Does your foreign business need a Bulgarian VAT number?
Seven common situations that trigger VAT registration in Bulgaria for companies based elsewhere, and what changes once you are registered.
Bulgaria applies the common EU VAT rules, which means a company does not need an office here to have Bulgarian VAT obligations. What matters is what you do in Bulgaria, not where your company is based.
Situations that usually require registration
For a business not established in Bulgaria, these are the most common triggers:
- Importing goods into Bulgaria from outside the EU.
- Buying and selling goods that are located in Bulgaria.
- Selling goods from Bulgaria to customers in other countries, inside or outside the EU.
- Acquiring goods in Bulgaria from another EU country (intra-community acquisitions).
- Holding stock in Bulgaria for sale, distribution or consignment, for example in a warehouse or fulfilment centre.
- Selling goods online to consumers in Bulgaria above the EU-wide distance-selling threshold of €10,000 a year (across all EU countries combined), unless you use the One Stop Shop.
- Organising events in Bulgaria where attendees pay for admission.
Every case has details that change the answer, so treat this list as a reason to check, not as a final verdict.
The One Stop Shop can replace some registrations
Since July 2021, businesses selling goods or services to consumers in several EU countries can often report the VAT due everywhere through a single One Stop Shop (OSS) return, filed in one member state. OSS does not cover every situation: holding stock in Bulgaria, for example, still requires a local registration.
What changes once you are registered
A Bulgarian VAT number brings regular obligations:
- issuing invoices that meet the requirements of the Bulgarian VAT Act,
- keeping sales and purchase ledgers,
- filing a VAT return with the National Revenue Agency every month, including months with no activity,
- filing VIES declarations for intra-community supplies, and Intrastat declarations when trade passes the statistical thresholds.
For businesses established outside the EU, a local tax representative may also be required.
A practical base for EU trade
For many non-EU companies, a Bulgarian VAT registration is the simplest route into the single market: once registered, you can deliver goods to business customers in other member states.
How we can help
We check whether, when and where you need to register, prepare and file the application, act as your tax representative, and take over the monthly filings so nothing is missed. Talk to us about VAT registration.
