A Tartós Befektetési Számla (TBSZ) is a Hungarian investment account that helps you grow your money more tax-efficiently. We're happy to offer it to eligible customers, and because the account is tied directly to Hungarian tax law, there are clear rules on who that is.
What do I need to open a TBSZ?
You'll need to:
- Live in Hungary: your everyday life is physically based in Hungary
- Have Hungary as your tax country on your Lightyear account
- Have no other tax country listed on your account
Your tax country is usually where you actually live, work, and pay taxes on your income. If you live in Hungary full-time, that's Hungary.
Citizenship vs. tax country: what's the difference?
A Hungarian passport or address card (lakcímkártya) isn't enough to open a TBSZ on its own — citizenship and tax residency are two different things, and they're not always the same country.
Here's how it works in different situations:
- You live and work in Hungary full-time: you can open a TBSZ. Your daily life and your taxes are both in Hungary.
- You're a Hungarian citizen, but live and work abroad: you can't open a TBSZ. Tax residency follows where you actually live, not what passport you hold.
- You live abroad but kept your Hungarian address card: you can't open a TBSZ. An address card on its own doesn't make Hungary your tax country if your daily life is somewhere else.
Hungarian tax law does treat citizens as tax residents as a starting point. But if you move abroad, tax agreements between countries usually decide where you're actually resident, and they generally give priority to where your real home and life are, not your passport. If your main income and taxes are elsewhere, the TBSZ advantage doesn't apply, and that's why we can't only offer a TBSZ if your everyday life is not based in Hungary.
Why is my tax information asked?
As a regulated investment platform, we're required to collect tax residency information from every customer and report account details to the tax authorities of the country where you're tax resident. The information you give us needs to match your real situation so that reporting is correct.
There's also a practical reason: TBSZ benefits only work within Hungary's tax system. If you live and pay taxes in another country, the wrapper may not give you the benefit it's designed for because you'd still need to follow the tax rules of the country where you live.
Changing my tax country on Lightyear
You can update your tax country if your living situation genuinely changes, for example, if you move to Hungary. What you can't do is change it just to unlock a TBSZ, since the information on your account needs to reflect your real situation.
I’m not sure where I’m tax resident
Tax rules can get complicated, especially if you've recently moved or have ties to more than one country. We can't give you tax advice, so if you're unsure about your situation, speak to a qualified tax professional, or contact the tax authority in the country where you live (in Hungary, that's NAV).
See also TBSZ (Tartós Befektetési Számla)