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We have already spoken in the past about the different states in Europe that offer interesting options for those who want to optimise taxes, for either private or business purposes.

Today, we will finally take a look at Bulgaria, one of the most versatile and interesting options, a nation that can be perfect for you as both a place of residence and a place of business. You can choose to start a business in Bulgaria or relocate the one you already have.

This country, located in the east of the East and south of Romania, offers solutions to virtually all the requirements that your business may have.

Bulgaria has very competitive prices, a tax rate of only 10% and, of course, it is within the European Union, and therefore boasts all the advantages of having a business in the EU (your invoices are easily accepted, you can obtain an intra-community VAT number etc.).

These are the topics that we will look at in today’s article:

  • Living in Bulgaria
  • Living in Bulgaria for non-EU nationals
  • Features and advantages of businesses in Bulgaria
  • How to start a business in Bulgaria (costs and procedures)
  • Creating a business anonymously: bearer shares in Bulgaria
  • Holding companies in Bulgaria
  • Working as a freelancer in Bulgaria
  • Bank accounts and payment gateways
  • Registering your car in the name of a Bulgarian business
  • Creating corporate substance and internationalising your business (outsourcing in Bulgaria)

If you have been following this blog for some time, you will already know that there is strong competition among the different states to get their hands on the money from our taxes.

They are continuously designing special regimes and taxation schemes to attract businesses and people from other countries, getting them to pay their taxes there.

We can see this happening in many countries: Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, New Zealand, the non-dom countries

All of these special regimes have something in common: they are usually designed solely for foreigners, meaning, in general, you can only benefit from them if you have not lived and paid taxes in those countries for an extended period of time (for non-dom countries, the most important thing is that you are not a native of that country).

However, beyond these special regimes, there are also many countries that treat both foreigners and natives equally for tax purposes and, instead of focusing on attracting people solely from outside, they collect a small amount in tax from everyone.

This is the case in most Eastern European countries. We have already spoken about Romania and the Czech Republic in the past but this is also true in Hungary and Bulgaria.

In Bulgaria, both businesses and citizens have a flat tax rate of 10%. It doesn’t matter how much you earn or what you do, whether they are capital gains, royalties, dividends, rental income or anything else, you pay 10% and that’s it.

How does that sound?

Living in Bulgaria

As we mentioned before, there is a flat tax rate of 10% in Bulgaria. It doesn’t matter if you earn 1,000 or 100,000, the percentage stays the same.

Residents pay tax on their global income, whether it is income from abroad or from inside the country. There is also a tax-free allowance there, in this case, €4,050 per year.

Social security contributions make up 18.8% to 22.3% of your salary or revenues. You can use the international agreements to take into account what you paid in case you return to your country of origin one day.

In Bulgaria, taking out private health insurance that includes coverage for the whole of Europe costs around €100 per month for those who are about 40 years old. If you are younger or you only want coverage for Bulgaria, you will save around €300 per year. Private health insurance for children costs around €750 per year (€62 per month).

In Bulgaria, there are no CFC rules or any other type of restriction on the managing of offshore or foreign companies, meaning you can set up your companies anywhere and run them from Bulgaria smoothly.

As a resident in Bulgaria, if your company is abroad, you do not have to pay social security in Bulgaria.

To be considered as a tax resident in Bulgaria, you have to have permanent housing in the country and you should spend a minimum of 183 days a year there. However, for those who do not want to spend that much time in Bulgaria, there are other solutions.

If you are an EU-citizen, in order to obtain long-term residence in Bulgaria, you will need an employment contract or to be a partner in or manager of a Bulgarian company (EOOD/OOD).

You will also have to take your European Health Insurance Card (or your private medical insurance) and proof that you have enough money in a Bulgarian bank account to last the whole year (around €2,000 is enough).

After 5 years of living in Bulgaria with a long-term residence permit, you can apply for permanent residency.

Now you’re wondering, how much will residency in Bulgaria cost me?

Our partners in Bulgaria can help you to get residency as an employee or as an entrepreneur with a company in Bulgaria. Here are the prices:

Residency Package A (as an employee)

  • Contract with a Bulgarian company: €160
  • Bulgarian social security payments as an employee for 3 months (approximately): €450
  • Address in order to register (for 1 year, only necessary if you do not have your own house): €700
  • Administrative assistance for the process: €250

Residency Package B (as an entrepreneur)

  • Establishment of a company (OOD or EOOD): between €568 and €712, depending on what you are going to use it for
  • Company Certification: €30
  • Address in order to register (for 1 year, only necessary if you do not have your own house): €700
  • Administrative assistance for the process: €250

This means that if you choose Package A, you will pay €1,560 and if you would prefer to have a Bulgarian company and choose Package B, you will pay €1,548.

Please note that if you are a self-employed manager of your Bulgarian company, you will have to pay an additional €85 per month in social security. If you have a contract as a manager and a wage, your minimum wage will be €450 per month and approximately 40% of that will go towards taxes and contributions.

Regarding the amount of time you should spend in the country so as not to have problems with your residency, during the first year you should go to Bulgaria at least once every three months.

If at any time you want to stop being a fiscal resident in Bulgaria (perhaps because you want to live as a perpetual tourist), you simply have to stop extending your residency permit once you have stopped being seen as a resident in your country of origin.

Of course, you have to watch out for the laws of the different countries that you visit if you do not want to become a fiscal resident, and you especially have to avoid spending too much time there (the 183-day rule) or you have to have a home at your disposal for the entire year.

Living in Bulgaria for non-EU nationals

You can also obtain a residency permit in Bulgaria without a European passport. There are various ways to do this.

  1. Register your foreign company and go to Bulgaria as a representative of it
  2. Register a new Bulgarian company and employ at least 10 Bulgarian nationals for a minimum 6 months
  3. Invest in a property with a minimum value of €312,000
  4. As a pensioner with lots of assets and housing in Bulgaria
  5. Family reunification in Bulgaria

Now we are going to talk about the easiest and most economical way to obtain a Bulgarian type D visa: as a representative of a foreign company.

In order to go as a representative, you first need a foreign company.

This company should be at least 6 months old, have a certificate of ‘good standing’ (which shows that it keeps up with all of its obligations) and it must register a representative office in Bulgaria.

Registering a representative office takes between 10 and 20 days once all of the necessary documents have been translated and submitted. The foreign company can send a maximum of 2 representatives.

If you need assistance, our partner agency can guide you through the whole process of registering a representative office in Bulgaria for €1,500. The price includes state fees, translation and authentication of documents, mandatory Bulstat registration and certificate procurement.

The fees for the application of a D visa and subsequent residency amount to €1,000. This includes medical insurance, a rental agreement and administrative assistance with the immigration authorities.

Features and advantages of businesses in Bulgaria

Bulgaria offers a lot of options for tax optimisation and asset protection.

You can use companies in Bulgaria to protect your records (joint-stock company), to trade (EORI and VIES), as a holding company, to deduct your car expenses, for physical businesses (low costs), as a collection subsidiary for your offshore company…

A Bulgarian company can be particularly helpful if you continue to reside in a country with a high tax burden, even if you do not have high revenues yet.

But let’s start at the beginning.

The VAT rate in Bulgaria is 20% but you can adhere to the small business regime up to a maximum amount of €25,600 (meaning you choose not to charge or process VAT on your invoices up to that amount).

On the other hand, in Bulgaria, it is very easy to obtain an intra-community VAT number and an EORI for exporters. Unlike in other countries, in Bulgaria, you do not need to have physical premises in order to obtain these numbers.

For dividends, if you live in Bulgaria, you will pay a 5% tax but if you live in any other country in the EU, there will be no deductions (however, you will have to pay taxes on your dividends in that country, although as a resident in some countries like Cyprus or Malta there is no tax).

If you live outside of the EU, usually 5% will be taken from your dividends (you usually reclaim this money when paying taxes in your country of residence).

Here is an example:

If your company makes €100,000 in profits, the corporation tax would be €10,000, so therefore you would be left with €90,000, which could be distributed to the partners in the form of dividends.

If you live in Bulgaria, the 5% tax on dividends would amount to €4,500, meaning that if you have your company in Bulgaria and also live there, you would have €85,500 left after paying taxes.

Of course, Bulgarian Limited Companies (OODs) also allow you to deduct expenses, but if you want to deduct the representative’s expenses (trips, meals etc.), you will have to register as a manager of the company with a contract.

This is important as, for social security purposes; you have two options when running a Bulgarian company: you can be a manager of the company with a salary or a work contract or without either.

A manager without a contract does not receive a monthly salary and must contribute €85 per month in social security payments. This expense cannot be deducted.

A manager with a contract receives a monthly salary of which they pay 30.3% in social security contributions. The minimum wage for a manager is €450 per month, meaning that after paying taxes and social security, they are left with €270. They lose €180 that does count as business expenses and can, therefore, be deducted from taxes.

An example of deducting business expenses with a Bulgarian company:

  • Purchase of a laptop, PC, mobile or smart-phone, office materials, etc. à deductible
  • Flights and hotel stays for business trips à only deductible if the trips were made by a manager with a contract
  • Used car (excluding VAT) and parts for it à fully deductible over a period of 4 years (25% per year)

If you are not a resident in Bulgaria and you are a manager of an OOD or EOOD, it is usually possible for you to avoid social security contributions.

Normally, if you are paying social security in one EU member state, you are not obligated to also pay it in another. This means that if you pay social security in your home country, you do not have to pay it in Bulgaria as well. Be that as it may, you would need to take a close look at each case.

Types of companies in Bulgaria

The most common types of companies in Bulgaria are limited companies (EOOD/OOD), joint-stock companies (AD), subsidiaries and representative offices.

  • Bulgarian Limited Liability Company (OOD/EOOD)

This is the type of company most used by investors and entrepreneurs because of its minimum capital requirements, simplified structure and management possibilities.

These companies limit liability and can consist of a single member (in which case it is abbreviated to EOOD) or more than one person (OOD). The partners can be natural persons and/or legal entities. They can also be Bulgarian and/or foreign.

The minimum share capital of OODs and EOODs is 2 BGN (2 Bulgarian Lev), which is equal to around €1.

You can sell or transfer shares through a notarial contract for the same price that you purchased them at (even if it is only 2 Lev), without taking the current, real value of the company into account. Transferring shares between shareholders or a third party is also possible.

The company is run by a manager. This position can be filled by one or more people. Only natural persons can be appointed as managers of an EOOD/OOD. There are no restrictions in terms of the manager’s nationality.

  • Bulgarian Joint-stock Company (AD)

The AD is another type of corporate organisation that is quite common for startups and other companies who want to go public on the stock market one day.

The most interesting thing for investors is the absence of legal restrictions on the transmission of shares and the fact that partners do not need to be involved in the company’s activity at all.

This type of company can be established by one or more Bulgarian and/or foreign natural persons and/or legal entities.

The minimum share capital for the registration and operation of an AD is 50,000 BGN, which equates to around €26,000. For certain types of activities, such as banking or insurance, a higher minimum capital is required.

At the time of the company’s establishment, at least 25% of the value of each share must be paid out. This means that the minimum required to start the company’s registration is 12,500 BGN (€7,250). The rest of the total capital (37,500 BGN) can be contributed within a maximum period of 2 years.

The company can be governed by the board of directors (a one-tier managing system) or by both the supervisory board and the board of directors (if a two-tier managing system is chosen). At least three people are required to participate in the governing body.

The shares of a joint-stock company can be sold without restrictions. The shares can come in the form of:

  • Registered or bearer shares; we have dedicated a section of this article to bearer shares;
  • Common or preference shares;
  • Dematerialised shares;

The transfer of shares must be recorded in the company’s shareholder ledger. In most cases, the acquisition of shares by new shareholders is not an issue.

  • Subsidiary

Opening a subsidiary is one of the options available to foreign companies if they want to start business operations in Bulgaria. Foreign companies can run their business much easier on Bulgarian soil by registering a subsidiary.

The subsidiary of a foreign company is not an independent legal entity, but it does have a certain level of independence from its parent company. The subsidiary must have separate accounting and must process its annual review separately. The assets and liabilities of the subsidiary are considered assets and liabilities of the parent company.

For tax purposes, the foreign parent company will be subject to corporation tax, but only with respect to profits stemming from the subsidiary’s activity in Bulgaria.

  1. Trade Representative Office (TRO)

Any foreign natural or legal person can register a TRO in Bulgaria. The only requisite for this is that it is authorised to conduct business activities in its country of origin (meaning it must be autonomous or have some type of partnership or enterprise). The Trade Representative Office (TRO) is registered in the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The TRO is not an independent legal entity and cannot conduct business activities. Therefore, the objective of trade representation is to conduct activities like promotions, exhibitions, demonstrations, training or advertising of goods and services. Therefore, TROs generally do not generate revenues and are not subject to corporation tax in Bulgaria.

If the Trade Representative Office participates in business activities in the country, it can be classified as a permanent establishment for tax purposes and the foreign parent company would be subject to Bulgarian corporation tax on the profits made in Bulgaria as a result of the TRO’s business activity.

How to start a business in Bulgaria (costs and procedures)

You do not need to go to Bulgaria in person to register a company there, although this would speed up the process and also allow you to skip some steps.

You have two options; you can establish a new company or purchase one that already exists.

Usually, in order to open a bank account, you have to go in person, although our Bulgarian partners can, in certain cases, help you to open one remotely.

The first step to starting a Bulgarian limited company (OOD or EOOD) is to register the company in order to obtain a tax identification number for it; this procedure costs €256 with our partners.

You will also need an address for the company’s headquarters. If you do not have one, you can hire one for €200 per year. If you want to have your own address and not share it with another company (interesting if you are going to start a company from Germany, Spain, France or Portugal, for example), this will cost €500.

If you want to remotely establish a company in Bulgaria, this will cost an additional €160. Of course, on top of this, you have to add in the cost of the authentication of the documents by the Bulgarian embassy in your country.

The minimum capital of a Bulgarian limited company is 2 Lev (€1).

Registering a company can be done one of two ways; by moving to Bulgaria or from your own country.

For the former, the company manager would have to go to Bulgaria and open a company bank account, into which the company’s startup funds will be transferred. The manager will also have to leave a specimen signature for a Bulgarian notary.

If you prefer not to move, you will have to go to the Bulgarian embassy in your country in order to authenticate some documents: they require a specimen signature, your consent and the power of attorney to open and close the initial bank account, as well as to deposit the necessary minimum capital into it.

This initial bank account is used only to deposit the share capital necessary to register the company. Once the company has been registered, this bank account can no longer be used. This means that its only purpose is for the registration of the company.

If you have had the documents authenticated in your country’s Bulgarian embassy, you will not have to translate them in Bulgaria as well.

Another option would be for a notary from your country to authenticate the documents, in which case they will have to be apostilled. The documents will also have to be translated and authenticated in Bulgaria. This usually costs between €150 and €200. The process can take between 3 days and 1 week.

If you want our partner agency to handle the bookkeeping, the minimum cost for this is €70 per month. This includes the recording of invoices (for deposits and withdrawals), VAT declarations and, ultimately, complete records. It also includes the closing of accounts.

The set-up and provision of annual accounts will cost an additional €30.

The initial VAT registration costs €144 (one-time payment only, if you are not going to opt for the small business regime) and should be made the day after entry into the commercial register. The process takes around 14 days.

If you are going to export or import products, you will have to register for this. The EORI application costs €144.

As opposed to what happens in Ireland and other European countries, in Bulgaria you will have no problems with getting your VAT number (local and European), nor with getting your EORI.

If you are going to run your company directly, as a manager, you will have to apply for a social security number, a process costing €48. You also need a social security number to receive dividends from a Bulgarian company. This price is per person (partner or manager).

Finally, the manager(s) of the company will have to pay €48 for the mandatory data protection registration. It seems, however, that this final procedure will not be around for much longer.

All in all, the costs for a Bulgarian solely owned limited company (EOOD) founded directly in Bulgaria would be as follows (for the most part):

  • Preparation of bilingual corporate documents (in English and Bulgarian) and the registration of the company – €256
  • Translation and authentication of the partners’ and manager’s documents – €150 to €200
  • Address for the company’s headquarters (per year) – €200
  • VAT registration – €144
  • Data protection registration – €48
  • Acquisition of a social security number for foreign nationals – €48

Total: €846

In case, for some reason, you want to leave the company inactive, you would need to pay the annual price for the company address and for the submission of the necessary documents and forms, which would cost €340.

Our partner agency can also help you with the purchasing of a pre-existing company. These companies, also known as “shelf companies,” are registered on the commercial register but have never been operational.  They have no obligations, assets or debts.

The pre-existing company package costs around €1,500, is subject to availability and includes the following:

  • Limited company with a registered Bulgarian headquarters
  • VAT registration
  • Personal data protection registration
  • Personal identification number for foreign nationals
  • Company seal
  • Remote transfer to the new owner (no need to be physically present)
  • Company bank account

Now, when can it be a good idea to purchase a pre-registered company?

One of the advantages of pre-existing companies is that you can skip procedures and you do not have to wait around, you can start working from the very first day. This means not waiting for 1 or 2 days to be registered, nor for the 14 days necessary for VAT registration.

However, the biggest advantage is that it is a company that has already been registered for some time. It is not uncommon for you to have to show that your company is at least 6 months old before you can access grants or funds.

Transferring the company can change lots of details about it, such as:

  • The company’s name
  • The company’s headquarters (it is mandatory that they remain in Bulgaria)
  • The type of activities registered to the company
  • The manager(s) of the company

If you are interested and want to establish a Bulgarian limited company or purchase a pre-existing one, you can contact me here.

Creating a business anonymously: bearer shares in Bulgaria

Another interesting option in Bulgaria is the possibility of using bearer shares to have a completely anonymous business. Bulgaria is one of the few countries in which it is still possible to have a joint-stock company with bearer shares.

This type of company, when established correctly, guarantees the anonymity of its owners.

This can be used for asset protection, for business transfers and for mergers and acquisitions, as well as, of course, for protecting the anonymity of the owners.

You can hire an agency to create the company and provide the manager and the board of directors. The notarized bearer shares would be sent manually to the client after entry into the partners’ ledger (a ledger that, of course, cannot be accessed by the public).

So far, the client’s name has not appeared anywhere, but there is still one more step to go: the bank account.

One option could be opening the company bank account in the name of the fiduciary partner.

The bank account could be managed by the head director following the client’s specific instructions or, even easier, by the person behind it, who could be the one in possession of the access codes and keys to allow transactions.

Our partner agency can help you to create a completely anonymous company for around €6,016 (€3,956 from the second year onwards).

This price includes the following:

  • Joint-stock company with headquarters in Bulgaria
  • Bearer shares (guaranteed confidentiality and ownership)
  • Board of directors
  • Lead director/representative
  • VAT registration
  • Company bank account
  • Company seal

In terms of the lead director and members of the board of directors, we are not talking about a lawyer that is the director or advisor of hundreds of companies, but rather about people who only hold this position in one company.

Of course, in order to establish your joint-stock company, you will also have to contribute a share capital of 50,000 Lev, which is equal to €25,000 (25% should be paid at the moment of establishment).

Our partner company can help with the accounting of this type of joint-stock company for around €250 per month. Additionally, Bulgarian joint-stock companies are obligated to undergo an annual audit. The price of this is around €500.

If you are interested and want to establish a completely anonymous company in Bulgaria, you can send us an email so that we can put you in contact with our partners.

Holding companies in Bulgaria

We have already spoken about Cyprus in the past as an optimum option for your holding company in the European Union. However, if for some reason you prefer another country, there are also other interesting options, including Malta, Holland, Ireland and, you guessed it, Bulgaria.

Thanks to the European directive that does not allow taxes on nor deductions of dividends between subsidiaries and parent companies in the EU, Bulgarian holding companies can receive dividends from their subsidiaries within the EU completely tax-free.

Deductions on distributed dividends from Bulgarian holding companies to natural persons in the European Union is at a rate of 5%.

Bulgarian holding companies can establish subsidiaries anywhere in the world, since there are no CFC rules in Bulgaria (although the EU-directive could change this before too long), allowing you to seamlessly transfer profits from one country to another. Dividends received from subsidiaries outside the EU are taxed at 10%.

Therefore, for example, if your Bulgarian company had a British Limited Company as a subsidiary, income from this company would be tax-free.

On the other hand, if you had an offshore company in Belize, Saint Vincent or any other country, Bulgarian OODs or EOODs would pay 10% in corporation taxes on the received dividends. The Bulgarian parent company would not have to show any type of bookkeeping for the subsidiary, meaning the local authorities are not interested in knowing about what has happened in offshore companies.

Working as a freelancer in Bulgaria

If you are a resident in Bulgaria, you can also choose to work as a freelancer, but by doing so, you would not be limiting your responsibility and, as is the case for freelancers anywhere in the world, you would have to answer with all of your assets in case of problems.

Be that as it may, from a fiscal point of view, there are different interesting regulations, particularly for freelancers in the IT sector and for freelance writers.

As a freelancer, you can reduce the fixed tax rate of 10% by a quarter thanks to an available opportunity, which allows you to deduct 25% in the form of operational expenses.

Authors and freelancers with business models based on licensing can deduct 40%. This means that you would only pay 6% in income taxes as long as your work can be categorized as literary (keep in mind that programmes and applications are also considered as literary works).

Bank accounts and payment gateways

Bulgaria has not introduced the Euro, but it is in the SEPA area, meaning that the regulations for transfers and intakes are very advantageous and the transaction periods are minimal. The national currency is called Lev and is approximately equal to €0.50.

The banks in Bulgaria are extremely used to working in other currencies, especially the Euro, US Dollars and Pounds, meaning that you will not encounter problems with opening an account in these currencies.

In any case, if you want to you can also choose to use some FinTech online services like Paysera or Leypay (you can take a look at our comparison of online accounts with a prepaid card) or you can open a bank account in any other country.

In principle, there is no law that says that if you have a Bulgarian company you are obligated to open a bank account in Bulgaria (beyond the account needed to deposit the company’s startup funds which can be closed after the process is completed). However, a Bulgarian account is recommended in order to be able to complete the steps with greater ease and to be able to use PayPal (which we will speak about a little more below).

In order to open a bank account in Bulgaria, you will usually need the following documents:

  1. Company Registration Statement (or similar). The document which clearly states where the company has been established and that it has not entered into an arrangement with creditors or similar.
  2. The company’s bylaws which show that the representative has the power to act as a representative and to open the account in the name of the company.
  3. Identification (passport or national ID card) of the legal representative, lawyer (with power of attorney) and the real owner.
  4. If it is a Bulgarian company, the BULSTAT certificate of registration.
  5. If the company does not do business in Bulgaria (if you want to open an account for a non-Bulgarian company), a formal declaration that you are not going to do business in Bulgaria.
  6. For US citizens: FACTA regulations must be taken into account
  7. If the person depositing the money is not the final beneficiary, i.e. if it is an authorised person, they will need a notarized document confirming that they are authorised to deposit the money.

The documents in point 1 and 2, (as well as the power of attorney, if in use), have to be certified, apostilled and translated into Bulgarian.

The translation must be done by a translation agency that has been authorised by the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and certified by the department of “legalization and certification.”

If needs be, our partner agency in Bulgaria can help you to open a bank account there. In certain cases, this can include helping you to open a company bank account remotely (although it is generally preferable to do it in person).

In terms of payment gateways, you can use PayPal business from Bulgaria. You can directly charge your clients in Euros or Dollars and transfer funds to a Bulgarian account in the same currency in order to save yourself some money from the PayPal currency conversion rates.

Of course, you can also use the Virtual POS of any local or European bank, they usually offer much better terms than PayPal.

Registering your car in the name of a Bulgarian company

If you want to save on taxes and deduct all of your car’s expenses, you can choose to register it in the name of your company in Bulgaria.

You could deduct the total cost of the money invested in a car over a period of 4 years. You can also deduct the cost of parts, repairs and journeys.

The transfer of used vehicles to Bulgarian territory and its local registration must meet certain requirements. It is mandatory to have an established company and to obtain the electronic reference number of the company’s registration.

You will have to go through certain administrative procedures in order to register the car and change the plates.

Our partner agency in Bulgaria can take care of everything, if you wish, for a cost of €150 which includes the state fees and assistance at all times. You do not need to go to the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Department of Road Transportation in person.

Car insurance and taxes depend on the type of car, the date of registration and the horsepower, but generally, the rates are reduced significantly.

Creating corporate substance and internationalising your business (outsourcing in Bulgaria)

If you live in a Western country with CFC rules and you need to create corporate substance or you simply want to increase your profits by outsourcing work, Bulgaria can be an interesting option, especially if you take the low salaries and rents there into account.

Generally, especially outside of the capital, Sofia, any type of service is very economical.

In the capital, between €800 and €900 is considered a good wage, but outside only €600 to €700 is considered as a good wage (and, of course, depending on your sector, you can choose to pay an average salary).

If you want to internationalise your business, you could start a company in Bulgaria and from there, run your own European call centre and translate or adapt your business to other cultures. In Bulgaria, you can find workers that speak all languages, particularly English, Russian and German and if you need to hire developers or marketing or programming experts, you will be able to do so easily.

Hiring an office can cost you between €200 and €300 per month, depending on your needs.

If you need help finding workers in Bulgaria or renting a property, we can put you in touch with our partners there. They can take care of finding workers, training them, evaluating their performance and even managing the team.

If you do not need workers with experience, they can help you to hire and train young people with basic salaries of €250. Of course, it is recommended that you raise their salaries as their performance improves so that they do not leave.

Conclusion

As you have seen, Bulgaria offers solutions for everyone. Here, you can protect your assets through a joint-stock company (AD), you have bearer shares to maximise your anonymity and you can set up a holding company to optimise taxes and better administrate the money that flows through your business(es). Furthermore, you can even register your car in the name of the company in order to deduct expenses.

If you need a company in the European Union in order to register as an importer (EORI) and to sell your products there, or to obtain a European VAT number, Bulgaria is one of the quickest and easiest options.

The low labour and rental costs also make Bulgaria one of the best places to create corporate substance and escape the international tax transparency regime imposed by the CFC rules or escape the pitfalls in place at your company’s actual administration site.

But that’s not all. In Bulgaria, you can also become a fiscal resident, only paying 10% in taxes, no matter whether you are an EU-citizen or not. And as a resident there, you can make use of the interesting Bulgarian freelancer regime.

These are the only three cases in which I would not recommend Bulgaria: if your business has something to do with cryptocurrency, if you are not a resident in the EU (and do not intend to become one) or if you do not sell within the European Union.

And I think that’s enough for today! Now, if you want us to help you set up your Bulgarian company or obtain residency there, you can contact us.

If you want us to analyse your options and find the best solution for your case, you can also request a consultation.

You already know….because your life is yours!

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