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Eszter Kálmán

Senior Counsel and Head of Tax

Portrait ofEszter Kálmán

Eszter Kálmán

Senior Counsel and Head of Tax

Contact
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Hungarian Branch Office
YBL Palace
Károlyi utca 12
1053 Budapest
Hungary
Languages Hungarian, English, French

Eszter Kálmán is Senior Counsel and Head of the Tax Practice at CMS Budapest, with 20 years’ experience in tax law.

Eszter has extensive experience in VAT issues and tax driven corporate restructurings. She has been advising major domestic and international clients on various tax issues including mergers and acquisitions, tax structuring projects, VAT disputes, transfer pricing, state subsidy issues as well as day-to-day compliance issues. She represents clients in several tax litigation cases, especially in the field of VAT.

She is an active member of the European VAT Club, an association of independent VAT specialists. In addition to being a member of the Budapest Bar, Eszter is also a registered tax advisor.

Eszter is recommended by Chambers and Legal 500 in the Tax category.

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"Eszter Kálmán’s knowledge of tax law is unique in the Hungarian legal market, but she also excels in providing and communicating comprehensive, in-depth analyses and solutions to problems."

Legal 500, 2023

"Eszter always provides high-quality advice and we rely heavily on her expertise. She is very commercially-minded and understands the complexity of risk management. She is also well aware of how and when to approach the tax authorities."

Legal 500, 2022

"She was outstanding in providing legal advice as required – seems to have a good understanding of both the economy in general and the market in question."

Legal 500, 2022

"A high-profile taxation lawyer with an exceptionally helpful attitude."

Chambers Europe 2022

"She is responsive and stands up under pressure."

Chambers, 2021

"Sources describe department head Eszter Kálmán as "very experienced tax lawyer" and to be a "very smart practitioner"."

Chambers, 2020

"Eszter Kálmán is positive, responsive and always available at short notice."

Legal 500, 2020

"Eszter Kálmán’s knowledge of tax law is unique in the Hungarian legal market, but she also excels in providing and communicating comprehensive, in-depth analyses and solutions to problems."

Legal 500, 2023

"Eszter always provides high-quality advice and we rely heavily on her expertise. She is very commercially-minded and understands the complexity of risk management. She is also well aware of how and when to approach the tax authorities."

Legal 500, 2022

"She was outstanding in providing legal advice as required – seems to have a good understanding of both the economy in general and the market in question."

Legal 500, 2022

"A high-profile taxation lawyer with an exceptionally helpful attitude."

Chambers Europe 2022

"She is responsive and stands up under pressure."

Chambers, 2021

"Sources describe department head Eszter Kálmán as "very experienced tax lawyer" and to be a "very smart practitioner"."

Chambers, 2020

"Eszter Kálmán is positive, responsive and always available at short notice."

Legal 500, 2020

Relevant experience

  • A major German OEM company on tax and state subsidy matters regarding its greenfield investment in Hungary worth over EUR 1bn.
  • SRF on the construction of its greenfield manufacturing plant including tax and state subsidy advice.
  • Goodman on the development of the largest, multi-billion-forint greenfield logistics facility in Hungary, regarding VAT and transfer tax matters arising on selling its entire Hungarian portfolio.
  • Liberty Global on the sale of its Hungarian operations to Vodafone, worth EUR 18.4bn. Tax contribution included a review and discussion of a tax disclosure document and tax warranties.
  • Hypo Noe Landesbank AG on the reorganisation of its business model regarding cross-border banking services in Hungary. Tax assistance comprised of analysing the tax status of the Hungarian representative under Hungarian and international taxation rules.
  • A subsidiary of an Irish airline company on the reorganisation of its CEE operations. Tax advice consisted of structuring how to employ tax staff and prepare tax models for the pilots. Our mandate continued with tax advice on the Government’s COVID-19 related measures for the aviation sector and their applicability to the client.
  • A multinational energy corporation in a cross-border gas repo transaction over storage gas where the actual natural gas was stored in a customs warehouse in Hungary and in other eligible facilities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Tax assistance covered advising on specific VAT issues relating to certain gas trading scenarios.
  • A major renewable energy company on the planned acquisition of a PV project portfolio which includes a 20 MW project, at an early development phase, located in west Hungary, including a due diligence report covering a corporate and tax review of the SPV and legal work regarding the joint development agreement.
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Memberships & Roles

  • Member, Budapest Bar Associations
  • Member, The European VAT Club
  • Member, IFA
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Publications

  • EKÁER’s grace period has been extended (article in Hungarian) – Napi Gazdaság
  • The “Tóth”-case (summary and comments)-Highlights & Insights on European Taxation
  • The “Klub OOD” case (summary and comments)-Highlights & Insights on European Taxation
  • The “Mecsek Gabona” case (summary and comments)-Highlights & Insights on European Taxation
  • The “Pannon-Gép” case (summary and comments)-Highlights & Insights on European Taxation
  • The “Commission vs France and Luxembourg cases re e-books” (summary and comments)-Highlights & Insights on European Taxation
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Education

  • 2018 - Postgraduate degree in Economics, University of Corvinus, Budapest, Hungary
  • 1999 - Doctor of Law, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
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Expertise

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