It is hard to leave this post without response. Both because I am Hungarian, and also because I happen to be an entrepreneur.
The only reason I think this post deserves a response is because it seems you haven't started your business yet.
So here is my advice: don't do it. Just don't.
Not because of the taxes, but because of your utter lack of respect towards your future employees. If what's really holding you back is that you couldn't deliberately fire them, I see no reason why you would even want to hire them in the first place.
I think what you don't realize is that you as an employer would become responsible for your people. They would depend on you and their monthly salary, and I think if you see your employees as some company assets you can just get rid of as soon as things get tough, you really shouldn't hire anyone to begin with.
I would like to believe you are slightly distorting reality to shake things up. But if you are actually serious about founding a business, I would suggest you do not hire your 12 males in their twenties right in the beginning, instead, you hire a few people you actually _want_ to work with, and pay them a decent salary.
And pay the taxes, as high as they are. Just because _you_ would be happier with lower taxes, does not mean that it would help the country's economy.
Maybe try innovating and charging more instead of low-balling.
I am well aware of this type of criticsm, because I've already got it with the original, Hungarian post. I could have rephrased it to avoid some of the misunderstanding. But I didn't change a word, only translated to English what has already provoked a lot of thought.
In fact during my long life as an entrepreneur I employed more people than most of my harshest critics. Most of my employees were actually women. I treated them with great respect and I'd like to believe they're thinking about me as a good boss.
In fact, this post isn't really about me. It's about something much bigger than me. I know it's provocative, over simplifies many things, even populist if you will. It's not an academic lecture. It's how many smallbusiness owners feel about an environment that is leathaly poisoned by corruption. In which being honest makes you very uncompetitive.
I get a lot of advice about how to survive under these circumstances, how to trick the system, how to avoid employees stealing my (intellectual) property, how to do business. In fact, that wasn't my point. I know all that. I'm fine, in fact I'm one of the last persons who will not be fine in Hungary.
In fact I don't mind high taxes and strong social security. What I'm worried about is that it's ok for others not paying these duties, and they make honest smallbusinesses uncompetitive. Among many other things that make this society really, badly, deeply screwed up.
So badly, that Hungary is now marching towards national socialism. Something, that every intellectual should fight tough against. And that's what I'll try to do with my blog.
Yes, I get advice on how to cheat the system, too. But it does not mean it's the only way to succeed.
Maybe I'm an odd case, but I have managed to build a business where I can still respect and pay my employees properly, where I could be happy if someone was having a baby, and where I pay my taxes properly. And I still make a profit.
Yes, maybe I would earn more otherwise. But I have always seen it as a choice, and my integrity and the well-being of others was more important.
My point was only that the system is not _that_ bad that you wouldn't have a choice. Of course, that choice is yours to make.
I'm not saying, that it's _that_ bad, that it's actually _impossible_ for everybody, in every case. It it _was_ that bad, it would be too bad. :) It would mean, there would not be any companies left. My point is, goverments should not promote the idea, that employers and employees are enemies. Because they're not. Or as somebody here has put it, "business are people". I am, for one.
It is hard to leave this post without response. Both because I am Hungarian, and also because I happen to be an entrepreneur. The only reason I think this post deserves a response is because it seems you haven't started your business yet.
So here is my advice: don't do it. Just don't.
Not because of the taxes, but because of your utter lack of respect towards your future employees. If what's really holding you back is that you couldn't deliberately fire them, I see no reason why you would even want to hire them in the first place. I think what you don't realize is that you as an employer would become responsible for your people. They would depend on you and their monthly salary, and I think if you see your employees as some company assets you can just get rid of as soon as things get tough, you really shouldn't hire anyone to begin with.
I would like to believe you are slightly distorting reality to shake things up. But if you are actually serious about founding a business, I would suggest you do not hire your 12 males in their twenties right in the beginning, instead, you hire a few people you actually _want_ to work with, and pay them a decent salary. And pay the taxes, as high as they are. Just because _you_ would be happier with lower taxes, does not mean that it would help the country's economy. Maybe try innovating and charging more instead of low-balling.