What changed in Bulgaria

MiCA does not change your crypto tax bill, but DAC8 means 2026 is the first year non-declaration is mechanically detectable

Crypto tax and legal status

Trading crypto like a business gets you recharacterised as a sole trader, at 15 percent plus full contributions

Crypto tax and legal status

Private crypto gains are taxed at an effective 9 percent on net annual gains, now expressly named in the statute

Crypto tax and legal status

The EOOD route works, and only if you genuinely move, here is what you are leaving and what you gain

Moving your company

The treaty's principal purpose test means substance is not optional decoration

Moving your company

An EOOD run from the Netherlands is a Dutch company too, and the treaty will not rescue it

Moving your company

There is no gebruikelijk-loon rule in Bulgaria, but choosing the wrong regime still costs real money

Moving your company

Getting money out to an EU parent is free, everything else is 5 or 10 percent withholding

Moving your company

An EOOD costs almost nothing to form, and corporate tax is a flat 10 percent

Moving your company

Treaty Article 13(6) gives the Netherlands an exit claim with no time limit at all, worse than a standard 10-year clause

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

The Dutch exit tax deferral is automatic and free, but it is lifelong, not five or ten years

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

No wealth tax, no entry charge, close family inherit tax-free, unrelated heirs pay up to 6.6 percent

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

Citizenship by investment is abolished, confirmed, with dates, do not plan around it

Permanent residency and citizenship

Open question with real stakes: does naturalising as Bulgarian cost you your Dutch nationality

Permanent residency and citizenship

Naturalisation needs 5 years of PERMANENT residence, which for an EU national means roughly 10 years total

Permanent residency and citizenship

20 days paid leave, a 40-hour week, and probation capped at 6 months

Employment law

Bulgarian dismissal rules apply to you from day one of habitual work here, even under a foreign contract

Employment law

Minimum wage is EUR 620.20 a month from 1 January 2026, a 12.6 percent jump, and it moved with the euro

Employment law

There is a real coverage gap between leaving Dutch Zvw and starting Bulgarian NZOK

Healthcare coverage

A resident with no local activity can get lawful health cover for under EUR 300 a year

Healthcare coverage

NZOK health cover is 8 percent inside your contribution, suspension risk starts after more than three missed months

Healthcare coverage

The real saving is the contribution ceiling, not the 10 percent rate, and it caps out low

Social security

The MOD occupational floor table still exists for 2026, and it can bite far above the general minimum

Social security

The NRA issues Bulgarian A1 certificates, not the NOI, and a foreign employer registers within days, not months

Social security

The real threshold is 25 percent of working time in Bulgaria, and it is a binary switch on the whole employment

Social security

Bulgaria never signed the EU telework Framework Agreement, the 49.9 percent rule you may have heard of does not apply here

Social security

Social security ceilings and floors changed mid-year in 2026, use the post-August numbers

Social security

Below roughly EUR 120,000, the freelancer route beats forming a company

Personal income tax

Dutch pensions stay taxable in the Netherlands after a Bulgarian move, confirmed against the full treaty text

Personal income tax

Director's fees from your Bulgarian company get a Dutch tax credit, not an exemption, the Bulgarian rate becomes a floor

Personal income tax

A foreign employer with no Bulgarian base does not withhold tax, and this surprises everyone

Personal income tax

Still a Dutch tax resident working occasionally from Bulgaria, the mirror 183-day rule applies instead

Personal income tax

Once you are Bulgarian tax resident, Bulgaria taxes your Dutch salary from day one, no 183-day grace period

Personal income tax

Short stays with zero Bulgarian workdays mean no Bulgarian income tax at all

Personal income tax

Freelancer registration and filing run on a tight and specific calendar, including a real VAT trap

Personal income tax

The 25 percent expense allowance is real and automatic, but 7.5 percent effective is not the honest number

Personal income tax

Dividends stay at 5 percent, confirmed on the enacted 2026 budget text, but foreign dividends file annually not quarterly

Personal income tax

Registering as a sole trader (ET) means 15 percent, not the headline 10 percent

Personal income tax

Personal income tax is a genuine flat 10 percent, with no brackets and no municipal surcharge

Personal income tax

The Bulgarian residence certificate is cheap, fast, and exactly what your home tax authority will ask for

Tax residency

No border stamps means the day-count burden of proof is entirely on you

Tax residency

A Bulgarian address does not make you resident if your real life is elsewhere

Tax residency

Past 183 days in a rolling 12 months, both arrival and departure days count

Tax residency

Four independent tests decide Bulgarian tax residency, any one is enough on its own

Tax residency

Permanent residence status arrives automatically after 5 years, and is lost only by a long absence

Residency routes

Non-EU and non-EEA nationals need a visa and residence permit this corridor does not model

Immigration and visa

The LNCH personal number is the gate on everything else, get it first

Immigration and visa

Four grounds qualify you for the certificate, one of them has an unconfirmed cash figure

Immigration and visa

Past 90 days, a certificate of prolonged residence becomes mandatory, filed within three months by statute

Immigration and visa

EU and EEA citizens enter and stay in Bulgaria with no visa and no permit

Immigration and visa