Bulgaria Company Annual Costs: What You Actually Pay After Year 1 (2026)

Most "Bulgaria company formation" pages quote a single number for setup and go quiet on year 2. This guide is the opposite. Below is every recurring line item you will actually pay to keep a Bulgarian OOD or EOOD compliant and operational from year two onwards, with realistic EUR ranges for 2026.

If you only want the summary: a dormant Bulgarian company costs about EUR 900 to EUR 1,500 per year. An active small business with one director and a few invoices runs EUR 1,800 to EUR 3,600 per year. A VAT registered operating company with payroll lands at EUR 3,000 to EUR 6,000 per year. There are no hidden government fees - the variation is almost entirely in the accountant and address provider you pick.

If you have not incorporated yet, our complete formation guide covers year one. Year one total typically lands at EUR 1,500 to EUR 3,500 including government fees, notary, and provider work.

The mandatory baseline (you cannot avoid these)

Every Bulgarian limited company, even a dormant one with zero turnover, has to pay for the following:

1. Registered address (sediste)

EUR 200 to EUR 400 per year

Every Bulgarian company must have a registered Bulgarian address where official correspondence is received. Tax authority letters, court documents, and Commercial Register notices land there. This cannot be a P.O. box. A virtual office with mail forwarding is standard.

Watch for providers who quote EUR 100 a year - they often charge extra per scanned letter, or use addresses on registry watch lists that complicate banking and VAT applications.

2. Accounting (counterintuitively, also for dormant companies)

EUR 600 to EUR 1,200 per year for a dormant company EUR 1,500 to EUR 3,600 per year for an active company EUR 3,600 to EUR 6,000 per year with payroll and VAT

Bulgaria requires monthly bookkeeping and an annual financial statement, even for a company with zero activity. A dormant filing is cheap but not free - someone has to compile and file the zero return. Active companies need monthly recording of every invoice in and out, expense categorisation, VAT returns (monthly if VAT registered), and Intrastat for cross border goods movement.

Pricing scales roughly with transaction count and complexity:

• Up to 20 transactions per month: EUR 100 to EUR 150 per month
• 20 to 100 transactions: EUR 150 to EUR 250
• 100 to 300 transactions with payroll: EUR 250 to EUR 500
• E-commerce, marketplaces, multi currency: EUR 400 to EUR 800

For context, our tax and compliance service covers everything in a fixed monthly fee.

3. Annual financial statement publication

EUR 20 to EUR 50 (government fee) + included in accounting

Every Bulgarian company has to publish its annual financial statement on the Commercial Register by 30 September each year for the previous calendar year. The state fee is symbolic; the work is preparing the statement, which is bundled into the accounting fee in most quotes.

4. Annual corporate tax return

Included in accounting

Filed by 30 June for the previous calendar year. Even a zero profit return must be filed.

Variable but very common costs

5. VAT compliance (if registered)

EUR 600 to EUR 1,800 per year extra on top of base accounting

VAT registration becomes mandatory at BGN 100,000 (about EUR 51,000) turnover in a 12 month rolling window, and is often voluntary earlier for B2B EU sellers who want to use VIES. Once registered:

• Monthly VAT returns: included or +EUR 50 to EUR 150/month
• VIES declarations (intra-EU sales): included
• Intrastat (if you trade physical goods above thresholds): EUR 30 to EUR 80 per filing
• OSS / IOSS for B2C e-commerce: EUR 50 to EUR 150 per quarterly filing

6. Payroll

EUR 15 to EUR 40 per employee per month in processing fees, plus the actual taxes and contributions.

A single director / shareholder paying themselves a salary creates a "self insured person" registration rather than full payroll, which is cheaper to administer (EUR 30 to EUR 60 per month). Full breakdown of the contribution rates and caps in our payroll guide.

The actual tax cost on a director''s salary (not the processing fee) is roughly 32% in social contributions on a capped base of about EUR 2,112 per month, plus a flat 10% income tax. The cap matters enormously - it is what makes the salary route attractive vs Estonia.

7. Director services

EUR 1,200 to EUR 3,600 per year

Only needed if you want a Bulgarian resident director for substance reasons. Not legally required - a foreign director is fully allowed. Where it matters: defending the structure if your home country tax authority challenges the "effective place of management."

8. Bank account fees

EUR 0 to EUR 400 per year

Wise Business and Revolut Business are essentially free in account fees. Bulgarian local banks charge EUR 5 to EUR 25 per month for a business current account, plus per transaction fees. Most operating companies want a local Bulgarian IBAN for compliance and credibility - we cover the trade off in the business bank account guide.

Costs you usually only hit once or rarely

• Change of director or shareholder: EUR 150 to EUR 300 each time (state fee + lawyer)
• Capital increase: EUR 150 to EUR 300
• Address change: EUR 80 to EUR 150
• Trademark registration (Bulgarian only): EUR 300 to EUR 500 plus state fees - see trademark guide
• Statutory audit: Only required if you cross 2 of 3 thresholds (assets over BGN 4M, revenue over BGN 8M, more than 50 employees). EUR 2,000 to EUR 8,000 if triggered.

Three realistic annual budgets

Dormant holding company

Item	Annual (EUR)
Registered address	250
Accounting + annual filings	700
Bank account (Wise)	0
Total	EUR 950

Active one person consulting / SaaS / agency (no VAT, no payroll)

Item	Annual (EUR)
Registered address	300
Accounting (50 transactions/month)	1,800
Self insured contributions admin	480
Bank account	120
Total	EUR 2,700

VAT registered e-commerce or agency with 1 employee

Item	Annual (EUR)
Registered address	350
Accounting + monthly VAT + OSS	3,600
Payroll processing (1 employee + director)	600
Local bank account	240
Intrastat filings	360
Total	EUR 5,150

Compare this to the corporate tax saving alone: a company netting EUR 80,000 of profit pays 10% Bulgarian corporate tax = EUR 8,000. The same profit in Germany pays roughly EUR 25,000 to EUR 30,000 between corporate tax and trade tax. Annual maintenance is a small fraction of the tax differential.

Things that are NOT annual costs (but people assume they are)

• No annual state company fee. Bulgaria has nothing equivalent to the UK''s GBP 50 confirmation statement fee or Delaware''s USD 300 franchise tax.
• No mandatory audit for small companies. Most founders never trigger this.
• No minimum salary requirement for a director. You can pay yourself EUR 0 (and instead take dividends), or pay yourself the minimum self insured base (about BGN 1,077 / EUR 550 per month in 2026).
• No social tax on dividends. Only the 5% dividend withholding. This is the cleanest exit for retained profit.

How to budget conservatively

Use these rules of thumb for a realistic year two budget:

• Pure holding / dormant: assume EUR 1,200
• One person service business, no VAT: assume EUR 2,800
• One person service business, VAT registered: assume EUR 3,500
• Small operating business with payroll and VAT: assume EUR 5,500
• E-commerce, multi country, IOSS: assume EUR 6,500 to EUR 9,000

If a provider is quoting wildly under these numbers (e.g. "everything for EUR 99 per month"), ask exactly what is included in the monthly fee, whether VAT and payroll are extras, whether transactions over a threshold trigger surcharges, and what the address provider does with mail. We see hidden line items recover EUR 1,000 to EUR 3,000 of "savings" by year end in cheap quotes.

Our fixed price tiers are all inclusive by design, so the budget you sign on day one is the budget you pay all year. For an ongoing relationship, see ongoing support. For a tailored quote based on your transaction profile, get in touch.

Related reading

• Complete Guide to Bulgaria Company Formation in 2026
• Bulgaria''s 10% Corporate Tax Explained
• Bulgaria vs Estonia e-Residency Comparison
• Bulgaria Withholding Tax Guide
• Bulgaria Payroll and Social Contributions Guide