It has been leaked that if Tisza were to win the election, they would impose severe austerity measures. The party would raise personal income taxes, abolish tax breaks, and ban Russian energy sources. The majority of Hungarians reject all elements of the Tisza package, a survey by Századvég found.

Péter Magyar builds on voter deception

Every week, the list of documents and leaked audio recordings proving that Tisza is preparing for widespread austerity measures but intends to keep them secret until the elections grows longer. At an event in Etyek, the party’s vice president warned the audience that they should not talk about tax increases because it would cause them to fail. Zoltán Tarr said that first “we must win the elections, and then anything is possible”. At another campaign event, György Surányi said that he does not recommend questioning the overhead cost reduction policy for the time being because it is a “hot topic”, but the issue could be raised after the elections.

Tisza is trying to keep his planned economic measures secret because they would significantly worsen the livelihoods of Hungarian households. Based on leaked plans and experts’ statements, the party would introduce a multi-rate tax system that would maintain the current 15% tax rate only up to a gross monthly income of HUF 416,000, applying tax rates of 22% and 33% above that amount. Three quarters of employees would be worse off as a result of the measure: even the majority of those earning below the average wage would see their salaries reduced. In addition, Tisza would also abolish tax breaks for at least 1 million families and hundreds of thousands of mothers and young people.

In his speech on 20 August, Péter Magyar announced that he would disconnect our country from Russian energy sources. By doing so, the leader of the Tisza Party would be complying with Brussels’ most important demand. Péter Magyar promised that detachment would provide greater independence and more favourable supply conditions for our country, but, like the tax plans, this too is a deception. The ban on Russian energy sources would lead to further dependence, a deterioration in security of supply and drastic price increases. Based on previous estimates by Századvég, the measure would increase residential electricity and gas bills by three and a half times their current level, which would mean an additional annual expense of HUF 510,000 for an average household, while fuel prices would rise above HUF 1,000.

Two thirds of Hungarians disagree with the Tisza package

The majority of the adult population has a negative opinion of all aspects of the Tisza package that were examined. Seven out of ten respondents disagree with the party’s plan for a three-tier tax system and the abolition of family tax allowances. 68% and 65% of Hungarians do not support the abolition of benefits for mothers and young people. In addition, rejection of the ban on Russian energy sources also reaches two-thirds.

The results confirm Zoltán Tarr’s fears: the elements of the Tisza package are indeed highly unpopular. However, it is unacceptable that the party is handling the situation by keeping the details of its manifesto secret, and in some cases even deliberately trying to mislead its voters, because the economic and social damage caused by the Tisza will also have to be suffered by those whom they manage to deceive.

• Methodology

CATI method, n = 1,000, among Hungarian adults, data collection: September 2025

The questions and possible answers asked during the survey were as follows.

  • According to the draft tax package published in the press, personal income tax for Hungarian citizens would increase. The plan to raise taxes is to introduce a higher personal income tax. This means that an employee with an average income would have to pay an additional HUF 584,241 in taxes per year. This would affect 3 million Hungarian employees. Do you agree or disagree that personal income tax should be raised?
    • Yes, I agree with raising personal income tax.
    • No, the current low personal income tax rate must be protected.
    • Don’t know / No answer
  • According to the draft tax plan published in the press, the government “provided excessive support to those who had children, so the new rule would discontinue the income tax exemption for mothers. This would affect more than 300,000 mothers. Do you agree or disagree that mothers should no longer be exempt from the personal income tax?
    • Yes, I consider support for mothers to be excessive and it should be abolished.
    • No, I think it is important to support mothers.
    • Don’t know / No answer
  • According to the draft tax bill published in the press, families will also be taxed more heavily, and the system of family tax allowances will be “tightened”. This would affect nearly 1 million Hungarian families. Do you agree or disagree that family tax allowances should be reduced?
    • Yes, families should also pay more tax.
    • No, family support must be protected.
    • Don’t know / No answer
  • The draft tax plan published in the press revealed that personal income tax exemptions for young people under the age of 25 would be abolished. This would affect nearly 260,000 young people. Do you agree or disagree that the tax exemption for young people should be taken away?
    • Yes, the personal income tax exemption for young people should be abolished.
    • No, young people should continue to be supported in starting their lives.
    • Don’t know / No answer
  • Which of the following statements do you agree with most?
    • Hungary should permanently stop purchasing Russian oil and gas, even if this leads to a significant increase in energy and petrol prices.
    • Hungary must maintain its trade relations with Russia in order to secure predictable energy prices for the country in the long term.
    • Don’t know / No answer