A proposal to raise dividend withholding from 5% to 10% lapsed rather than being rejected outright. What that signals for future budget cycles.
- Nominal share capital, real formation lead time
- NAS vs IFRS reporting choice
- How long does dual pricing remain mandatory?
The structural detail every company operating in Bulgaria must actively manage in 2026 is the mechanics of the euro changeover itself. All contracts, payroll systems, statutory accounts, bank balances and outstanding liabilities were automatically converted to euro at the fixed BGN 1.95583 rate on 1 January 2026, with salary conversions required to round in the employee's favour. Existing contracts did not need to be re-signed, but every converted figure — payroll runs, supplier agreements, statutory ledgers — needs independent verification against the fixed rate rather than an assumption that automated conversion was applied correctly. Compounding this, non-financial-sector businesses must display prices in both BGN and euro, in matching font, size and colour, for a full year running from 8 August 2025 to 8 August 2026 — a live, dated obligation still in force through most of 2026.
What a company pays in Bulgaria. Every figure below is published on the Bulgaria country page.
| Bulgaria | |
|---|---|
| Official language | Bulgarian |
| Legal forms | OOD · EOOD · AD |
| Employer social security | 18.92%–19.62% of gross salary (14.12% pension/social + 4.8% health + 0.4–1.1% activity-based work-injury), capped at €2,300/month gross from 1 August 2026 |
| Dividend tax (withholding) | 5% (2026; a proposed rise to 10% was not enacted due to early elections) |
| Minimum share capital | EOOD/OOD: €1 (nominal, redenominated from BGN 2) · AD: €25,000 (BGN 50,000; ≥25% paid up at formation) |
What makes it complex in Bulgaria
- Nominal share capital, real formation lead time — — EOOD/OOD capital is nominal (€1), but full operational readiness including bank account and tax registration typically takes 2–4 weeks beyond the 3–7 business day Commercial Register approval.
- NAS vs IFRS reporting choice — for SMEs — Bulgarian National Accounting Standards or full IFRS as adopted by the EU; the choice affects comparability with group-level reporting and should be made deliberately, not by default.
How long does dual pricing remain mandatory?
Non-financial-sector businesses must display prices in both BGN and euro — in matching font, size, type and colour — from 8 August 2025 through 8 August 2026, a mandatory one-year transition period under the Act on the Introduction of the Euro.
Nominal share capital, real formation lead time is one of the points HTLC Network handles for clients operating in Bulgaria, within a single engagement that covers every other country they operate in — executed locally, governed centrally.
In Bulgaria the scope is: Statutory accounts under Bulgarian National Accounting Standards or IFRS, VAT returns, and corporate tax filings, including verification of euro-redenominated ledgers against the fixed BGN 1.95583 conversion rate.
See Accounting & Tax Compliance in Bulgaria for the full scope, or the Bulgaria country page for the statutory framework across every service.
Figures as published on the HTLC Network country pages, reviewed September 2026 and collected from public sources. They are not a substitute for advice on a specific case and should be verified before being relied on.