VAT enrollment thresholds
It becomes mandatory to register for VAT as soon as the turnover reaches EUR 25,000 (approximately BGN 50,000).
It is also mandatory to register for VAT as soon as the amount of intra-community acquisitions amounts to more than EUR 10,000 (approximately BGN 20,000)
Foreign mail order companies that exceed the annual sales threshold of EUR 35,000 (approximately BGN 68,500) in Bulgaria are required to register for Bulgarian VAT.
Foreign companies that sell and come to install in Bulgaria the equipment they have sold must also register for VAT.
Periodicity
The tax period of the VAT return is the calendar month, regardless of the amount of the tax holder's turnover. The declaration and payment of VAT on the tax account (in this case the territorial directorate of the Revenue Agency) must take place no later than the 14th of the month following the tax period under consideration.
The VAT collected, the amount of which would not have been declared in the declaration corresponding to that of the date of the document (but in a subsequent declaration) gives rise to a 25% increase in the VAT due.
The deductible VAT can be carried in any statement to be intervened within one year of the date of the supporting document.
Mixed tax payers, i.e. those whose turnover is partially within the scope of VAT and for the surplus outside the scope of VAT, must also file an annual VAT return (before 15 January of the following year).
Repayment time
The refund of VAT by the administration is made within 30 days of the introduction of the refund request by the subject. This refund request can be made whenever for at least three consecutive months the VAT return presents a credit in favor of the subject.
VAT regime on cash receipts
The general principle applicable in Bulgaria (like other countries) is that VAT is payable on liabilities (i.e. VAT is due by the company from the moment the company issues an invoice, regardless that invoice has been paid or not).
By derogation from this principle, small tax payers, i.e. those whose turnover in the field of VAT is less than EUR 500,000 per year, can opt for the VAT regime on liabilities, i.e. only have to declare and pay VAT on invoices issued and actually paid by customers.
VAT applicable
Normal: 20% for goods and services, imports of products on Bulgarian territory and intra-EU acquisitions.
Reduced: 9% for tourism services.
Updated April 2018