Hungarian State Treasury

A dance artist may be entitled to a life annuity for dance artists who

• has worked as a private dancer, dancer soloist or dancer in a principal occupation at the Hungarian National Ballet, the Győr Ballet, the Pécs Ballet, the Szeged Contemporary Ballet, the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble, the Duna Art Ensemble, the Budapest Operetta Theatre or their predecessors for a total of at least 25 years, not including the period of training, and
• has completed at least 25 years' service period, and
• has not reached retirement age, and
• does not receive any regular cash benefits.

The activity as a principal activity as a private dancer, solo dancer or member of a dance company may be taken into account for the purpose of determining the life annuity for dance artists if the dancer does not pursue any other activity in addition to this activity.

The simultaneous pursuit of scientific, educational, teaching or copyright activities, and activities as a director, choreographer, ballet master, art director or assistant choreographer in the field of dance are not excluded.

It is considered to be a regular cash benefit which excludes the payment of a life annuity for dance artists: sickness benefit, infant care allowance, adoption fee, child care fee, benefit prior to retirement age, benefits for persons with changed working capacity, work accident sick pay, job-seeker benefit, job-seeker aid before pension, child raising support, employment substituting benefit, benefit for people suffering from health problems or taking care of a child, public service allowance and benefits of the same type paid by a foreign body under international agreements on social security and EU regulations.

The life annuity for dance artists must be applied for from the government office acting as the pension insurance administration body of the applicant's place of residence, using the form "Claim for old age pension, women's preferential pension, fixed old age pension, benefits prior to retirement age, life annuity for dance artists, transitional annuity for miners".

The application for an annuity can be submitted in person, by post or electronically.

It may be submitted in person at the customer service of the government office of the capital or county according to the place of residence or stay.

If it is submitted by post, the envelope must be marked with name of the government office addressed and the uniform postal address of 1916 Budapest.

Electronically, persons with electronic identification can submit their claim for life annuity at www.magyarorszag.hu.

The contact details of the government offices can be found at www.kormanyhivatalok.hu.

The application must be accompanied by a certificate from each employer attesting to the time spent with them as a private dancer or member of a dance company in their main occupation.

The claim may also be accompanied by documents relating to service periods not previously recognised. Such proof may include:

• labour book, certificate of employment, certificate of insurance and health insurance benefits, outworker's book, membership book of agricultural or fishery cooperatives,
• college or university course book, final certificate, diploma, industrial apprenticeship labour book, vocational apprenticeship certificate, certificate of vocational school in health or agriculture, diploma or vocational school student contract for the period before 1998.

The application form may also need to be accompanied by the following additional forms:

• the supplementary form for employment details can be downloaded here;
• the supplementary form for self-employment can be downloaded here.

The administrative time limit is 60 days.

The established benefit will be paid by the Pension Payment Directorate of the Hungarian State Treasury within 10 workdays of the decision being issued.

The earliest date on which a life annuity for dance artists can be paid is the date on which the conditions of entitlement are met, i.e. the date on which 25 years of service as a dancer are completed. The claim can be made retroactively for a maximum of six months, which means that the benefit can be paid from the first day of the sixth month preceding the month in which the claim is established, provided that the conditions of eligibility are met on that date.

The amount of the life annuity for dance artists is determined on the basis of the rules for calculating the amount of the old age pension. The amount of the old age pension depends on the recognised service period and the average monthly earnings on which the old age pension is based.

The amount of the average earnings on which the life annuity for dance artists is based is determined on the basis of the net earnings or income from 1 January 1988 to the date on which the life annuity is payable.

The calculation of the amount of the life annuity for dance artists shall also be based on the calculation of the proportional service period. Only the proportionate period of contribution payment may be taken into account if the contribution payment was made for an amount lower than the minimum wage in the following cases:

• part-time employment,
• low tax-bracket entrepreneurs in full-time employment status,
• small taxpayer business status,
• small-scale agricultural producer status.

 The amount of the life annuity shall be calculated in proportion to the service period and the average monthly earnings as follows.

Since the rules applicable to old age pensions apply to the calculation of the benefits prior to retirement age and the life annuity for dance artists, membership of a private pension fund also affects the amount of the benefits prior to retirement age in the following cases.

The amount of the life annuity for dance artists is reduced if the applicant has paid contributions to a private pension fund for a period before 1 October 2010 and

- at the time the life annuity for dance artists is determined, the person is a member of a private pension fund, or

- their membership of a private pension fund has been terminated without the amount in their individual account having been transferred to the State budget.

In order to receive the full amount of life annuity for dance artists, it is allowed to re-join the state pension scheme at the time of claiming the benefit or afterwards. In this case, after the transfer of the private pension savings, the amount of the life annuity for dance artists will be calculated retroactively to the starting date of the establishment without any reduction.

No appeal may be lodged. If the decision is unlawful, a statement of claim can be lodged against the decision within 30 days to have it reviewed by the court with jurisdiction over the administrative college of the place of residence.

The letter of claim must be lodged, free of charge, with the pension insurance body which took the decision or sent by registered post. After electronic identification, the claim can also be filed electronically on the https://epapir.gov.hu/ interface. After entry, in the subject group "Jogorvoslat" the case type "Közigazgatási szerv határozatának bírósági felülvizsgálata iránti keresetlevél benyújtása" should be selected.

A person receiving life annuity for dance artists may request that the life annuity be terminated until the retirement age is reached. The request to terminate the life annuity must be made in writing to the government office acting as the pension insurance administration body in the place of residence. However, in this case, no new benefits prior to retirement age may be established.

The life annuity for dance artists ceases when the person in receipt of the life annuity for dance artists reaches the retirement age, from which date it is automatically paid as an old age pension in the same amount.

The benefit will also cease if the recipient of a life annuity for dance artists is granted a women’s preferential pension.

Persons receiving of life annuity for dance artists who have completed at least 365 days of service during the period for which the benefit is paid may request that the amount of the old age pension be re-established once they reach the retirement age.

The 365 days of service required for the re-establishment of the amount of the old age pension must be acquired between the date on which the payment of the life annuity for dance artists starts and the day before the retirement pension age is reached, but not earlier than 1 January 2012.

The application for recalculation of the old age pension may be submitted from the date on which the retirement age is reached. The claim may be made retroactively, without time limit, regardless of whether the life annuity for dance artists is paid as an old age pension after the age limit has been reached.

Since a person receiving life annuity for dance artists is considered to be an old age pensioner as from the date of reaching the retirement age, the re-establishment of the amount of the old age pension does not require an examination of the conditions for entitlement to an old age pension.