Plan contractor hiring in Bulgaria

Use a written services agreement that defines the service, acceptance criteria, fee, invoice cadence, and governing law, and contract with the exact registered person or company shown in Bulgarian records. The Bulgaria-resident contractor manages the local business registration, invoices, personal income tax, and self-insurance that belong to the selected vehicle. The foreign customer keeps the agreement, invoices, acceptance evidence, and payment records. If the work is ordinarily performed in Bulgaria, or the conflict-of-laws analysis preserves Bulgarian mandatory employment protection, Article 1(2) requires a relationship that supplies labour force to be employment. Record the actual workplace, job and nature of work, remuneration cadence, working time, and labour discipline before treating the relationship as services.

Sources: Bulgarian Ministry of Justice, Labour Code, National Revenue Agency, free professions

If the line is crossed

Where Article 10 makes the Bulgarian Labour Code applicable, a finding that the individual supplied labour in breach of Article 1(2) can produce a declared employment relationship with a start date set by the Labour Inspectorate. The inspectorate then instructs the employer to offer the worker an employment contract from that start date, or from the order date if no earlier date was set. If the parties do not sign, the order substitutes an indefinite employment contract with a five-day working week and eight-hour working day. After an order, stop processing the relationship solely through contractor invoices and follow the instruction to offer that contract.

Sources: General Labour Inspectorate, Labour Code consolidated text, General Labour Inspectorate, declaration of employment relationships

Фактура

Invoice

Use the faktura as the document that connects the accepted service to the amount due and its VAT treatment. Finance should receive it from the same legal supplier named in the agreement and match the supplier identifier, service period, description, value, currency, and customer details before approval. For a qualifying EU B2B service, the invoice deadline extends to the fifteenth day of the month following the tax event and the face of the document carries the cross-border VAT treatment. Keep the invoice together with the agreement and acceptance record so the service, accounting entry, and tax position reconcile.

Issued by: The Bulgaria-registered contractor or contractor company issues it to the foreign business customer.

Timing: Usually within five days of the tax event or advance; for an Article 196 cross-border service, no later than the fifteenth day of the following month.

Sources: National Revenue Agency, invoicing, EUR-Lex, consolidated VAT Directive

Route VAT by where the business customer is established and confirm the ordinary B2B rule applies. For ordinary services to an EU VAT-identified business, the place of supply is the customer's Member State. Where the supplier is not using the EU small-enterprise scheme there and the customer-liable branch applies, the customer accounts for VAT under reverse charge, while the Bulgarian supplier uses its VAT number and reports the service in VIES. Check scheme status before requiring those invoice details. For an ordinary service to a business outside the EU, the customer's location generally places the supply outside Bulgarian VAT and no VIES entry follows for that invoice. Procurement should record the customer's business status, establishment receiving the service, and VAT number where relevant. Property, event, transport, and other specially located services require a separate place-of-supply check.

Sources: EUR-Lex, consolidated VAT Directive, National Revenue Agency, VIES declarations, National Revenue Agency, VAT registration

What an invoice has to show

• The supplier's EIK BULSTAT or Commercial Register EIK

  Require the direct free-profession supplier's nine-digit EIK BULSTAT, or the Commercial Register EIK for an ET or EOOD, and match that identifier to the vehicle named in the agreement. The remaining core invoice particulars include the issue date and sequential number, the parties' names and addresses, applicable VAT identifiers, the service and supply date, and the taxable amount. These fields let accounts payable connect the document to the accepted service. Resolve any change in supplier identity or vehicle before payment instead of booking an invoice from a different registered person.

  Sources: EUR-Lex, consolidated VAT Directive, Bulgarian Ministry of Justice, BULSTAT Register Act, Bulgarian Ministry of Justice, Commercial Act

• The reverse-charge basis and both VAT numbers for the customer-liable EU branch

  For an ordinary service to a VAT-identified business in another EU Member State, where the supplier is not using the EU small-enterprise scheme there and the customer-liable branch applies, require the supplier's Bulgarian VAT number, the customer's validated Member State VAT number, and the wording Reverse charge. Keep the validation result with the customer master data and use the exact legal entity and establishment that received the service. The Bulgarian supplier includes the transaction in its VIES declaration. If the service concerns land, event access, transport, or another special category, pause and confirm the place-of-supply rule before booking.

  Sources: EUR-Lex, consolidated VAT Directive, National Revenue Agency, VIES declarations, National Revenue Agency, VAT registration

Pay against the contractor's approved invoice on the agreed due date, with Bulgarian advance tax handled under Article 43's party-status rules. A self-insured Bulgaria-resident free professional determines and pays that advance tax after giving the payer a written declaration of self-insured status. Retain the declaration before relying on contractor-owned advance-tax handling. The individual also files the Article 50 annual return and handles monthly social and health contributions. The general personal income-tax rate for other business activity is 10 percent after the applicable taxable-income and contribution calculation, with the annual return and balance due from 10 January through 30 April of the following year.

Sources: National Revenue Agency, Personal Income Tax Act 2026, National Revenue Agency, annual personal income tax, National Revenue Agency, self-insurance

When invoices are settled

State an exact due date in the services agreement and tie it to receipt of a valid invoice plus any objective acceptance step. When Bulgarian law governs a commercial service, the parties may generally agree a term up to 60 days. Without an agreed term, the Commercial Act makes the amount due within 14 days after receipt of the invoice or another payment request; if the contract provides inspection or acceptance, that event can start the clock in the stated circumstances. The agreement may choose another governing law. Under Rome I, a services contract without a choice is generally governed by the service provider's habitual residence, which points to Bulgaria here, subject to the Regulation's exceptions.

Sources: Bulgarian Ministry of Justice, Commercial Act, EUR-Lex, Rome I Regulation

The currency on the invoice

For an ET, EOOD, or another supplier within the Accounting Act's enterprise scope, agree the invoice currency in the contract and keep the required euro accounting value. Bulgaria's currency is the euro, with ISO code EUR, from 1 January 2026. An enterprise may document a foreign-counterparty transaction in the corresponding foreign language and agreed foreign currency, then calculate the euro equivalent using the Bulgarian National Bank's reference rate on the transaction date. Accounts payable should preserve the stated currency and amount and avoid demanding a lev invoice under obsolete instructions. Before applying that enterprise rule to a direct free-profession supplier, confirm the supplier's Accounting Act status.

Sources: Bulgarian Ministry of Justice, Accounting Act, Bulgarian National Bank, euro currency status

Waiting for EUR 51,130 before checking an EU service

Check the customer's country and VAT identity before the first supply, because the domestic-turnover threshold does not protect a contractor from the Article 97a trigger. A Bulgaria-established contractor serving a VAT-identified business in another EU Member State can need Article 97a registration before earning EUR 51,130. If procurement waits for the annual threshold, the supplier may invoice without its Bulgarian VAT identification, omit Reverse charge wording, and miss VIES reporting. The correct sequence is to validate the customer's VAT number, confirm that the ordinary B2B place-of-supply rule applies, obtain the contractor's Article 97a status, and only then accept the invoice setup.

Sources: National Revenue Agency, VAT registration, National Revenue Agency, VIES declarations

Treating a nine-digit BULSTAT code as proof of independence

Use BULSTAT to verify the supplier's identity, then decide separately whether the actual relationship supplies labour force. The nine-digit EIK confirms registration and belongs on business documents; it does not determine status. Where Article 10 makes the Bulgarian Labour Code applicable, Article 1(2) requires a relationship that supplies labour force to be employment. The Code expressly records a workplace, job and nature of work, remuneration cadence, working time, and labour discipline as employment terms. Compare the working record with those features. If the relationship supplies labour force, a contractor label and BULSTAT code do not displace the employment requirement.

Sources: Bulgarian Ministry of Justice, BULSTAT Register Act, Bulgarian Ministry of Justice, Labour Code