Bulgaria freelancer tax: the 7.5% worked through
How a registered liberal profession pays an effective 7.5% income tax, with the social contributions that come with it, worked through at 30k, 60k, and 100k euro of income. Then: when an EOOD beats staying a freelancer.
General information, not legal or tax advice.
25%
Statutory expenses
No receipts needed
7.5%
Effective income tax
27.8%
Social rate
On capped income
EUR 2,300
Insurable cap
From Aug 2026
Where 7.5% comes from
Register as a liberal profession (svobodna profesiya) and Bulgarian law treats 25% of your gross as expenses automatically, with no receipts to keep. The remaining 75% is taxed at the flat 10%. So 0.75 x 10% = 7.5% effective income tax.
7.5% is not your total cost
Worked examples
Rounded illustrations at three income levels, annual, to show the shape. Treat them as approximate: your exact contributions depend on the cap in force and your declared insurable income.
| Gross income | Income tax (~7.5%) | Social (capped) | Effective total |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR 30,000 | ~EUR 2,000 | ~EUR 6,700 | ~29% |
| EUR 60,000 | ~EUR 4,200 | ~EUR 7,700 | ~20% |
| EUR 100,000 | ~EUR 7,200 | ~EUR 7,700 | ~15% |
The pattern is the point: at EUR 30k the social contributions dominate and the total is close to 29%, while at EUR 100k the same capped contributions are a small share and the total drops toward 15%.
How to register as a freelancer
- 1
Register with the BULSTAT / commercial register as a self-insured person
DaysGet your registration as a person practising a liberal profession.
- 2
Register with the National Revenue Agency
DaysDeclare yourself self-insured and set your insurable income.
- 3
Invoice and keep a simple ledger
You invoice as an individual. Bookkeeping is lighter than a company's but still real.
- 4
File and pay
Monthly contributions and an annual income tax return. An accountant is cheaper than the mistakes.
When an EOOD beats freelancing
- You want limited liability. A freelancer is personally liable; an EOOD is not.
- You retain profit rather than drawing it all: an EOOD lets profit sit taxed only at 10% until distributed.
- Clients or contracts require a company rather than an individual.
- Your income is high enough that the dividend route plus a modest manager salary beats personal contributions. The calculator finds the crossover.
Written by
Petar Georgiev
Founder, BulgariaHQ
Petar runs Kohi Solutions Ltd, a Bulgarian EOOD registered in Veliko Tarnovo (EU VAT BG206220247), and has built and shipped software products from Bulgaria through it. He writes these guides from the paperwork he has actually filed, and cites the primary source for every number. He is not an accountant or a lawyer, and says so on every page that touches tax or immigration.
Last reviewed July 23, 2026
Frequently asked questions
Sources
Every figure on this page is checked against a primary source. Dates show when we last verified it.
- Income determination and the 25% statutory deductionPwC Worldwide Tax Summaries · checked Jul 23, 2026
- Social security contributions and the insurable-income capPwC Worldwide Tax Summaries · checked Jul 23, 2026
- National Revenue Agency (NRA)Republic of Bulgaria, National Revenue Agency · checked Jul 23, 2026
Read next
This page is general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice, and no outcome is guaranteed. Rules and figures change; the review date above shows when this was last checked against the sources listed. Regulated services are provided by licensed professionals.
Social contributions, the part people forget
A self-employed person pays their own contributions, roughly 27.8% of insurable income (up to 31.3% with optional sickness cover), charged only up to the monthly cap: EUR 2,111.64 until 1 August 2026, then EUR 2,300. Above the cap, the marginal social cost is zero, which is exactly why Bulgaria is cheap at higher incomes.
Contributions are also deductible from your taxable base, so the real tax base is gross minus the 25% deduction minus contributions. The take-home calculator does this properly.