Bulgaria's company rules: quick facts
- Entity
- Single-member limited liability company (EOOD)
- Tax model
- Corporate tax on profit, 10% Source: nra.bg, checked September 29, 2026. National Revenue Agency corporate tax page: 'Размер на данъка 10 на сто (чл. 20 от ЗКПО)', the rate is 10% under article 20 of the Corporate Income Tax ActHeadline corporate tax rate
- Tax on $100,000 of profit kept in the company
- 10% Source: nra.bg, checked September 29, 2026. $100,000 profit = EUR 87,889 at EUR 0.878889 per USD (ECB, 2026-09-28). Corporate tax 10% = EUR 8,789. Bulgaria adopted the euro on January 1, 2026
- Tax on $100,000 of profit paid out to a non-resident owner
- 10% to 14.5% Source: nra.bg, checked September 29, 2026. EUR 8,789 corporate tax, then the EUR 79,100 left is paid to the non-resident individual owner with a 5% final tax withheld by the company (EUR 3,955). Total EUR 12,744 = 14.5% of profit. A tax treaty between Bulgaria and the owner's country can lower the 5% on application, which is the low end
- Dividend withholding for a non-resident owner
- 0% to 5% Source: nra.bg, checked September 29, 2026. NRA dividends page: dividends from a Bulgarian source to a local or foreign individual bear a 5% final tax (Personal Income Tax Act art. 46(3)), declared and paid by the company; a foreign individual files nothing, but may apply for a lower treaty rate. Dividends to companies resident in the EU or EEA are exempt
- Formed without visiting
- Yes
- Stripe available
- Yes Source: stripe.com, checked September 29, 2026
- Bank or EMI account
- Workable
- Audit required
- No
- EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions
- Not listed Source: fatf-gafi.org, checked September 29, 2026
- FATF grey list
- Listed Source: fatf-gafi.org, checked September 29, 2026
- Economic substance rules
- No
EOOD or OOD: the company a non-resident forms
The vehicle for a solo founder is the EOOD, the single-member limited liability company. With 2 or more owners the same company is an OOD, with the same 10% tax and the same state fees. It needs 1 manager, who can be of any nationality, live anywhere and be you, plus a registered seat and address in Bulgaria. There is no resident director rule.
Capital is no longer a barrier: since Bulgaria adopted the euro on January 1, 2026, the minimum capital is €1 (about $1).
How a Bulgarian company is taxed
Corporate tax is 10% under article 20 of the Corporate Income Tax Act. On $100,000 of profit, which is €87,889 at the ECB rate of September 28, 2026, that is €8,789 (about $10,000), and profit left in the company bears nothing more.
Dividends to an individual bear a 5% final tax, whether the owner is Bulgarian or foreign, and the company withholds and pays it. Paying out the remaining €79,100 (about $90,000) costs €3,955 (about $4,500), so Bulgaria takes €12,744 (about $14,500) in all, 14.5% of the profit. A foreign owner files nothing in Bulgaria for the dividend, and a tax treaty with the owner's country can lower the 5% on application.
Money taken out any other way does not escape the 5%. Payments to an owner that have nothing to do with the business, or that exceed market prices, count as hidden profit distributions and are taxed as dividends.
A company registered in Bulgaria is Bulgarian tax resident, and there is no economic substance regime. That does not stop another country claiming it: a founder who manages the EOOD from home abroad gives that country a case that the company is managed, or has a permanent establishment, there.
David's note
I treat Bulgaria as a place to live with a company, not a place to park one. The EOOD is so cheap to form and run that founders register it from abroad and keep living in a high-tax country, and that is exactly the owner a 10% company gets taxed at home. If you will not spend real time in Bulgaria, the savings on paper rarely survive your own tax office.
Cost and timeline to set up in Bulgaria
| Commercial Register registration of an EOOD, electronic applicationOfficial fee | €28.12 (about $32) Source: registryagency.bg, checked September 29, 2026. Tariff of state fees collected by the Registry Agency, art. 16a(2)(3), extract in euro published December 30, 2025: BGN 55 / EUR 28.12 filed electronically; art. 16a(1)(3): BGN 110 / EUR 56.24 on paper. About $32 |
|---|---|
| Announcement of acts such as the annual financial statements, electronic applicationOfficial fee | €10.23 (about $12) a year Source: registryagency.bg, checked September 29, 2026. Tariff art. 16b(2): BGN 20 / EUR 10.23 filed electronically; art. 16b(1): EUR 20.45 on paper. There is no annual company levy |
| Setup, all inMarket range, checked Sep 2026 | $90 to $1,700 |
| Running cost per year, all inMarket range, checked Sep 2026 | $700 to $5,500 |
Official fees come from the government or registry schedule. Market ranges cover formation and yearly upkeep through a provider, including a registered agent and filings. Timeline: Filed with the Commercial Register of the Registry Agency, usually electronically by a Bulgarian lawyer holding the founder's explicit written power of attorney, with the founder's documents notarized and apostilled abroad. Providers say registration takes about 1 to 3 business days once filed.
How to register a Bulgarian EOOD from abroad
You do not have to travel. A Bulgarian lawyer holding your explicit written power of attorney files the registration electronically with the Commercial Register of the Registry Agency, and the documents you sign are notarized and apostilled where you live. The step most likely to need a trip is a Bulgarian bank account.
Forming a Bulgarian EOOD as a non-resident
- Pick the name and a registered address in Bulgaria. The seat and address must be in Bulgaria, often the lawyer's or accountant's office, and the name can be reserved in the Commercial Register first.
- Appoint the manager. 1 manager is enough, of any nationality and residence; a foreign manager with no Bulgarian ID number is identified by place and date of birth.
- Sign the founding documents abroad: the founding act, the manager's consent with a specimen signature and the declarations the register asks for, notarized and apostilled, plus the power of attorney for your lawyer.
- Pay in the capital, which can be as little as €1 (about $1), and keep the evidence for the filing.
- File with the Commercial Register: the lawyer submits the application online and pays the state fee of €28.12 (about $32), or €56.24 (about $64) on paper.
- Declare the beneficial owner to the Commercial Register, which records who ultimately owns the company.
- Register for VAT when the rules require it: compulsory above €51,130 (about $58,200) of taxable turnover in a calendar year, and usually needed anyway for services supplied to business customers elsewhere in the EU.
- Open the business account with the registration documents, the beneficial owner details, your ID and an account of where the money comes from.
Bulgarian company annual filings and deadlines
A small EOOD skips the statutory audit, so its yearly paperwork is mostly the National Revenue Agency's. Every filing is electronic and signed with a qualified electronic signature, usually your accountant's under a power of attorney.
Yearly filings for a Bulgarian EOOD with a calendar year
| Filing | Filed with | Deadline | Cost of missing it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual corporate tax return, with the annual activity report attached | National Revenue Agency, online | March 1 to June 30 of the following year; the tax is paid by June 30 | A fine of €255.65 to €1,533.88 (about $291 to $1,750), higher for a repeat |
| Advance corporate tax installments | National Revenue Agency | Only once net sales 2 years earlier exceed €153,387.56 (about $175,000); none in the first 2 years | Penalty interest on late installments |
| 5% tax on each dividend, withheld and declared | National Revenue Agency | End of the month after the quarter in which the dividend was decided | Up to €511.29 (about $582), higher for a repeat |
| Annual information return on dividends paid | National Revenue Agency | February 28 of the following year | Up to €127.82 (about $145) per owner |
| Annual financial statements, €10.23 (about $12) online | Commercial Register | June 30 of the following year | Fines under the Accountancy Act |
| Your own tax return, with the dividends on it | The tax authority where you live | Your country's deadline | Your country's penalties and the tax itself |
Opening a bank account for a Bulgarian company
Bulgarian banks usually want to see the manager in person for their checks, so a founder abroad either plans a trip or starts with an EU fintech or electronic money institution that onboards online with the registration documents and your ID.
Bulgaria is on the FATF list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, and some foreign banks and payment providers run extra checks on Bulgarian companies because of it. Expect questions about where you live, who your clients are and where the money comes from, and expect refusals if you live in a country under EU sanctions.
Every account opening also asks where the company is tax resident and where you are. For an EOOD run from your home in another country, that form is often where the residence question gets asked first.
Where a Bulgarian company's profit is really taxed
Bulgaria's 14.5% is the floor, not the answer. At $100,000 of profit, this is where the tax lands in the 4 situations owners actually end up in.
Tax on $100,000 of profit in a Bulgarian EOOD by owner situation (Bulgaria column from the National Revenue Agency rules above)
| Owner situation | Tax in Bulgaria | Where else the profit is taxed |
|---|---|---|
| Lives in Bulgaria and runs the EOOD there | 10% corporate tax plus 5% on the dividend: 14.5%, before any social contributions | Nowhere else, as long as no other country treats you as resident |
| Lives in a high-tax EU country and runs the EOOD from home | 10%, plus 5% on dividends unless a treaty lowers it | Your country, which can treat the company as managed there, or tax its profit as yours under CFC rules |
| Lives abroad while the company is really managed in Bulgaria | 10%, plus 5% on dividends unless a treaty lowers it | Your country taxes the dividend, and its CFC rules may still reach a company taxed at 10% |
| Has no tax residence anywhere | 14.5% on profit paid out | No country claims the dividend on paper, and bank forms asking where you live become the problem |
The version that holds up is living in Bulgaria and paying yourself from an EOOD, with you and the management on the same side of the border. Bulgarian tax residence starts with more than 183 days in the country in a year, or earlier when your home, family and business are centered there.
Run from home, a 10% company gets taxed at home
A founder who lives in Germany, France or another high-tax EU country and manages the EOOD from there faces 2 separate claims. The home country can say the company is managed there and tax all its profit at the local corporate rate, and at 10% the company counts as low-taxed under most EU CFC rules, so its profit can be taxed as the owner's income every year, paid out or not. Either way the 14.5% becomes the smaller of 2 bills.
A non-resident's Bulgarian EOOD, set up right and wrong
Works
You move to Sofia or Plovdiv, become Bulgarian tax resident, run the EOOD from there, pay out profit as dividends with the 5% withheld, and your accountant files the June 30 return and the financial statements.
Fails
You live in Munich, register an EOOD through a lawyer, sign every contract from your apartment, pay yourself through the company card, and report nothing at home because Bulgaria only charges 10%.
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