution.

Where does the data come from?

The sources stay the same as those your VAT analytics are built from today. Collecting the data into NAV’s standard analytics structure and checking it against NAV’s requirements, however, means rethinking parts of the business process.

Is there spare capacity in your team?

Tax code mapping and testing run in parallel with year-end close, so introducing a new process smoothly can be a strain where the team is already fully stretched.

What will software development cost?

The tax obligations, including filing the return, stay with your company, and contractual liability can cover penalties only in part. For that reason, reliable software support or an external service provider is worth considering.

Most finance leaders can answer the volume and data-source questions from memory. Tax code mapping is where the difficulty usually lies, and it will be needed whichever option you choose.

Why start with a readiness review?

The first thing to establish is what data the return needs and in what format. The second is whether that data is available in full and at the right quality. The third is mapping each transaction type accurately to NAV’s standard tax codes.

This means tracing the business process end to end and optimising it, knowing how many manual steps today’s return goes through. If you choose the wrong filing option for 2027, year-end close leaves no time for the switch, the testing and the team’s preparation.

The review looks at three things:

• how the return is produced today, which systems feed it, and where the manual steps are;
• whether your tax codes map to NAV’s standard tax codes, and which ones need an individual rule;
• whether you can run the full process from the draft return to a corrected return.

The result shows where you stand today and which of the four models is realistic for you.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between eVAT and the VAT return?

The VAT return is the taxpayer’s obligation; eVAT is NAV’s electronic system, the tool in which the company prepares and files the return. People often call it an “eVAT return”, meaning a VAT return filed through eVAT.

Will ÁNYK be discontinued in 2027?

From 2027, VAT returns can no longer be filed through ÁNYK. The program stays in use, because according to NAV, self-revisions of returns originally filed in ÁNYK can only be submitted through ÁNYK. For more on what the switch-off means in practice, read our article on the phase-out of ÁNYK and the challenges of transition.

Does this affect a small Hungarian entity?

Yes, though for a small, straightforward entity the web interface with limited preparation is often enough. The review is still worth doing, because it confirms that the simple answer is available.

Do we have to change our group ERP?

You do not need to replace your ERP. You do need to check whether the tax codes you use today map to NAV’s standard tax codes, and in most cases that is a transformation exercise that does not require a system change. Process Solutions experts can help set up the correct tax codes to prevent a potential tax audit.

What is a system-to-system (M2M) connection, and does every company need one?

A system-to-system connection is automatic data transfer between your systems and eVAT without manual intervention, and it requires an API connection. Not every company needs one: with lower transaction volumes, the web interface is a workable route.

What is the eÁFA Tool, and who is it for?

The eÁFA Tool is NAV’s preparation application, an XML generator, not a separate filing channel. It turns data prepared in an Excel template into an XML file for upload through the web interface, or into a system-to-system export file. It helps where volumes are small and the set-up is simple.

Can the VAT return be outsourced if bookkeeping stays in-house?

Yes, VAT return preparation and filing can be outsourced while bookkeeping stays in-house. Process Solutions takes it on in that case too.

How long does a transition take?

How long the transition takes depends on transaction volumes, the number of entities, the state of the data and the capacity available. The readiness review establishes whether all the data needed to meet the VAT filing obligation is available in the right form.

The Process Solutions readiness review can be requested on its own, without committing to any other service. Once it is done, you know which model to prepare for in the fourth quarter and how much work that means for your team.

Request a readiness review

Tax advisory and legal interpretation are not part of the standard technology and implementation scope and can be addressed separately where required.