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HATC SAMPLE EDITION:
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9th February, 2026
Alibaba charges 4.5% fee for Hungarian deliveries
China’s e-commerce group Alibaba has recently begun charging Hungarian customers an additional 4.5% fee listed on invoices as a "Hungary surcharge", Telex writes, citing a notification from a business client.
The surcharge applies to all product categories shipped to Hungary from September 16 and is charged in addition to VAT.
The company cited “changes in the county’s regulatory framework” for e-commerce platforms.
Telex suggested that the levy could indicate an agreement between Alibaba, which is used predominantly for B2B transactions, and the government, and that the state could also benefit from the surcharge.
However, the ministry rejected the report as misleading on Sunday, saying there was no such agreement with Alibaba.
“Any practice that misleads consumers by portraying unilateral corporate fees as government taxes or regulatory charges is unacceptable”, the ministry said, adding that the government will act decisively to protect consumers and uphold fair competition in online commerce.
The consumer protection authority will assess whether Alibaba’s disclosure of the fee complies with legal requirements or constitutes a deceptive practice, while the tax authority, NAV, will review the billing process for regulatory compliance.
For larger orders, the extra levy could represent a significant burden for companies using the platform, Telex writes.
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Sources regularly consulted, with abbreviations used in text: Népszabadság (N); Magyar Hírlap (MH); Világgazdaság (VG); Napi Gazdaság (NG); Magyar Nemzet (MN); Népszava (Nsz); Kossuth Rádió news (KR); nightly TV news (TV).
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