Fresh Protests Against Tax Reform Rock Hungary’s Capital

Massive rallies against an unpopular tax reform have continued in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, where several thousand protesters gathered near the parliament building on Wednesday afternoon, many of them independent entrepreneurs affected by the changes.

After the official rally organized by the opposition Momentum party, most of the protesters marched through central Budapest chanting: "We've had enough", and occupying main traffic arteries in the rush hour. In the evening, the protesters headed to Prime Minister Viktor Orban's office, and by dawn on Thursday, several hundred people still occupied one of the bridges over the Danube.

Police detained the co-president of the opposition Two-Tailed Dog Party Gergo Kovacs for blocking a road. His party colleague, Zsuzsanna Dome, was handcuffed.

Opposition Two-Tailed Dog Party politicians, Gergo Kovacs and Zsuzsanna Dome were taken by the police in the early hours of Thursday. Source: YouTube/Jeti Válasz.

The protest, following another big demonstration on Tuesday, was the first significant show of discontent with Viktor Orban's Fidesz party government since it was re-elected with a supermajority in April.

The Small Taxpayers' Itemised Tax, KATA, was the most popular way for almost 400,000 small businesses and self-employed to pay their taxes due to its simple administration and low tax rate.

But Orban's government is facing serious economic challenges. Inflation is at its highest level in 20 years, the currency plunged to record lows in recent weeks and EU funds remain in limbo amid an ongoing dispute with Brussels over democratic standards.

KATA will in future only be available to full-time self-employed individuals providing services or selling products to...