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Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

dmitryfrank.com

31–40 of 133 posts

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#31

Considering moving in Bulgaria after this, thanks! My Freelance taxes/social sec/retirement tax in Italy is on average 76% on a total of 80k eur average gross annual income (98th income percentile).

Unless you invoice more than ~120k€ it's generally more convenient, if possible, to cap your work/earnings at 65k€ and pay less taxes, less social security contribution, and no VAT

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#32

Considering moving in Bulgaria after this, thanks! My Freelance taxes/social sec/retirement tax in Italy is on average 76% on a total of 80k eur average gross annual income (98th income percentile).

Taxes at that income level are around 50%, including ~20k worth of social security contributions. You're probably mixing up VAT, advance payments and final balance payments to get to that 76%, which is NOT what you're really paying on your income, unless your accountant made some major mistake.

BTW, if you invoiced 65k instead of 80k, you could use the "forfettario" tax regimen, which would result in a higher net income (yes, it's that crazy: you earn more if you earn less).

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#33

Considering moving in Bulgaria after this, thanks! My Freelance taxes/social sec/retirement tax in Italy is on average 76% on a total of 80k eur average gross annual income (98th income percentile).

Unless you invoice more than ~120k€ it's generally more convenient, if possible, to cap your work/earnings at 65k€ and pay less taxes, less social security contribution, and no VAT

Yes, if you want to only pay around 50% (which is still insanely high) in taxes there is a 65k eur gross cap.

Once you make 1 cent more, you get hammered with 76+%.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#34
post #24

> And if your income is smaller than 710 BGN, even if it's straight zero, then you'll have to pay social security as if your income was 710 BGN Is this really how it works? They're taxing people with 0 income? I guess it isn't relevant to the target audience of the article but it must suck for the unemployed. > Accountant fees: about 150 - 200 BGN per month independently of the income. This seems really high. Why do…

> In either case (company or individual), due to our line of business, most likely you'll also need to do the VAT registration. It's something like 150 - 200 BGN.

The VAT registration requires monthly declarations of VAT. Tracking your VAT takes time for the accountants as they need to summarize all your invoices, expenses, and other paperwork. Links (conveniently only available in Bulgarian):

* VAT form: https://nra.bg/wps/portal/nra/documents/taxes/zdds/35c5ece4-...

* VAT law overview: https://nra.bg/wps/portal/nra/taxes/dds-v-balgariya

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#35

Considering moving in Bulgaria after this, thanks! My Freelance taxes/social sec/retirement tax in Italy is on average 76% on a total of 80k eur average gross annual income (98th income percentile).

Unless you invoice more than ~120k€ it's generally more convenient, if possible, to cap your work/earnings at 65k€ and pay less taxes, less social security contribution, and no VAT

Depending on your age and how much you can deduct, the switch over can come as "low" as 90k. At 100k you should always be ahead in any case. And that's without counting the social security contributions. Depending on how you value them, it might be more convenient even under <90k.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#36
post #24

> And if your income is smaller than 710 BGN, even if it's straight zero, then you'll have to pay social security as if your income was 710 BGN Is this really how it works? They're taxing people with 0 income? I guess it isn't relevant to the target audience of the article but it must suck for the unemployed. > Accountant fees: about 150 - 200 BGN per month independently of the income. This seems really high. Why do…

[deleted]

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#37
post #24

> And if your income is smaller than 710 BGN, even if it's straight zero, then you'll have to pay social security as if your income was 710 BGN Is this really how it works? They're taxing people with 0 income? I guess it isn't relevant to the target audience of the article but it must suck for the unemployed. > Accountant fees: about 150 - 200 BGN per month independently of the income. This seems really high. Why do…

Not sure how it works in Bulgaria, but over here in the Netherlands if your income is lower than some level you can (with some conditions) apply for unemployment benefits that will include enough money for the social security taxes. This is a bit roundabout (why not just withhold the social security money from the benefits in the first place?), but such are the joys of a complex tax system evolved over multiple centuries.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#38
post #11

I am a big believer in Flag Theory and stuff… I currently pay about 2,5% on my gross income ($100k+) as a software developer, which is more than most of EU/US developers are left after tax… In a short, if you’re willing to make some trade-offs and optimize your taxes, you’ll be legally retaining your hard earned $$$. Among the trade-offs, tax residency is the most important. Things are a bit complicated for US citize…

Unless you're actually living in a tax haven or a third world country with no CFC laws, you're almost certainly breaking the law with this. The conversations I have had with people who have found the gold wheel is mind boggling, and they almost all get in trouble at some point.

Plenty of first/second world country have more friendly tax laws. Many don’t tax foreign income, and if you live outside the US for 300 days per year, you get a $100k tax write off up front.

There are many legal ways to live in nice places and pay low tax.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#39

Keep in mind that Bulgaria has just elected a reformist parliament for the first time in more than 10 years. Maybe wait a year or two before buying a one-way ticket as the government may raise taxes, especially on the unaffected by the anti-COVID measures. Or they could lower taxes even more if they manage to get on top of the rampant tax evasion and grey economy (one can hope). Also there are other small things to c…

If by those unaffected by COVID you mean self-employed people, not sure that's really the case, as taxes for people that are employed by a Bulgarian company are not THAT much higher. Using the 10k BGN example, your net salary is 8627.94, and the employer (of course, excluding accounting and all that stuff) pays 10567.60. I don't remember exactly the numbers for self employed, but if his are correct (and they seem a b…

The plans are to raise the maximal social security income (“максимален осигурителен доход”). This will arguably* disproportionately affect people with incomes above 3000 BGN.

*) Arguably because (while they could easily afford to pay more tax) higher income employees usually get taxed on their actual amount of income as opposed by the rampant tax evasion among employees with lower pay and their employers (so called grey economy: employers declare they pay a given employee the BG equivalent of the US 'minimum wage' which the employee receives monthly via bank transfer, while the rest of the salary is given in cash and not declared).

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#40

Keep in mind that Bulgaria has just elected a reformist parliament for the first time in more than 10 years. Maybe wait a year or two before buying a one-way ticket as the government may raise taxes, especially on the unaffected by the anti-COVID measures. Or they could lower taxes even more if they manage to get on top of the rampant tax evasion and grey economy (one can hope). Also there are other small things to c…

On the plus side Bulgarian food is excellent
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