Hungary has reduced VAT on prescription-only medicines from 5% to zero from 1 September, cutting the final price paid for qualifying medicines without reducing the underlying pre-tax manufacturer price.
The measure was announced in July and subsequently enacted through Act XL of 2026. The saving applies across prescription-only medicines, although its distribution differs according to how each medicine is funded.
Patients who pay all or part of a medicine’s price therefore benefit directly. For reimbursed medicines, lower gross prices translate into lower patient charges where co-payment is linked to the reimbursed price. The National Health Insurance Fund Management (Nemzeti Egészségbiztosítási Alapkezelő, NEAK) has confirmed that this also applies to medicines already receiving individual-equity reimbursement. Existing gross prices and reimbursement amounts are recalculated to remove the previous VAT component, with the resulting difference reflected in the patient charge.
Where medicines are fully publicly funded, including qualifying hospital medicines, the saving instead accrues to the health system. Non-prescription medicines remain subject to VAT even when prescribed for reimbursement purposes.
The reform therefore uses tax policy as a direct affordability measure alongside Hungary’s existing price and reimbursement controls, reducing patient out-of-pocket expenditure on qualifying prescription medicines while lowering payer costs and without directly cutting manufacturers’ pre-tax prices.
Source: National Health Insurance Fund Management, NEAK
Link: Tájékoztató a 2026. szeptember 1-től hatályos ÁFA csökkentés alkalmazásáról az egyedi méltányossági engedély alapján támogatott, kizárólag orvosi rendelvényhez kötött gyógyszerek tb. támogatásának összegéről és térítési díjáról(Information on application of the VAT reduction effective from 1 September 2026 to social-insurance reimbursement and patient charges for prescription-only medicines reimbursed under individual-equity approval)
Date: 1 September 2026
Source: National Tax and Customs Administration and Ministry of Finance
Link: Tájékoztató a vényköteles gyógyszerek adómértékéről (Information on the tax rate for prescription medicines)
Date: 1 September 2026
Source: Hungarian Parliament
Link: 2026. évi XL. törvény az általános forgalmi adóról szóló 2007. évi CXXVII. törvény módosításáról (Act XL of 2026 amending Act CXXVII of 2007 on value added tax)
Date: 13 August 2026
