Cafeteria 2027: looking back and ahead – what changed this year, and what can we expect next year?
For cafeteria benefits, 2026 was a year of stability: the public charges did not change, the SZÉP Card allowance stayed at HUF 450,000 a year, and the new items were targeted additions and clarifications rather than changes to the core rules. As a result, most employers could carry their 2025 policy forward with minor adjustments.
Yet one of the year’s most visible developments did not come from the tax law: in the summer the renewed MOL Bubi returned to Budapest, making the tax-free provision of public bike sharing a live option again. Meanwhile there is still nothing concrete about the 2027 rules, as other matters took priority after the new government was formed in the spring.
What was new in 2026?
The 2026 changes affected narrow groups or specific uses; the foundations of the system remained untouched. The most important ones in brief:
| What’s new | Who it affects | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Home support (Otthontámogatás) | Public sector employees | HUF 1 million a year towards mortgage repayments or a down payment, taxed as a fringe benefit (28%); the provider pays the charges |
| Housing support for law enforcement | Law enforcement staff | Up to HUF 1.8 million a year towards rent, with no age limit; not for loan repayments |
| SZÉP Card for groceries | All SZÉP Card holders | Between 1 December 2025 and 30 April 2026, groceries could also be bought in designated shops |
| SZÉP Card for home renovation | All SZÉP Card holders | From 2026 the SZÉP Card can no longer be used for this |
| Electric bicycles | Employers, employees | The power limit for e-bikes that can be provided tax-free rose to 750 W |
| Value thresholds | Everyone | Limits tied to the minimum wage were aligned with the HUF 322,800 monthly minimum wage |
Bubi is back – and with it a lesser-known tax-free option
The second generation of MOL Bubi said goodbye on 5 March 2026, and the renewed system went live on 3 August with a new operator and electrically assisted bikes. According to BKK’s plans, the fleet will grow to 3,300 bikes, 800 of them electric. Since the end of September, holders of a BudapestGO pass valid for at least 30 days can ride for half an hour free of charge ten times a month.
From a cafeteria perspective this matters because an employer can provide bicycle use tax-free through a public bike-sharing service. The condition is strict: the rental invoice must be issued in the employer’s name. If the employee rents in their own name and the company reimburses the fee afterwards, it is no longer tax-free but counts as a subsidy.
What hasn’t changed: the stable foundations
- annual SZÉP Card allowance
- HUF 450,000
- charges on fringe benefits
- 28%
- charges on certain specified benefits
- 33.04%
The structure of the 2026 system matched that of 2025: the same benefit categories and the same public charges apply. On fringe benefits the employer pays 15% personal income tax and 13% social contribution tax, 28% in total; the charges on certain specified benefits are 33.04%.
For employers and employees alike this meant predictability: the items introduced in 2025 (student loan repayment, zoo tickets, housing support for young people) had by 2026 become established and increasingly popular parts of benefit packages and of employees’ everyday lives. Nor did the system lose economic weight: Hungarians spend close to HUF 500 million from their SZÉP Cards in a year.
2027: wait and see
As of early October there is still nothing concrete about the 2027 cafeteria rules, and nothing has leaked about drastic changes to the current conditions or about new items or conditions being added. This is no surprise: the first months of the new government formed after the spring election were taken up by the 2026 supplementary budget and by putting public finances in order.
What we know now:
- Any changes affecting cafeteria benefits are expected to appear during November, in the October tax package or in the proposals linked to the budget.
- Value thresholds tied to the minimum wage (such as the tax-free allowance for cultural and sports tickets) will change automatically with the 2027 minimum wage.
- Under the current rules, Home support can be claimed once a year from 2027.
The final rules are therefore likely to become known only in November–December, after the parliamentary votes, as is usual. That is the period to plan for finalising the 2027 cafeteria policy.
The uncertainty is no reason to put things off, though: building on the 2026 rules, most of the 2027 planning can start now.
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