Accountancy Services in Bulgaria (2026): What Foreign Companies Need to Know

On 1 January 2026, Bulgaria swapped the lev for the euro, and every company registered here converted its books at a fixed rate of 1.95583 BGN to 1 EUR. That one change touched share capital, payroll, invoices, and opening balances in the same week. For a foreign owner watching from abroad, 2026 was the year Bulgarian bookkeeping stopped being a quiet background task.

Quick answer: Foreign-owned companies in Bulgaria still enjoy a 10% flat corporate tax rate, one of the lowest in the EU. But 2026 added euro-denominated accounts, a calendar-year VAT threshold, and new SAF-T reporting for the largest firms. A local accountant who files in Bulgarian with the National Revenue Agency (NRA, the Bulgarian tax authority) is no longer a nice-to-have. It is the line between clean compliance and late-filing penalties.

Jump to: What changed in 2026 · Tax framework · Services you need · Euro and your books · Compliance calendar · Choosing an accountant · Common mistakes · FAQ

Updated 28 July 2026, after parliament enacted the 2026 budget. Rates and deadlines verified against the National Revenue Agency, the Ministry of Finance, and the European Central Bank.

How we keep these figures current

Bulgarian tax rules move in December and take effect in January, so a guide written last year is often wrong by spring. Every figure here was re-checked in July 2026 against primary sources. That means the National Revenue Agency for filing rules, the Ministry of Finance for rates, the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) for insurance thresholds, and the European Central Bank for the euro changeover.

Where a 2026 rule was proposed but never passed, we say so plainly instead of quoting the draft. The dividend tax is the clearest example, and we cover it below. We also don’t publish a fixed price list here. Real fees depend on your transaction volume, VAT status, and headcount, so a made-up “from EUR X” number would mislead more than it helps. What we can give you is the compliance reality: what you must file, when, and what trips up foreign owners most. For a quote against your actual numbers, the contact page is the fastest route.

What changed for foreign companies in 2026

Four things shifted at once, and they compound. Miss one and the others get harder.

First, the euro. Since 1 January 2026 all accounting, invoicing, and payroll happen in euro. The lev and euro both counted as legal tender for the first month, and from 1 February 2026 the euro is the only currency accepted. Your general ledger closed in lev and reopened in euro at the fixed rate.

Second, the VAT registration test changed. The mandatory threshold sits at EUR 51,130 (BGN 100,000), but from 2026 it is measured over the calendar year rather than a rolling 12 months. Cross it, and you have seven days to file for registration. That shorter, cleaner window catches out companies that used to track a rolling total.

Third, SAF-T reporting arrived. Standard Audit File for Tax (SAF-T) is a detailed accounting file submitted to the NRA in a fixed format. In 2026 it is a monthly duty for the largest enterprises only, but the schedule pulls in smaller companies over the following years, so it belongs on every owner’s radar now.

Fourth, the dividend tax stayed at 5%. A doubling to 10% sat in the November 2025 draft budget and was pulled from the revised version that December, after business pushback. It did not return in the budget parliament finally passed on 24 July 2026. If you read a 2025 article predicting 10%, it was reporting a proposal that never became law.

Bulgaria’s tax framework at a glance

The headline reason foreign companies choose Bulgaria hasn’t changed: the rates are low and flat, which makes forecasting easy. Here is the current picture, all figures verified for 2026.

• Corporate income tax: 10% flat on profit, with no progressive bands.
• Personal income tax: 10% flat, whether the earner is a local hire or a foreign director on the payroll.
• Dividend withholding tax: 5% to individuals, often 0% to a qualifying EU parent company (the proposed rise to 10% was not adopted).
• VAT: standard rate 20%, reduced rate 9% on a short list of goods and services.
• VAT registration: mandatory above EUR 51,130 (BGN 100,000) of taxable turnover in a calendar year.
• Social security and health: roughly 32.7% to 33.4% of gross pay, split about 19% employer and 13.78% employee. Rates held at their 2025 level through 2026.

Two numbers matter for anyone hiring. The 2026 minimum wage is EUR 620.20 (BGN 1,213) a month, a 12.6% jump, and now frozen while a new formula is negotiated. The maximum monthly base for contributions moved to EUR 2,300 on 1 August 2026, from EUR 2,111.64 before that. Above that ceiling, contributions stop rising, which changes the true cost of a senior hire. If payroll is your main reason for setting up here, our payroll services page breaks down the employer-side math in more detail.

The accountancy services a foreign company actually needs

Not every business needs every service on day one. A dormant holding company and an operating trading firm live in different worlds. Below is what the work covers, roughly in the order most foreign owners meet it.

Monthly bookkeeping and tax calculations

This is the base layer. Every purchase and sale gets recorded, VAT is calculated, and monthly returns are prepared and filed. In Bulgaria the monthly VAT return is due by the 14th of the following month, so bookkeeping runs on a tight loop rather than a year-end scramble. Get this rhythm right and the annual filings almost write themselves.

VAT management and compliance

VAT is where foreign companies get caught most often. Registration timing, reverse-charge rules on EU cross-border trade, and the new calendar-year threshold all need watching. Once you are registered, returns and the VIES declaration for intra-EU sales come due monthly. An accountant who handles Bulgarian VAT daily will spot a registration trigger before you cross it, not after.

Payroll and labour compliance

Hiring in Bulgaria means registering each employment contract with the NRA before the employee’s first day, then running monthly payroll in euro. Income tax withholding and the social and health contributions are declared and paid to the NRA by the 25th of the following month. Miss one contract registration and you face a fine, so payroll can’t sit apart from the rest of your books.

Annual financial statements

Every active company prepares an annual financial statement and publishes it in the Commercial Register. Smaller firms use the Bulgarian National Accounting Standards; larger and public-interest entities apply IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards, the global rulebook). Larger companies must also have the statement independently audited, though most small firms fall below the audit threshold. Choosing the wrong standard is a real risk for a group that reports one way abroad and another way here.

Corporate tax returns

The annual corporate tax return pulls the year together and calculates the 10% due. It is filed electronically with a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES, a legally recognised digital signature). Non-resident directors often don’t have a QES set up, which is one of the quiet reasons a foreign company misses its first deadline.

SAF-T reporting

For large enterprises, SAF-T became a monthly obligation in 2026. The file has to be submitted by the 14th of the following month, mirroring the VAT rhythm. Most foreign-owned SMEs are not in scope yet, and we explain exactly who is below. Still, the accounting system you build today should be SAF-T-ready, so you aren’t rebuilding in 2028. One clarification: SAF-T is not e-invoicing. Bulgaria has no mandatory B2B e-invoicing yet, though the EU’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) reform is expected to bring it later this decade.

Transfer pricing documentation

If your Bulgarian entity trades with a parent or sister company abroad, transfer pricing rules apply. Above certain size thresholds, a local file documenting that intercompany prices are at arm’s length becomes mandatory. This is the one service a purely domestic accountant may not offer, so it’s worth confirming up front for group structures.

The euro transition and your company books

The changeover was mechanical, but the details bite. All BGN balances were divided by 1.95583, with no alternative rate and fixed rounding rules. Your ledger froze in lev at year-end and reopened in euro, and the closing and opening balances have to tie out to the cent.

Older documents don’t get rewritten. Invoices, registers, and declarations issued before the changeover stay in lev in your archive. Only the live accounting from 2026 onward runs in euro. Share capital figures in your company file also had to be restated in euro. Some owners overlooked that step, because it sits with the Commercial Register rather than the tax return.

Dual price display, showing both lev and euro on price tags, began on 8 August 2025 and ends on 8 August 2026. That rule is aimed at retail, but if you sell to the public in Bulgaria it applies to you too. Check your price lists before it lapses. For a step-by-step version of this, our euro adoption accounting and VAT checklist walks through the conversion in order.

Your 2026 compliance calendar

Bulgarian deadlines are fixed dates, not rolling windows, which makes planning easier once you know them. The ones that matter for a standard operating company:

• Monthly, by the 14th: VAT return and, where applicable, SAF-T and the VIES declaration.
• Monthly, by the 25th: payroll income tax withholding, plus social and health contributions.
• By 30 June: the annual corporate tax return, and the corporate tax itself, paid after deducting advance payments. Dormant companies file an inactivity declaration by this same date.
• By 30 September: publication of the annual financial statement in the Commercial Register.

Notice the gap. The tax return is due 30 June, but the financial statement gets three more months. Owners who assume both share a deadline either rush the accounts or, worse, miss the June filing entirely. A local accountant times these so the June work feeds cleanly into September.

Choosing an accountant in Bulgaria as a foreign company

The right choice depends on what your entity actually does, not on who has the flashiest website. Match your situation to one of these.

Holding or dormant company. Your needs are light: an annual financial statement, the corporate tax return, and an inactivity declaration if there’s no trade. Don’t overpay for a full monthly package here. What you do need is someone who won’t forget the 30 June and 30 September filings. The fine for an unpublished financial statement runs from about EUR 100 to EUR 1,500 for the manager personally, and it lands even when the company earned nothing (zero revenue is no defense).

VAT-registered trader with EU sales. Now cross-border VAT and VIES filings are the core of the work, due monthly by the 14th. Pick an accountant who handles intra-EU reverse charge every day, not one who treats it as an edge case. A single mishandled reverse-charge invoice can turn a routine return into an audit flag.

Employer with staff in Bulgaria. Payroll compliance moves to the front. Contract registration before day one, euro-denominated payslips, and correct contribution splits all fall due monthly. Is headcount your main activity here? Then weight your choice toward a firm with dedicated payroll capacity rather than a solo bookkeeper. The two skill sets don’t always overlap.

Still at the setup stage. Get the accountant involved before, not after, incorporation. The share capital, the VAT registration decision, and the registered address all have accounting consequences. Pairing accounting with company formation from the start avoids the rework of fixing a structure later. Our guide to opening a company in Bulgaria covers where the two overlap.

Common mistakes foreign owners make

These come up again and again, and every one is avoidable.

Mixing up the two deadlines. They aren’t the same. The corporate tax return is due 30 June; the published financial statement is due 30 September. Confusing them is the single most common late-filing cause we see.

No Qualified Electronic Signature. Filings go in electronically. A foreign director without a QES can’t sign, and setting one up takes time you won’t have in late June. Sort it early.

Assuming SAF-T applies. It probably doesn’t yet. In 2026 SAF-T binds only the largest taxpayers, so a mid-sized foreign company panicking about monthly SAF-T files is usually spending worry it doesn’t owe.

Skipping the capital restatement. The books convert automatically in most systems, but the euro figure for your share capital in the company registration is a separate step. It’s easy to miss because it doesn’t touch the tax return.

Filing in English. The NRA operates in Bulgarian. Correspondence, appeals, and filings all run in the local language, which is exactly why a Bulgarian-speaking accountant matters more than a remote bookkeeper abroad.

Frequently asked questions

What is the corporate tax rate in Bulgaria in 2026?

It is 10%, a flat rate on company profit with no progressive bands. That has not changed with euro adoption. Personal income tax is also a flat 10%, which is part of why Bulgaria stays attractive for foreign owners and their payrolls.

Do foreign companies have to switch their accounting to euro in 2026?

Yes. Since 1 January 2026, all accounting, invoicing, and payroll for Bulgarian entities run in euro. Balances converted from lev at the fixed rate of 1.95583, and the euro has been the sole legal tender since 1 February 2026. Historic pre-2026 documents stay in lev in your archive.

When does a company have to register for VAT in Bulgaria?

Registration is mandatory once taxable turnover passes EUR 51,130 (BGN 100,000) within a calendar year. From 2026 the test is the calendar year, not a rolling 12 months, and you must apply within seven days of crossing the threshold. Voluntary registration is available below that level.

Does a small foreign-owned company need to file SAF-T in 2026?

Almost certainly not. In 2026 SAF-T applies only to large enterprises, broadly those with turnover above EUR 153.4 million (BGN 300 million) or large payments to the NRA. Medium and smaller companies are pulled in during later phases through the end of the decade, so most foreign SMEs have time to prepare.

Is the dividend tax in Bulgaria still 5% in 2026?

Yes, 5% on distributions to individuals. Dividends to a qualifying EU or EEA parent company can be exempt under the parent-subsidiary rules, useful if you hold through a European holding company. The proposed rise to 10% was dropped from the draft in December 2025 and stayed out of the budget enacted on 24 July 2026.

What accounting standards do Bulgarian companies use?

Smaller companies apply the Bulgarian National Accounting Standards, while larger and public-interest entities use IFRS. The right choice depends on your size and whether you consolidate into a foreign group, so confirm it with your accountant before your first year-end rather than after.

Does my Bulgarian company need an independent audit?

Probably not, if you are small. An independent financial audit becomes mandatory once a company passes at least two of these limits for two years running: EUR 2.04 million (BGN 4 million) in assets, EUR 4.09 million (BGN 8 million) in net sales, or 50 employees. Most foreign-owned SMEs sit well below that and file unaudited statements.

Working with Sofia Offices

Bulgaria kept the thing foreign owners came for, a flat 10% tax, and then changed almost everything around it in a single year. Euro books, a tighter VAT clock, and SAF-T on the horizon all reward a company that has local accounting sorted and punish one that treats it as an afterthought from abroad. The rates are simple. The filing calendar and the language are not.

Our accountancy team handles the full loop, all filed in Bulgarian with the NRA: monthly bookkeeping, VAT and payroll, the annual statement and corporate tax return, and SAF-T for the firms that now need it. If you are setting up rather than switching, it pairs naturally with company formation, a registered address through our virtual office packages, and legal support for contracts and corporate changes. Tell us what your entity does, and we’ll tell you what it actually needs to file, no more and no less. Start on the contact page.