Making pálinka, the national eau de vie, at home will be a tax-free activity from January 1, András Tállai, state secretary at the finance ministry, told MTI on Sunday.
“The freedom fight around pálinka has ended with a Hungarian victory,” Tállai said, and hailed a European Union amendment facilitating the government’s decision.
Since 2016, home producers have been required to purchase a 700 forint (EUR 2) distillate stamp for every litre of palinka distilled for private consumption. At present, 27,000 Hungarian households have distilleries, and in the first 9 months of this year producers bought 69,000 such stamps, Tállai said.
From January, households will be allowed to make an annual 86 litres of fruit distillate for their own consumption tax free, while they will no longer be required to buy the stamps, either, Tállai said. He added that producers will not be allowed to sell the beverage.
Featured photo illustration by Tamás Vasvári/MTI
