In short
- The euro replaced the lev on 1 January 2026 at 1.95583 leva to €1. Cash in leva ended on 31 January.
- Tax rates stayed: 10% on profit, 5% on dividends, 20% VAT. The VAT threshold is €51,130 a year.
- The Registry Agency converted every registered capital itself. The minimum for an OOD is €1.
- Articles of association are brought into euros by 31 December 2028, with no state fee.
In this guide
What changed for a Bulgarian company on 1 January 2026
On 1 January 2026 the euro became Bulgaria's currency, and the country became the 21st member of the euro area. The rate is fixed at 1.95583 leva to €1. Lev notes and coins stayed legal tender for one more month, until 31 January 2026.
For a company the change was one of currency. Banks converted every account balance on that day without a fee, and the Registry Agency converted every registered capital. The company's accountant converted the books. Contracts stayed in force: an amount in leva is read as the same amount in euros, and neither side gained a right to change or end a contract because of the euro.
A company that earns and spends in euros no longer converts through the lev. Sales to clients in the euro area carry no exchange spread, and customs duties and import VAT are paid in euros. A company registered today starts in euros from its first document.
Dates of the euro changeover in Bulgaria
Eight dates frame the changeover. Two of them are still ahead.
| Date | What it means |
|---|---|
| 8 July 2025 | The Council of the EU sets the date and the rate |
| 8 August 2025 | Prices for consumers are shown in leva and in euros |
| 1 January 2026 | The euro is the currency. Accounts, capital and books are converted |
| 31 January 2026 | Last day of cash payments in leva |
| 30 June 2026 | Last day of free exchange of leva at commercial banks |
| 8 August 2026 | End of compulsory double pricing |
| 31 December 2026 | Commercial banks may stop exchanging leva after this day |
| 31 December 2028 | Deadline to bring the articles of association into euros |
How leva are converted to euros: the rule and the rounding
Each amount in leva is divided by 1.95583, and the result is rounded to the cent: down when the third decimal is below five, up when it is five or more. BGN 1,000 became €511.29 and BGN 500 became €255.65. The same rule covers prices, invoices, account balances and the amounts written in laws.
The rate is used in full, with all five decimals. The law forbids rounding or shortening it, so 1.96 is wrong in any calculation.
Until the end of 2026 any person may ask a company for the lev value of an amount it converted for them. The company answers free of charge within 7 days.
Share capital and the articles of association in euros
The Registry Agency converted the registered capital of every EOOD, OOD and joint-stock company by itself and free of charge. The legal minimum is now €1 for an EOOD or an OOD, with shares of no less than one euro cent, and €25,000 for a joint-stock company.
The company's own document is left to the company. The articles of association, or the deed of incorporation of an EOOD, state the capital and the shares in leva until the owners amend them. The law first gave 12 months for this. An amendment in force from 8 September 2026 gives 36 months from the changeover, to 31 December 2028.
The amended text goes to the Trade Register with the first later filing that requires a copy of the articles. Such a filing reports a new owner, a new address, a new name or a change of capital. Publishing the yearly statements does not require it. The filing made for the euro carries no state fee.
Take an OOD with BGN 100 of capital held equally by two owners. The register now shows €51.13, and each half is €25.565, which rounds to €25.57. Two such shares make €51.14, one cent above the capital, and the law requires the shares to add up to it exactly. The owners may set the capital at €51.14 or at a round €52 in the same amendment. A change of up to 5% is allowed without the usual procedure for raising or lowering capital.
Books, invoices and financial statements after the changeover
On the changeover date the accountant recalculated every asset and every liability into euros, item by item. Rounding differences on assets and liabilities are income or expense of the year and count for tax in that year. Differences in equity are booked in equity.
Accounting documents and invoices have been in euros since 1 January 2026. Yearly statements follow the currency in force at the end of the year. The statements for 2025 are in leva. The statements for 2026 are in thousands of euros, and the 2025 column beside them is recalculated at the fixed rate.
With our accounting services in Bulgaria we keep the books in euros and file each return in the currency of its period. The yearly dates themselves are in the guide to accounting requirements in Bulgaria.
We do this for you Company formation in Bulgaria €280
Taxes after the euro: rates, returns and payments
The tax rates did not change: 10% on company profit, 5% on dividends, 20% VAT with a reduced rate of 9%. The guide to corporate tax in Bulgaria has every rate and a worked example. What changed is the currency of each return.
| Return | Figures in | Paid in |
|---|---|---|
| VAT return for December 2025 | Leva | Euros |
| Corporate tax return for 2025, due by 30 June 2026 | Leva | Euros |
| VAT return for January 2026 and every later month | Euros | Euros |
| Corporate tax return for 2026, due by 30 June 2027 | Euros | Euros |
| A correction to a return for 2025 or earlier | Leva | Euros |
A return carries the currency that was official at the end of its period. Every payment to the state since 1 January 2026 has been in euros at the fixed rate. A corporate tax of BGN 10,000 for 2025 was declared in leva and paid as €5,112.92.
Bank accounts, payroll and cash registers in euros
No company had to close an account or open a new one. Banks converted lev balances once and free of charge, the contracts continued on their terms, and payment orders have been made in euros alone since 1 January 2026. A company that applies for an account now receives a euro account from the start: business bank account in Bulgaria.
Pay is the exception to the rounding rule. Salaries, benefits and pensions are rounded up to the next cent whenever a third decimal remains, and each person's amount is converted separately. A salary of BGN 2,000 is €1,022.59, one cent more than the general rule gives.
The limits of social security are set in euros as well. From 1 August 2026 contributions are counted on no more than €2,300 a month, and a self-insured owner chooses an income of no less than €620.20. A cash register records each sale in euros and cents.
How wages moved in the first year of the euro is in salaries in Bulgaria.
Lev amounts in Bulgarian law and their value in euros
An Act that still shows leva is read in euros at the fixed rate, to the cent. Where an Act was rewritten, the legislator chose the euro figure itself.
| Rule | In leva | In euros |
|---|---|---|
| VAT registration threshold for a calendar year | BGN 100,000 | €51,130, rewritten |
| Minimum capital of an EOOD or an OOD | BGN 2 | €1, rewritten |
| Minimum capital of a joint-stock company | BGN 50,000 | €25,000, rewritten |
| State fee for registering a company online | BGN 55 | €28.12 |
| Net sales above which advance corporate tax starts | BGN 300,000 | €153,387.56 |
| Payment that must go through a bank, from | BGN 10,000 | €5,112.92 |
| Dividend that must go through a bank, from | BGN 1,000 | €511.29 |
The rewritten figures are not the product of the rate. BGN 100,000 divided by 1.95583 is €51,129.19, and the VAT Act says €51,130. BGN 2 is €1.02, and the Commerce Act says €1.
Checklist for a company registered before 2026
- Open the company's record in the Trade Register and note the capital in euros.
- Compare it with the articles of association. If they state leva, plan the amendment for the next change of owner, address, name or capital, and no later than 31 December 2028.
- Make the shares add up to the capital to the cent. Adjust the capital within 5% if they do not.
- Check that the accounting software holds the rate 1.95583 and issues invoices and VAT ledgers in euros.
- Check that each salary was rounded up to the cent, person by person.
- File a correction to a 2025 return in leva and pay any difference in euros.
We prepare the amended articles as a change to the company, from €130. A new company has nothing to repair: capital from €1, a state fee of €28.12 online, books and accounts in euros. The steps are in the guide on how to register a company in Bulgaria, and we carry them out for you: setting up a company in Bulgaria.
