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Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

dmitryfrank.com

91–100 of 133 posts

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#91
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.

Yes dont you dare complain of your x2 rate, ours in France was 6.55957 (rmb it fondly, didnt even need to google it), so right in the middle of an integer multiplier, and go multiply everything by 6 and 7 and cut in the middle.

We had lots of anti-german grievances due to that mismatch between x2 for the DM and 6.5 for the Frcs :D

Some were saying we all got to see who our masters were, but I dismiss it as the simplistic german mind which saw an efficiency somewhere and forgot the price everyone else had to grudgingly pay hehe (and why not pull the rug to yourself when there s no global optimum after all)

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#92
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.

What about VAT? A turnover threshold in Romania is 88500€ (as quick google search suggests). How on earth are you keeping 90% when VAT is 19% there.

Asking for a friend :)

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#93
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

6202 is strictly for consulting services (ie. no programming). was advised by anaf and my accountant not to use it as it would be, basically, fraud (since i also write code not just "advice" - which is what the romanian tax system defines as consulting). use it at your own risk as they can back-tax if they catch you. either way thanks for this!

Yes, I'm aware. I'm not worried because in my contracts it's mentioned that I offer consulting services.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#94
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

6202 is strictly for consulting services (ie. no programming). was advised by anaf and my accountant not to use it as it would be, basically, fraud (since i also write code not just "advice" - which is what the romanian tax system defines as consulting). use it at your own risk as they can back-tax if they catch you. either way thanks for this!

Yes, I'm aware. I'm not worried because in my contracts it's mentioned that I offer consulting services.

Well that's great but I decided not to massage my contracts to accommodate for an _even_ lower tax.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#95

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.

What about VAT? A turnover threshold in Romania is 88500€ (as quick google search suggests). How on earth are you keeping 90% when VAT is 19% there. Asking for a friend :)

No need to ask for a friend :P as in other countries mentioned here, VAT for intra community (or in my case non EU / UK) trade there is no VAT. You do have to register as a VAT company but since there is none you charge there is none to pay. My daily rate is 450 GBP (500 EUR more or less) and that's it. No VAT added despite being a VAT reg company. There is nothing dodgy, it is by design. The country benefits by preventing a brain drain and keeping money in the country.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#96

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.

120k EUR per year is less than 5% of people in Bucharest and probably less than 1% country wide.

It is. Worth noting that I know no one among locals that are permanent employees to earn 10 years of experience. Junior or mid is way less. BI/Data science or web dev. Game dev and other types of development are low paid, as in western europe. I had my first shock when Microsoft offered a salary of 70k + bens for someone from cluj napoca to relocate to London around 2014, and they flat out turned it out because cost of living adjusted they earned more in Cluj. Go figure that out. Tbh if you earn 2.5k in Romania after tax you are way way better off than someone earning 4k in London.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

120k EUR per year is less than 5% of people in Bucharest and probably less than 1% country wide.

It is. Worth noting that I know no one among locals that are permanent employees to earn 10 years of experience. Junior or mid is way less. BI/Data science or web dev. Game dev and other types of development are low paid, as in western europe. I had my first shock when Microsoft offered a salary of 70k + bens for someone from cluj napoca to relocate to London around 2014, and they flat out turned it out because cost…

I know several people just out of college that earn 50k in Bucharest or Cluj, not after 10 years. The salaries increased a lot in the past 5 years, but still 120k is extremely rare, above director level for employee type of contracts.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#98
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you like them then there is no issue, but usually i find them of lower quality. Not saying there aren't decent apartments, but anything <650/700 is not great IMO. Also the areas I mentioned look and feel like a different country hence willing to pay more. No trying to be sure or demeaning sorry if i come across that way.

No, it's fine. I assumed that you meant that olx.ro was a scam or something. Only after I visited immobiliare.ro did I realize the difference in quality between their offerings.

There are some scams too around OLX, but the quality is indeed way below what you find on imobiliare as you can see. One of the other reasons is that expats usually use the latter, thus you are more likely to find better communities. In my building there are Spanish, Italian, Canadian, US, UK, Nigerian tenants among Romanians working either tech or blue collar. Plenty of cultural exchange and, naturally, beer tasting. However, it's still Romania and services are not something I am happy with, nor can i get used to the aggressive driving and generally speaking the occasional hostility (people just getting pissed off for no reason).

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#99
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…

Same in Romania, there is a tax minimum that you need to pay even if you don't make that kind of money. on the other side, there is no max on taxes, sky is the limit.

Re: Bulgaria Freelance Taxes: Detailed Breakdown

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is. Worth noting that I know no one among locals that are permanent employees to earn 10 years of experience. Junior or mid is way less. BI/Data science or web dev. Game dev and other types of development are low paid, as in western europe. I had my first shock when Microsoft offered a salary of 70k + bens for someone from cluj napoca to relocate to London around 2014, and they flat out turned it out because cost…

I know several people just out of college that earn 50k in Bucharest or Cluj, not after 10 years. The salaries increased a lot in the past 5 years, but still 120k is extremely rare, above director level for employee type of contracts.

That's impressive!

120k is a medium level contract in the UK, at least for my background, so I am technically speaking ... cheap.

In Romania, from what I gather, a director can mean a low level manager. Pretty soon the market will adjust and learn that they are not worth the money. CTO/CEO director levels, yes. Experienced Product Managers that actually drive the product, sure. But management that does nothing but crack the whip and demand to be addressed as "dumneavoastra" to inflate their egos are a dying breed.

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