The government intervenes thoroughly in subsidies, so the changes affect families

On Tuesday night, the “Government Decree on the Amendment of Certain Family Matters Government Decrees” was published on the government’s website for social consultation. draftwhich would introduce a number of changes in the case of the baby loan and Csok Plusz.

According to the justification of the draft, the purpose of the amendments is families who have and are raising children
improvement of housing conditions, modifications that make it easier for users
introduction.

This is how family allowances would be made more flexible

Zsófia Koncz, State Secretary responsible for families at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) emphasized in her opening speech at the Kopp Mária Intézet a Népesedesért a Családokért (KINCS) conference on Wednesday that they are constantly investigating how they can make Hungarian family support even more flexible and comprehensive. In this regard, he also addressed the newly submitted amendments, from which he highlighted four areas.

The first major area of ​​the changes is that, in the case of the social security subsidy previously used for new residential property, the subsidy will also be transferred to the purchase of a used apartment.

The second area is the registration in the subsidized property, where they will provide an extra 60 days in addition to the existing deadline, because they see that this is what families need.

The third major area is that the deadline for applying for mortgage loan reduction support after childbirth or adoption is extended from half a year (180 days) to one year. Zsófia Koncz also emphasized that families can include the last six months of pregnancy, so basically they have a year and a half to do this.

The fourth change is that until December 31, 2024, parents of premature babies who were born at the end of last year can also use the Csok Plusz support, which can be applied for from January 2024, if the parents can prove with a medical opinion that they expected their child in 2024 , but he was born earlier than the announced date, in 2023.

In addition, the state secretary also reminded in his speech that the doubling of the family tax allowance in two steps is already underway.

What does the submitted package include?

A very important element of the draft legislation is that in the case of babysitting, the interest exemption can be applied again if a couple’s first child is born after the 5th year during the term.

This would remove the danger posed by the current legislation, according to which, after the first 5 years of the term, in the case of childlessness, the loan must be repaid at market interest, and a penalty must be paid to the state for the interest subsidy received up to that point.

According to the submitted proposal, the baby loan will become interest-free again from the repayment date of the month following the 12th week of pregnancy or the month following the decision authorizing adoption, and the family can also request a three-year suspension of the repayment obligation.

The draft legislation would also introduce similar simplifications in the event of a divorce: the interest-free loan can be applied again in the case of a new marriage after the 5th year, and the repayment obligation can be suspended here as well.

An important change is that you do not have to fulfill the subsequent conditions during the entire term of Csok Plusz. According to the current rules, the family must pay the interest subsidy received up to that point with penalty interest in the event that it sells, demolishes, gives its apartment to someone else for use or moves.

According to the new draft, these burdens would only apply for 10 years after the loan was taken out.

Regarding the existing property, it would mean a change that in the case of gifting or demolition based on the draft, the market value of the previously existing property must be invested in the purchase of the new one, which previously could be circumvented by giving the existing apartment to a relative/acquaintance for free by the applicant for the loan.

The rules for debt forgiveness are also changing, as currently there is HUF 10 million debt forgiveness for every baby from the second child onwards. However, there may be a case where there is no such outstanding debt from the loan.

If the debt did not already exist at the time of submitting the application for remission, then the support is up to the amount of the existing debt. And if the debt has decreased after the application was submitted, the family will receive the difference between the current outstanding debt and the debt existing at the time of submitting the application.

And if the current outstanding debt does not reach HUF 10 million, but there is still an amount to be disbursed from the loan, the entire outstanding debt will be forgiven immediately, and the remaining part of the HUF 10 million will be forgiven in the next installment.

The current rules already made it possible for the borrower’s close relative to use the apartment, and according to the draft, this relative could now establish a residence or a place to stay in the property.