Reporting requirements for trade representative offices in Bulgaria

Who has to file reports, and which ones?

Opening a trade representative office in Bulgaria is perhaps the most advantageous and straightforward way to settle in the country. For some reason, though, there is a widespread belief that once you have your long-term residence permit you can forget about the representative office.

Representatives of some “quick-setup” companies even assure their clients that a representative office does not have to report to anyone.

In reality the situation is somewhat different. Although representative offices do not in fact carry out any activity, the law requires them to file annual reports with the National Revenue Agency (NAP) (the tax authority) and the NSI (National Statistical Institute), and also to publish an annual financial report (including a nil report) online and in economic publications. Failure to comply carries fines (up to 1000 lv the first time, up to 3000 for subsequent offences).

Is it worth the risk?

The severity of Bulgarian law in this case is more than offset by the fact that, at present, no one monitors compliance. In other words, no one checks whether representative offices file reports on their activity or not. Accordingly, careless or insufficiently informed representatives have not yet had to pay any fines.

But circumstances can change at any moment. If one day the tax authorities start carrying out inspections, those who have lived in Bulgaria for years without giving a thought to reporting will face serious problems. So it is better not to break the law and to meet what are, after all, fairly simple requirements — filing a tax return and a financial report once a year. And there is absolutely no need to labour over the paperwork yourself; on the contrary, it is better to entrust the filing of returns and the publication of reports to professionals.

Do not forget that reports and returns must be filed by 31 March! We are ready to help clients file and publish their reports.

We handle reporting for representative offices in Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas and Varna.

Contact us by phone at +359 897 46 50 01, +359 898 76 60 05

Skype: bulgarian.expert or at: Bulgaria, Burgas, 10 Apostol Karamitov St., office 13.

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