Bulgaria at a glance
Bulgaria is one of the EU jurisdictions founders most often use today, especially while the EU-wide 28th Regime (EU Inc) is still a proposal. Below are the verified essentials: company types, tax, capital, timing and whether you can set up remotely.
Company types in Bulgaria
- EOOD / OOD (limited liability company) Bulgaria's workhorse: EOOD with one owner, OOD with several. Together they account for about 85% of all Bulgarian companies. EUR 1 of capital, limited liability, foreign ownership up to 100%.
- AD (joint-stock company) The joint-stock route for larger ventures or capital raises: EUR 25,000 minimum capital, a quarter of it paid in before registration, plus board governance.
| Corporate tax | The headline figure, and the reason most foreign founders look at Bulgaria in the first place, is the flat 10% on corporate profit. Hungary undercuts it at 9%; nobody else in the EU does. The flat-tax theme runs through the whole system: personal income tax is also 10%, and dividends leave the company with a 5% withholding that a treaty or the EU parent-subsidiary rules can often cut to zero. |
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| VAT rate | VAT is the one Bulgarian tax that looks ordinary. The standard rate is 20%, with 9% for hotels, books and a short list of other items. Registration becomes compulsory once turnover crosses roughly EUR 51,130 in a rolling year; below that it is optional, and consultants billing EU clients often register early anyway to reclaim input VAT. |
| Dividends & payroll taxes | Dividends carry just 5% withholding. Personal income tax is a flat 10%, and employer social and health contributions add roughly 19% on top of salaries up to the monthly ceiling, which makes Bulgaria's payroll wedge one of the EU's lighter ones. |
| Minimum share capital | EUR 1. That really is the whole requirement for an OOD or EOOD, a carry-over of the symbolic BGN 2 from before Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026. Only the AD joint-stock company asks for real money: EUR 25,000, a quarter of it paid in before registration. |
| Setup time | Bulgarian registry clerks work fast: a complete, correctly translated filing usually clears the Commercial Register in 1 to 3 business days, which puts the OOD or EOOD itself at roughly 3 to 7 days. What stretches the calendar is everything around the filing. Notarise the power of attorney abroad, courier it over, open the capital account, and the honest start-to-finish estimate becomes 2 to 4 weeks. |
| Remote setup | Yes, by an old-fashioned but reliable mechanism: a notarised (usually apostilled) power of attorney naming a Bulgarian lawyer, who files the entire registration electronically on your behalf. You never board a plane. The familiar exception applies: some banks still want to meet the account holder in person before opening the corporate account. |
| Director / residency | Nothing in Bulgarian law requires the manager to live in Bulgaria or hold an EU passport, and 100% foreign ownership is routine. There is one administrative string attached: a company owned entirely by foreign non-residents must name a local contact person, so official correspondence has somewhere to land. |
| Banking options | UniCredit Bulbank, DSK Bank, UBB (KBC) and Fibank dominate. The sequence is always the same: temporary capital account first, deposit the share capital, then convert it to an operating account once the company is registered. Foreign-owned firms get more KYC questions than locals, which is worth budgeting patience for. For daily euro payments plenty of founders skip the branch network entirely and run Wise or Revolut alongside. |
| Our formation service | from around €100 to €200 (estimated). You get a fixed quote in your free plan before you commit. |
On 1 January 2026 Bulgaria became the euro area's 21st member, so capital requirements and tax thresholds are now quoted in euros rather than leva. Beyond that, the case for Bulgaria is plain arithmetic rather than any single clever feature: EUR 1 of capital, 10% on profits, 10% on personal income, 5% on dividends. Few EU structures run leaner on paper.
How to register a company in Bulgaria
Step by step, this is how a Bulgaria formation actually runs:
- Prepare the OOD/EOOD file. Articles, manager consent and specimen signature; a notarised, usually apostilled power of attorney lets a local lawyer act for you.
- Open the capital account. A temporary account receives the EUR 1 (or chosen) capital and the bank issues the deposit note.
- File with the Commercial Register. Electronic filing by the lawyer; approval typically lands in 1 to 3 business days.
- Convert the account and register for VAT. The capital account becomes the operating account; VAT registration is mandatory past about EUR 51,130 of turnover and optional before.
- Appoint the accountant. Monthly bookkeeping starts immediately; the local contact person requirement applies when all owners are non-resident.
We handle each step with licensed local counsel, so the paperwork, registered address and filings are done correctly the first time.
What company formation in Bulgaria costs
The state's share is almost a rounding error: around EUR 30 for the electronic Commercial Register filing, plus modest notary charges on the founding documents. What a remote founder actually spends is EUR 200 to 500 all-in once a lawyer, the power of attorney and certified translations are counted. After that, a small EOOD pays its accountant roughly EUR 60 to 150 a month.
Form your Bulgarian company in days
Tell us where you live and what you are building. Our formation service starts from around €100 to €200 (estimated); we confirm the right structure for Bulgaria, give you a fixed quote, and form the company with licensed counsel.
Get your free planWho can form a company in Bulgaria
Founders from outside the EU can own and run a Bulgarian company, with the cross-border requirements handled for you. We flag any residency or local-agent rule for Bulgaria up front, so there are no surprises.
Bulgaria suits consultants, agencies and lean holding setups chasing the EU's second-lowest corporate tax with token capital. The honest caveat: administration happens in Bulgarian, and banks quiz foreign owners harder than locals. It rewards founders who keep a steady local accountant, and frustrates anyone hoping for a set-and-forget vehicle.
After registration: what Bulgaria expects each year
Two dates anchor the year: the corporate tax return and payment by 30 June, and publication of the annual financial statements through the Commercial Register by 30 September for most companies. VAT returns run monthly once you are registered. Note that even a dormant company owes a declaration, so the accountant relationship never fully switches off.
Bulgaria and the 28th Regime (EU Inc)
EU Inc, the proposed 28th Regime, would let you register one company valid across all 27 EU member states. It is not law yet (expected around 2027-2028), so a Bulgarian company is one of the ready options you can use today. Forming an EU company now also positions you to adopt EU Inc later, as we cover in how to prepare an EU Inc company. To weigh Bulgaria against other countries, see company formation in Europe.