Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

dmitryfrank.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 133 posts

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#71

Post by romaniatax »

bogdanu wrote: post #69
SantiagoElf wrote: post #48

Bulgarian here. :) We like to be hush-hush about the benefits of living in Bulgaria. Nothing at the moment beats the taxes, location and potential of Bulgaria in Eastern Europe :) You can ask me any questions related to living cost, places, customs, etc or anything related to Bulgaria.

> Nothing at the moment beats the taxes, location and potential of Bulgaria in Eastern Europe :) I wouldn't be so sure, haha. I live in RO and this year I've paid less than 5% in taxes (half of them being pension fund and 25% health insurance).

Hold on I am also in Romania and pay 7%. Are you classed as PFA Consultant? If so then there's no programming "allowed" else it's the wrong category. Which tax code are you using so I can switch?

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#72

Post by dimonomid »

gcbirzan wrote: post #21
dimonomid wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was confirmed by at least two reputable accountants, so yeah, I'm 100% sure I didn't have to pay 8% health insurance while being a long term resident (and not an EU citizen). Actually, I _did_ pay some health insurance, but it had nothing to do with the business and it wasn't 8% or anything like that. It's like the same kind of health insurance that even tourists have to get.

Ah, I see where the confusion comes from. I assumed you meant you don't have to pay any. Though, I'm curious, how much is it? I went to check in the "Ordinance on the General Terms and Conditions, the Minimum Insurance Amount, the Minimum Insurance Premium and the Procedure for the conclusion of the mandatory medical insurance of foreigners who reside shortly or prolonged in the Republic of Bulgaria or transit throug…

> Though, I'm curious, how much is it?

I was buying just some bare minimum required insurance, and it was very low, less than 200 BGN per year.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#73

Post by sbacic »

nkmnz wrote: post #63

> Bulgarian national currency is BGN, and as of now, its value is pegged to EUR with the fixed ratio of 1.95583. So, 1 EUR is 1.95583 BGN, and it doesn't change over time, at least not yet. 1.95583 is EXACTLY the exchange rate between Euro and Deutsche Mark that I still remember from the switch in 2002. Indeed, after some research I've just learned that the Bulgarian Lev has been pegged to the DM since 1997.

Not all that unusual really. Before the EURO replaced the DM, many things in Croatia, such as cars and real estate were denominated in DM. This was due to rampant inflation (especially in the 80s and 90s) causing people to lose faith in the local currency.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#74

Post by dimonomid »

phoronixrly wrote: post #41
ostenning wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the plus side Bulgarian food is excellent

Ah yes, sorry for the negativity above. Just wanted to point out that moving here should be a well thought out decision and preferably not based on a single not-entirely-correct HN post. There are trade-offs and there's more to a country and to life than low taxes...

> moving here should be a well thought out decision and preferably not based on a single not-entirely-correct HN post. There are trade-offs and there's more to a country and to life than low taxes...

While I definitely agree with that (and in fact my own reasons to move to Bulgaria back in the day were not about taxes at all), could you elaborate on the not-entirely-correct part? What exactly is not correct?

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#75

Post by svilen_dobrev »

and you can compare some cultural stuff and see if you like it. https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/

.bg is pretty middle ground (culturally and societaly) between (very) east and (very) west, with all the pros/cons of that. A bit more towards the west.. as situated in south-east Evropa (the original Greek word of Europe) after all, but it depends. A little bit of south as well..

As said elsewhere, Quite some things might be missing or not working but then.. you might not really need them. After being around the world, i am back here, for.. the vitality and variety of life that happens. Not that it is easy, but it is interesting. YMMV

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#76

Post by sbacic »

romaniatax wrote: post #52
atxbcp wrote: post #46

The numbers in this article are wrong, especially the company vs individual chart: you'd only pay 16% tax with a company if you paid yourself in dividends. Past a certain threshold, with a company, the best option is to pay yourself a salary every month. Then your tax rate will be in the 11 - 15% range depending on your income. source: I've got a company in Bulgaria conclusion: coming to Bulgaria to pay less taxes ca…

In Romania you pay 7% tax for an LTD (dividend + corporate tax) and for up to 100k turnover you pay 90% after tax as per above.

I was under impression it was 1-3% profit tax + 5% dividend with an upper limit of 1 million euros? Or has that changed (again)?

Also, 850 pcm seems kind of high, at least compared to what I saw on olx.ro.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#77

Post by pedrosorio »

romaniatax wrote: post #59
akmarinov wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually go for Lithuania or Malta - even lower taxes than Romania and even higher standard of living (especially Malta)

While I am not so sure about Lithuania (lower GDP per capita than Bucharest, Bucharest being twice as developed as the rest of Romania, ibm, google, amazon, microsoft all having offices here with pay comparable to germany as a backup plan - could be wrong, but it sure is colder), Malta is now an option considering your comment - had no idea taxes are low in that country. Working from near a beach is the dream tbh.

> While I am not so sure about Lithuania (lower GDP per capita than Bucharest ...)

Why are we comparing a country with a city in GDP per capita terms? And is this meant to imply that standard of living is higher in Bucharest than, say, Vilnius?

I would assume two cities with similar GDP per capita (as Vilnius and Bucharest) can have wildly different standard of living depending on many other factors.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#78

Post by romaniatax »

sbacic wrote: post #76
romaniatax wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Romania you pay 7% tax for an LTD (dividend + corporate tax) and for up to 100k turnover you pay 90% after tax as per above.

I was under impression it was 1-3% profit tax + 5% dividend with an upper limit of 1 million euros? Or has that changed (again)? Also, 850 pcm seems kind of high, at least compared to what I saw on olx.ro.

> I was under impression it was 1-3% profit tax + 5% dividend with an upper limit of 1 million euros? Or has that changed (again)?

Correct, but on average mine works out around 7% and I have almost 0 company expenses as I don't partake in dodgy wizardry.

> at least compared to what I saw on olx.ro.

one does _not_ rent property on OLX and there are only some areas that are desirable (i.e.: have to look and feel of central or western europe).

try imobiliare.ro and look around baneasa, floreasca, aviatiei, herastrau, or pipera (voluntari). prices vary but generally speaking a new building, parking included, security is in the range above.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#79

Post by bogdanu »

romaniatax wrote: post #71
bogdanu wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nothing at the moment beats the taxes, location and potential of Bulgaria in Eastern Europe :) I wouldn't be so sure, haha. I live in RO and this year I've paid less than 5% in taxes (half of them being pension fund and 25% health insurance).

Hold on I am also in Romania and pay 7%. Are you classed as PFA Consultant? If so then there's no programming "allowed" else it's the wrong category. Which tax code are you using so I can switch?

Yup, I'm a PFA with a fixed taxation rate (norma de venit) using 6202. Keep in mind that taxation rates differ by a lot for each county.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#80

Post by [deleted] »

pedrosorio wrote: post #77
romaniatax wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I am not so sure about Lithuania (lower GDP per capita than Bucharest, Bucharest being twice as developed as the rest of Romania, ibm, google, amazon, microsoft all having offices here with pay comparable to germany as a backup plan - could be wrong, but it sure is colder), Malta is now an option considering your comment - had no idea taxes are low in that country. Working from near a beach is the dream tbh.

> While I am not so sure about Lithuania (lower GDP per capita than Bucharest ...) Why are we comparing a country with a city in GDP per capita terms? And is this meant to imply that standard of living is higher in Bucharest than, say, Vilnius? I would assume two cities with similar GDP per capita (as Vilnius and Bucharest) can have wildly different standard of living depending on many other factors.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN