Jurisdiction comparison · 2026
Czechia raised corporate tax to 21% in 2024 and still layers 15% on dividends. Bulgaria's 10% plus 5% leaves roughly a fifth more of every distributed euro in the founder's hands.
| Bulgaria 🇧🇬 | Czechia 🇨🇿 | |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate tax | 10% flat | 21% |
| Dividend tax | 5% | 15% |
| VAT rate | 20% (0% intra-EU B2B) | 21% |
| Min. share capital | BGN 2 (≈ €1) | CZK 1 (s.r.o., in practice CZK 1-10,000) |
| Setup time | 3-7 business days | 2-3 weeks |
| EU membership | Yes (since 2007) | Yes (since 2004) |
| Social contributions | ~32% (capped at BGN 4,130/mo) | ~34% employer + employee |
A Czech s.r.o. is cheap to incorporate but not cheap to run once profit is distributed: 21% corporate tax since the 2024 consolidation package, then 15% withholding on the dividend, for an effective burden near 33%. Bulgaria's 10% and 5% stack to about 14.5%. Czech incorporation also still requires a notarial deed, a trade licence and a bank capital step, which puts realistic timelines at two to three weeks against three to seven business days in Bulgaria. Both countries are in the EU and both use EU VAT, so intra-EU B2B invoicing behaves identically; the deciding factors are where your customers are and whether you employ people locally. Czech founders serving foreign clients see the largest saving, but management and control must genuinely sit in Bulgaria for it to hold.
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