PROPERTY ADVICE, COMPANY ADVICE AND MUCH MORE

---

Acquisition of Land 

If you own an apartment in Bulgaria and the ideal parts of the building right upon the land plot, it is high time you acquired the ideal parts of the ownership right of the land plot itself. In principle, there is a prohibition for citizens of the EU to acquire Bulgarian land until 2012, and for other foreign citizens until 2014, but some Bulgarian Notaries quote the Bulgarian Property Law, according to Art. 38 of which the ideal parts of the land plot, on which a building is already built, are considered part of the common parts, because such land plot can not fulfill its appropriation as land any more. On this ground a foreign individual can acquire the ideal parts of the land plot, corresponding to the apartment, owned by them. Usually the company, which has sold the apartment, is the owner of the land plot and would transfer the ideal parts of the land plot without additional payment from the buyer, as their price is included in the price of the apartment anyway. If you would like to acquire the ideal parts of the land plot, on which your apartment is built, and you have the agreement of the owner of the land plot, our company’s fee for preparation of the relevant documents and representation at the Notary transfer is € 265 (including 2 travellings, not including the Notary fees, the state fees and the tax for transferring of ownership). If a travelling out of Sofia is needed, this would cost you additional € 105. 

Property Check-up 

If you would like to check the status of your property in Bulgaria, we perform the service “Property Check-up” for a fee of € 205 (the fee of the Property Register is included). We check in the Property Register the status of the certain property and report you the results. This information would allow you to check whether there are any encumbrances upon your property, for which you do not know, for example: a mortgage for a loan, which is already repaid, interdiction, imposed by the tax authorities for unpaid tax obligations, or any other rights of third persons. 

Bulgarian land investment no longer requires company 

As a result of the contractual obligations, undertaken by the Bulgarian government in relation to Bulgaria’s membership in the European Union, an important part of the Bulgarian law was recently changed. From 1 January 2012 citizens of the EU are no longer prohibited to purchase Bulgarian land, which is in regulation. Until this date they had to set up a Bulgarian company and purchase land through the established legal entity, as according to the old law only Bulgarian individuals and companies had the right to acquire Bulgarian land. This led to many unfavourable consequences for foreign investors, such as paying additionally to a lawyer to establish a Bulgarian company, appointing an accountant for the relevant services and making other expenses, related to having and maintaining a company. To sum up, from 1 January 2012 establishing a Bulgarian company is no longer necessary for EU citizens in order to buy regulated Bulgarian land, as they can legally acquire it as individuals. The prohibition continues to be in force until 2014 for land, which is out of regulation though (agricultural land, forests, etc.). If you are from the foreign investors, who have established a company only for the purpose of acquiring properties in Bulgaria, you can now transfer the properties to yourself as individual and close the company in order to cut the costs, related to having and maintaining a company. Our fee for Representation at a Property Acquisition/ Sale is € 585 (including 2 travellings, not including the Notary fees, the state fees and the tax for transferring of ownership). There is a discounted fee, namely € 385 (including 2 travellings, not including the Notary fees, the state fees and the tax for transferring of ownership), which we offer for transactions with price of the property up to € 5000. Regarding the closing of the company, our fee for Liquidation of a Company is € 575 (the fee includes preparation of Liquidation Financial Statements by an accountant, provision of Certificate from the National Revenue Agency, Certificate from the National Social Security Institute and Certificate for Good Standing; the fees of the Registry Agency are also included).

Bulgarian Company Formation – Bulgarian Company Incorporation – Bulgarian Company Registration

What you benefit when you register a company in Bulgaria: 1/ You save from taxes as we have a flat 10% corporation tax and 5 % dividend tax. 2/ You save from expenses for salaries as the average salary in Bulgaria is EUR 332 per month. 3/ You save from social-security contributions as the minimal amount to pay for an employee is EUR 62 per month. 4/ You save from office rent as the average rent for a small office in Sofia is EUR 250 per month. 5/ You save from book-keeping services as these cost around EUR 70 per month. 6/ You have all the advantages of setting up an off-shore company. 7/ You can benefit in a number of ways from the fact that Bulgaria is a member of the EU. Start your business in Bulgaria and increase your revenue! Our Bulgarian company formation fee is EUR 230 inclusive of the state fee.

Decreasing of Company Capital

If you decrease the capital of your Bulgarian limited liability company to the amount of
2 BGN, your company would be responsible to the creditors within the limits of 2 BGN,
together with the company’s property. Moreover, if the company goes into liquidation, the
shareholders would be responsible with their personal property within the limits of the capital, i. e. 2 leva. With State Gazette № 82 from 16.10.2009 the Bulgarian Commercial Law was changed in a way that the capital, needed to register a Bulgarian limited liability company, became in the amount of 2 BGN. The Government took this change in order to allow people to start business even with a very small amount of initial funds. Those, who have already established companies with capital of 5 000 BGN or more, are able to decrease it to the limits of 2 BGN (art. 149 of the Commercial Law allows this). Our company performs the service „Decreasing of Company Capital” for a fee of € 375 (the fee of the Registry Agency is included).

Re-registration of a Bulgarian Company

Please follow this link for information on company re-registration in Bulgaria

Annual Closure of Accounts for Companies

If you have a Bulgarian limited liability company, you are obliged to have the financial statements for the year drawn up and sent to the National Revenue Agency until 31 March of the next year. After this done, you must publish the financial statements in the Commercial Register of the Registry Agency until 30 June , so that you prevent a possible fine, imposed by the tax authorities. Our company offers both these services for a total fee of € 325 for companies with up to 50 documents, for a fee of € 335 for companies with up to 100 documents and for a fee of € 345 for companies with up to 150 documents. The fees include all expenses. If you appoint us, we will draw up the documents, which you have to sign, one of our accountants will prepare the financial statements and we will send you all documents together for signing. When we receive the signed documents back from you, we will submit them to the National Revenue Agency and will publish them in the Commercial Register of the Registry Agency, so your company’s tax obligation for the year  will be fulfilled.

Submission of Annual Income-Tax form, Calculation and Payment of Income Tax for Individuals

Purs. to Art. 7 of the Law for the Income Tax for Individuals, foreign individuals are obliged to pay tax for the income, acquired from sources in Bulgaria. Such income is: income from economic activity, income from rent or other rewarded provision of rights upon property, income from sale, exchange or other rewarded transfer of rights upon property, income from compensations for damages, etc. If you are not sure whether you are obliged to pay income tax in Bulgaria, we will advise you for free. The term for submission of annual income-tax form is 30.04.2012. The term for payment of the declared tax is also 30.04.2012. If you submit your annual income-tax form until 10.02.2012, you are entitled to a discount of 5 % from the amount of the tax. Our company’s fee for the service “Submission of annual income-tax form, Calculation and Payment of Income Tax for Individuals” is € 65 (the fee does not include the amount of the tax).

Calculation and Payment of Inhabited House Duty

If you pay the annual tax for your real estate until 30.04.2012, you are entitled to a discount of 5 % from the amount of the tax. Our company’s fee for the service “Calculation and Payment of Inhabited House Duty” is € 45 (the fee does not include the amount of the tax).

Calculation and Payment of Duty on Vehicles

If you pay the annual tax for your car until 31.03.2012, you are entitled to a discount of 5 % from the amount of the tax. Our company’s fee for the service “Calculation and Payment of Duty on Vehicles” is € 45 (the fee does not include the amount of the tax).