In short
- Profit and personal income: one flat rate of 10%. Dividends: 5%, withheld by the company.
- VAT: 20%, with 9% for hotels, books and baby goods. Registration above €51,130 a year.
- On a salary: 18.92% from the employer and 13.78% from the employee, up to €2,300 a month.
- Taxes and contributions took 30.5% of GDP in Bulgaria in 2024, against 39.4% in the EU.
In this guide
Bulgaria tax rates in 2026 in one table
Bulgaria taxes profit and income at flat rates: the percentage is the same at €10,000 and at €10 million. The table lists every tax that a company and its founder meet, with the rate in force in 2026, what it is charged on and the date it is due.
| Tax | Rate in 2026 | Charged on | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate tax | 10% | Taxable profit of the calendar year | 30 June of the next year |
| Tax on dividends | 5% | The dividend voted to an individual, or to a company outside the EU and the EEA | End of the month after the quarter of the vote |
| Personal income tax | 10%, and 15% for a sole trader | A salary after the employee's contributions, and the year's other income | The 25th of the next month on salaries, 30 April on the yearly return |
| Social security and health contributions | 18.92% to 19.62% from the employer, 13.78% from the employee | Gross pay up to €2,300 a month | The 25th of the next month |
| VAT | 20%, 9% and 0% | Sales in Bulgaria, once turnover passes €51,130 in a calendar year | The 14th of the next month |
| Withholding tax on payments abroad | 10% | Interest, royalties, technical fees and rent paid to foreign companies | End of the month after the quarter |
| Tax on expenses in kind | 10% and 3% | Entertainment and staff benefits in kind; private use of company assets | 30 June of the next year |
| Property tax and the municipality's transfer tax | 0.01% to 0.45% a year; 0.1% to 3% on a purchase | The value of real estate held; the price of real estate bought, the insured value of a vehicle | 30 June and 31 October; the day of the transfer |
Our accountants count each of these taxes in your books and file every return on its date.
Corporate tax: a flat 10% of profit
A company registered in Bulgaria pays 10% on the taxable profit of the calendar year, wherever it earned the profit. The rate has no bands, and municipalities add no tax on profit. The return is filed between 1 March and 30 June of the next year, and the tax is paid by 30 June.
How the taxable profit is counted, when advance payments start and how a loss is carried forward is the subject of its own guide: corporate tax in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria dividend tax, and the total on €100,000 of profit
A dividend paid to an individual bears 5%, wherever the owner lives. The company withholds the tax from the amount voted and pays it by the end of the month after the quarter of the vote. A dividend to a company resident in the EU or the EEA bears none. The gain in a liquidation share is taxed at the same 5%.
Take an EOOD with one owner, an individual, and a taxable profit of €100,000 that the owner votes to pay out in full.
| Step | Amount | Share of the profit |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable profit | €100,000 | 100% |
| Corporate tax at 10% | €10,000 | 10% |
| Dividend voted to the owner | €90,000 | 90% |
| Dividend tax at 5% | €4,500 | 4.5% |
| Paid to the owner | €85,500 | 85.5% |
| Tax in Bulgaria in all | €14,500 | 14.5% |
An owner who works in the company in Bulgaria adds personal social security on top, from €172.42 a month. That is €2,069.04 for 12 months at the rates in force since 1 August 2026. With it the year costs €16,569.04, or 16.6% of the profit. An owner abroad who does no work in the company pays no Bulgarian contributions.
Where the owner lives decides the rest: that country taxes the dividend by its own law, and its treaty with Bulgaria may cut the 5% or credit it.
Bulgaria income tax: 10% for a person, 15% for a sole trader
An individual pays 10% on the tax base of the year, at one rate from the first euro. Tax on a salary is withheld by the employer each month, after the employee's contributions. Other income goes into a yearly return, filed between 10 January and 30 April, with the tax due by 30 April.
| Income | Tax | How it is paid |
|---|---|---|
| Salary or a director's fee | 10% after the employee's contributions | Withheld by the company each month |
| Dividend | 5% | Withheld by the company |
| Profit of a sole trader | 15% | Yearly return, 1 March to 30 June |
| Income of a non-resident from Bulgaria: interest, rent, royalties, management fees | 10% of the gross amount | Withheld by the payer |
A return filed online by 31 March, with the tax paid by that day, earns 5% off the amount still due, up to €255.65.
A sole trader and the patent tax
A sole trader pays 15% on the profit of the year and insures an income of €620.20 to €2,300 a month, like every self-insured person. A trader in a listed small trade pays a fixed patent tax to the municipality in place of the 15%. The list holds guest houses, eateries and shops of up to 100 square metres.
The patent tax applies with no VAT number and a turnover of up to BGN 100,000 in the previous year. That is €51,129.19 at the fixed rate of 1.95583 leva to the euro. For comparison, profit that leaves a company as a dividend bears 14.5%, and the guide to the EOOD and the OOD sets out the two company forms.
Social security and health contributions on a salary
Contributions are the largest charge on a salary in Bulgaria. Employer and employee together pay 32.7% of the gross pay at the lowest accident rate, on a base that stops at €2,300 a month.
| Who pays | Rate | On what |
|---|---|---|
| Employer | 18.92% to 19.62%, by the accident risk of the activity | Gross pay up to €2,300 a month |
| Employee | 13.78% | The same base, withheld from the salary |
| Owner who works in the company, or a sole trader | 27.8%, or 31.3% with sickness and maternity cover | A chosen income of €620.20 to €2,300 a month |
A salary of €3,000 bears €435.16 from the employer and €316.94 from the employee, the same amounts as a salary of €2,300. Both are paid by the 25th of the next month, with the tax withheld. The guide to salaries in Bulgaria counts net pay and the employer's cost at three levels.
We do this for you Accounting in Bulgaria from €150 a month
VAT in Bulgaria: 20%, a reduced rate of 9% and the threshold
The standard VAT rate is 20%. A reduced rate of 9% covers hotel stays, books and periodicals, and baby food and nappies. Exports and goods sent to VAT-registered buyers in other EU countries are taxed at 0%.
A company must register when its sales in Bulgaria go above €51,130 within one calendar year, and it may register earlier by choice. A registered company files a return for every month by the 14th of the next one and pays the VAT by the same day. We register the company and file the returns: VAT registration in Bulgaria.
Withholding tax on payments abroad and the tax on expenses in kind
A Bulgarian company withholds 10% when it pays a foreign company interest, royalties, fees for technical services, rent, or franchise, factoring and management fees. It pays the tax by the end of the month after the quarter. A purchase of goods bears none.
A tax treaty overrides the Corporate Income Tax Act and can lower the rate. Interest and royalties paid to an associated company in the EU are exempt when one company has held 25% or more of the other for two years without a break.
Three kinds of company spending bear a tax of their own, declared in the yearly return and paid by 30 June.
- Entertainment of clients and partners: 10% of the cost
- Benefits in kind for staff and directors: 10% of the cost, with food vouchers of up to €102.26 a month for each employee exempt under the conditions of the Corporate Income Tax Act
- Private use of company cars and equipment: 3% of the costs that fall to private use
The bases, the conditions and a worked case are in the guide to Bulgaria's corporate tax.
Property tax and the municipality's transfer tax
Each municipality sets its property tax between 0.01% and 0.45% of the value of a building or a plot, and Sofia charges 0.1875%. For a company the value is the higher of the book value and the tax valuation. The tax is paid in two halves, by 30 June and by 31 October, and whoever pays the whole year by 30 April pays 5% less.
The buyer of real estate pays a transfer tax of 0.1% to 3% of the price on the day of the transfer. The buyer of a vehicle pays it on the insured value. Sofia charges 3%. An office bought there for €200,000 costs €6,000 in transfer tax and €375 a year in property tax.
Municipalities also collect a yearly tax on vehicles.
How Bulgaria's taxes compare inside the EU
The European Commission's Data on Taxation Trends, built on Eurostat figures, measures the weight of tax in each member state. In Bulgaria taxes and social contributions took 30.5% of GDP in 2024, against 39.4% in the EU as a whole. Three member states collected less.
| Measure, 2024 | Bulgaria | EU-27 | Rank of 27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxes and social contributions, share of GDP | 30.5% | 39.4% | 24th |
| Implicit tax rate on labour | 24.9% | 37.1% | 26th |
| Personal income tax revenue, share of GDP | 3.4% | 9.6% | 26th |
| Corporate income tax revenue, share of GDP | 2.9% | 3.1% | 16th |
| VAT revenue, share of GDP | 9.3% | 7.1% | 5th |
| Effective average corporate tax rate | 9.4% | 19.3% | 27th |
Tax on profit and on work is light by EU measures, and tax on spending is not. Standard VAT rates in the EU run from 17% to 27%, and 20 member states charge above Bulgaria's 20%.
A founder who wants a company under these rates starts with company formation in Bulgaria. The books and the returns behind every row of the first table are our work.
