TBSZ (Tartós Befektetési Számla)

A Tartós Befektetési Számla (TBSZ) is a tax-advantaged long-term investment account for Hungarian tax residents. The main benefit is a reduced tax rate on investment returns, which is down to 10% after 3 years, and 0% after 5 years (from the standard 15%). With Lightyear, opening and holding a TBSZ account is completely free.

To be eligible, you must be over 18, a Hungarian tax resident, and reside in Hungary. To open the account, go to your profile and select "Add another account".

As Lightyear is a foreign provider, you are required by Hungarian law to declare your TBSZ account to NAV within 30 days of opening it. You’ll find out how to do it in this article.

Your TBSZ becomes active with your first deposit, and you can get started with as little as 25,000 HUF. The account then runs for 5 years from the end of the calendar year when you made that first deposit, also known as the collection year. The tax you pay on investment returns depends on when you withdraw. You can trade and convert freely within your TBSZ at any time, but withdrawing cash from the account before the 3 or 5 year marks affects your tax relief. You can make a partial withdrawal at the end of year 3.

*Social contribution tax only applies to accounts opened on or after 1 January 2025. Accounts opened before this date are exempt.

You can open one TBSZ with us per collection year (the calendar year in which you activate your account). During that year, you can make deposits into it. After the year ends, deposits are no longer possible. If you close your TBSZ account, you can't open a new one with Lightyear in the same collection year.

Opening a TBSZ each year will create a completely separate account with its own collection year, deposit window, and another 5-year period.

Deposits are only possible during your collection year. This is how to add money to your TBSZ:

1. Make a bank transfer into your general Lightyear account (see here how).
2. Once the money has arrived, select Deposit on your TBSZ Portfolio page and choose your general account balance as the payment method.
3. If you prefer to pay by card, you can do this directly from the TBSZ, without having to deposit into your general account first.

Because Lightyear is a foreign provider, you are legally required to declare your TBSZ account to NAV within 30 days of opening it. After your first deposit, we'll send you a step-by-step guide. We don't have visibility on whether NAV has received your declaration, so to help you stay on track, we'll send you reminders in the app throughout the 30-day window.

If your account isn't declared to NAV on time, we need to close it. If this happens, get in touch with our support team below this article.

We'll send you a tax certificate on the 31st of January of the year following your account expiry or closure.

Only Hungarian dividends are tax-exempt within a TBSZ, foreign dividends are not. As always, Lightyear can't give tax advice, so we recommend speaking to a local tax professional for anything specific to your situation. Read more about dividends in our article Dividend taxes.

To close your TBSZ account, first close all your positions and withdraw your funds. The app will guide you through the process when you initiate a transfer out to your main Lightyear account. Note that closing your TBSZ means you can't open a new one in the same collection year.

If you don't take any action, your TBSZ will automatically terminate after 5 years, and your holdings will move to your general Lightyear account. Alternatively, before the 5-year period ends, the TBSZ Agreement can be renewed to move all or some of your holdings into your new TBSZ account within Lightyear.

Incoming TBSZ transfers are not yet available, but we're actively working on it and will let you know when this becomes possible.

Due to Hungarian law, we're unable to pay interest on cash held in your TBSZ account. Hungarian law only allows banks to pass on interest within a TBSZ. We only pay interest on cash in your general Lightyear account.

Savings work on your TBSZ account just like on your general account. Savings is an investment product, it lets you invest in money market funds within your TBSZ. When you withdraw from your Savings, you're placing a sell order on the underlying fund, and the cash moves to your TBSZ cash balance. This transaction doesn't count as a TBSZ withdrawal, so your tax relief remains unaffected. Read more about this product here: Savings: Money Market Funds (MMFs).

See also: The only free TBSZ and TBSZ: who can open one?