What is the corporate tax rate in Bulgaria vs Finland?

Bulgaria charges a flat 10% flat corporate tax. Finland charges 20%.

How much share capital do you need in Bulgaria vs Finland?

Bulgaria requires only BGN 2 (≈ €1) of share capital. Finland requires €0 (Oy).

How long does it take to register a company in Bulgaria compared to Finland?

Bulgarian companies are typically registered in 3-7 business days. In Finland, expect 1-2 weeks.

Why do EU founders choose Bulgaria over Finland?

Finland's dividend rules split distributions between capital and earned income, producing effective rates far above Bulgaria's flat 5% 25.5% Finnish VAT is now the highest standard rate in the EU alongside Hungary; Bulgaria charges 20% 10% flat corporate tax versus 20% Bulgarian social contributions are capped at BGN 4,130 per month, so high earners stop paying Flat 10% personal income tax instead of progressive rates above 50%

When is Finland the better jurisdiction than Bulgaria?

If you need Business Finland funding or local innovation grants If your customers are Finnish enterprises that contract only with an Oy

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Jurisdiction comparison · 2026

Bulgaria 🇧🇬 vs Finland 🇫🇮: Where Should EU Founders Incorporate in 2026?

Finland's 20% corporate rate is reasonable, but the net-asset-based dividend split and 25.5% VAT make profit extraction expensive. Bulgaria replaces the whole calculation with 10% and 5%.

Head-to-head

	Bulgaria 🇧🇬	Finland 🇫🇮
Corporate tax	10% flat	20%
Dividend tax	5%	Split capital/earned income treatment, effectively 25-45%
VAT rate	20% (0% intra-EU B2B)	25.5%
Min. share capital	BGN 2 (≈ €1)	€0 (Oy)
Setup time	3-7 business days	1-2 weeks
EU membership	Yes (since 2007)	Yes (1995)
Social contributions	~32% (capped at BGN 4,130/mo)	~20% employer, plus high personal rates

Why Bulgaria wins

Finland's dividend rules split distributions between capital and earned income, producing effective rates far above Bulgaria's flat 5%
25.5% Finnish VAT is now the highest standard rate in the EU alongside Hungary; Bulgaria charges 20%
10% flat corporate tax versus 20%
Bulgarian social contributions are capped at BGN 4,130 per month, so high earners stop paying
Flat 10% personal income tax instead of progressive rates above 50%

When Finland is the better pick

If you need Business Finland funding or local innovation grants
If your customers are Finnish enterprises that contract only with an Oy

What founders moving from Finland need to model

The Finnish dividend system is the part most founders underestimate. Distributions from a private Oy are split into a capital-income portion based on the company's net assets and an earned-income portion taxed at progressive rates, so two companies with identical profit can face very different effective burdens. Bulgaria has no equivalent mechanism: the company pays 10% and the shareholder pays 5%, regardless of the balance sheet. Finnish residents should still model exit taxation and the general anti-abuse rules with a Finnish adviser before moving, because Vero focuses on effective management and personal residence rather than the registered office.

Read the Bulgaria tax residency guide

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