Business type guide · 2026

Bulgarian company for marketing and creative agencies

Agencies bill retainers and project fees, carry a payroll or a bench of contractors, and re-invoice media spend. That mix works well in a Bulgarian EOOD: the corporate rate is flat at 10%, contractor and salary costs are fully deductible, and Bulgaria has a deep pool of marketing and design talent at rates that improve the margin rather than the tax bill alone.

Corporate tax: 10% flat
Dividends: 5% withholding
Setup: Remote, 3-7 business days

Why it fits marketing and creative agencies

Retainers and project fees to EU business clients are reverse-charged, so invoicing stays simple across borders.
Freelancer and subcontractor costs, ad platform spend, software licences and travel are all deductible against the 10% base.
Hiring locally is realistic: Sofia and Plovdiv have working English-language marketing, design and paid-media teams.
Profit left in the company to fund hiring or a media float is taxed once at 10%, with nothing further until it is distributed.

VAT

Agency services to EU business clients are reverse-charged and reported in VIES. Re-invoiced media spend usually follows the same treatment as the underlying service, but pass-through billing needs to be documented as either a disbursement or part of your own supply, because the two are treated differently.

Substance and residency

Agencies tend to have the easiest substance story of any category, because staff, contractors and an office are real. Keep the account management and delivery genuinely connected to the entity that invoices, rather than running everything from a founder's home country while the EOOD only issues the invoice.

Paying yourself

Founders usually take a management salary at a sensible contribution base, keep working capital in the company for payroll and media floats, and distribute the surplus annually at 5%.

What it costs

Formation from €890; accounting typically €150-300 a month once payroll and contractor invoices are involved.

Full pricing

Mistakes marketing and creative agencies make

Treating re-invoiced ad spend as tax-free pass-through without documentation, which inflates or understates turnover.
Paying contractors in several countries without checking whether any of them create a permanent establishment.
Registering the company but keeping client contracts in the founder's old personal name.

Frequently asked

Can the agency employ people in Bulgaria and contractors elsewhere?

Yes. Bulgarian employees run through local payroll; foreign contractors invoice the company. Both are deductible, but foreign staff working from their own country can raise permanent-establishment questions there.

How is media spend billed to clients treated?

If you buy the media in your own name and re-bill it, it is normally part of your supply and follows your VAT treatment. Pure disbursements paid in the client's name are different, so pick one model and document it.

Is 10% the total tax an agency pays?

10% applies to company profit. Salaries carry social contributions, and distributed profit adds 5% dividend tax on top.

Guides by home country Tax calculator What an EOOD actually is Country tax comparisons

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