SAF-T in Bulgaria: who must file, when, and how to prepare
Bulgaria is phasing in SAF-T from 2026 to 2030. Which phase you are in, what the monthly and annual files contain, and five steps to get ready.
Bulgaria has joined the growing list of EU countries that collect accounting data from businesses in the Standard Audit File for Tax (SAF-T) format. Instead of asking for documents during an audit, the National Revenue Agency (NRA) receives your ledgers, invoices and payments regularly, and analyses them automatically.
The obligation is being introduced in phases. The largest companies started in 2026; by 2030 every VAT-registered business will report.
The five phases
| Start | Who | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Net revenue over BGN 300 million, or taxes and contributions over BGN 3.5 million | 2023 data |
| 2027 | Further companies meeting the same thresholds | 2024 data |
| 2028 | Net revenue over BGN 15 million, or taxes and contributions over BGN 1.5 million | 2025 data |
| 2029 | All large, medium and small enterprises under the Accounting Act | — |
| 2030 | All VAT-registered businesses, including micro-enterprises | — |
Every phase, including the first, starts with a grace period: the first six monthly files can be corrected without penalty until the deadline for the seventh. For a company that starts in January, the files for January to June can be fixed until 31 August.
What you submit, and when
- Monthly file: general ledger entries, customers and suppliers, sales and purchase invoices and payments. Due by the end of the month following the reporting month.
- Annual file: fixed assets and their movements. Due by 30 June of the following year.
- On request: additional data, such as inventory movements, within 14 days of the NRA’s request.
Files are submitted through the NRA’s e-services portal with a qualified electronic signature.
Why preparation matters more than the deadline
A SAF-T file is only as good as the data behind it. The file shows the NRA, in one place, how your ledgers relate to your VAT returns and VIES declarations. Differences that used to stay invisible until an audit now appear within weeks.
The most common problems we see:
- Master data gaps: customers without VAT numbers, duplicated suppliers, inconsistent addresses.
- Unmapped accounts: a chart of accounts that does not map cleanly to the SAF-T structure.
- Foreign ERP systems: group systems that were never set up for Bulgarian reporting.
- Unclear ownership: finance, IT and the software vendor each assume someone else owns the file.
Five steps to get ready
- Confirm your phase from your revenue and tax payments in the reference year.
- Clean up master data: customers, suppliers, VAT numbers and product records.
- Map your chart of accounts to the SAF-T structure.
- Configure your software to export the file, and test it against the NRA’s validation rules.
- Set a monthly routine that reconciles the file with your VAT return before it is submitted.
Smaller companies have more time, but the clean-up work is the same. Starting early spreads the effort and avoids a rushed first submission.
How we can help
We check your readiness, map your data, work with your software vendor or IT team, test the file, and then review and submit it every month. Read more about our SAF-T service.
