Bulgaria Adopts the Euro (2026): A Practical Guide for Your Company
On 1 January 2026, Bulgaria became the 21st member of the eurozone, at a fixed and irrevocable rate of €1 = 1.95583 BGN. For a Bulgarian company — especially a foreign-owned one — this removes currency risk entirely: you now report, invoice and pay taxes in a currency you can hold and move freely across the EU. Here is what actually changed, what did not, and the transition dates you still need to watch in 2026.
Current as of July 2026 — verify details. The conversion rate is fixed by EU regulation at €1 = 1.95583 BGN. Transition rules (dual pricing, cash registers, bank exchange) come from the Law on the Introduction of the Euro. Confirm specifics with the BNB and evroto.bg. General information, not tax or legal advice.
The fixed conversion rate
Everything converts at one fixed rate: €1 = 1.95583 BGN. This is not a market rate that moves — it is set in law and applies to salaries, prices, contracts, tax thresholds and account balances alike. Euro amounts are calculated by dividing the lev amount by 1.95583 and rounding to the nearest cent (the rate itself is never rounded).
Quick reference:
- 100 BGN = €51.13
- 1,000 BGN = €511.29
- 10,000 BGN = €5,112.92
What changed for accounting and tax
- Reporting is now in euro. Opening balances at 1 January 2026 were converted at the fixed rate; from then on, ledgers, financial statements and VAT records are kept in euro.
- Thresholds are expressed in euro. For example the VAT registration threshold and the social-security income bands are now stated in euro rather than lev.
- Advance tax payments for 2026 are wholly in euro.
- A quirk for the 2025 tax year: income earned in 2025 is declared in lev (it relates to a pre-euro period) but the tax due is paid in euro at the fixed rate. So a 500 BGN tax liability is settled as €255.64.
What did NOT change
This is the reassuring part — the fundamentals of running a Bulgarian company are untouched:
- Tax rates stay the same: 10% corporate tax, 10% flat personal income tax, 20%/9% VAT, 5% dividend tax.
- Company forms (EOOD, OOD) and the registration process are identical — see how to open a company as a non-resident.
- The single tax account at the NRA works as before; only the currency of payment is now euro.
- Bulgaria’s appeal as a low-tax EU base is, if anything, stronger — you keep the 10% flat tax and lose the currency conversion friction.
Transition dates you still need to watch
Several transition periods run through 2026. They are easy to confuse, so here they are side by side:
| Deadline | What it governs |
|---|---|
| 1–31 January 2026 | Dual circulation — both lev and euro were legal tender in cash |
| 30 June 2026 | Last day banks exchange lev cash for euro free of charge (a fee may apply afterwards) |
| 8 August 2026 | End of mandatory dual price display (lev + euro on labels and receipts) |
| 31 December 2026 | Commercial banks stop lev-to-euro exchange (BNB continues indefinitely, free) |
In short: cash dual circulation ended in January; dual price display ends 8 August 2026; and you can still convert old lev notes at the central bank with no time limit.
Prices, labels and cash registers
Since 8 August 2025, prices had to be shown in both lev and euro — same size, same visibility — so customers could adjust. From 8 August 2026 that requirement ends and businesses may show prices in euro only.
If you issue fiscal receipts, your cash register had to be reconfigured for the euro: from 1 January 2026 the euro is the leading currency and the device reports turnover to the NRA in euro. In most cases the machine only needs a software update through an authorised service company, not replacement. Until 8 August 2026 the receipt shows the total in both currencies plus the fixed rate.
What it means for foreign owners
For a non-resident owner, three practical wins stand out:
- No currency risk. Your company’s revenue, costs, taxes and any dividends you draw are all in euro. If you bank or live in the eurozone, the FX spread on every transfer disappears.
- Cleaner cross-border invoicing. Invoicing EU clients in euro removes conversion lines and rounding disputes — see invoicing in Bulgaria for the formal requirements.
- Same low tax, easier treasury. The 10% corporate and personal rates are unchanged, so the euro is pure upside on the operational side. Review your corporate tax position and how you take money out via salary or dividends.
Dividends and profit repatriation
For many foreign owners this is where the euro matters most. Previously, distributing profit from a lev-denominated company to a euro account meant a conversion — and a spread — every time. Now the profit sits in euro, the 5% dividend tax is calculated in euro, and the payout lands in euro. Nothing about the tax treatment changed (10% corporate tax on profit, then 5% on the distributed dividend), but the mechanics got simpler and cheaper.
Worked example. A company with €50,000 of taxable profit pays €5,000 corporate tax (10%). If the remaining €45,000 is distributed as a dividend, the 5% dividend tax is €2,250, leaving €42,750 to the owner — all in euro, with no conversion step between the Bulgarian company and a eurozone bank account. Compare that with the previous flow, where the same distribution crossed a lev-to-euro conversion.
Banking and contracts
- Bank accounts held in lev were redenominated to euro at the fixed rate automatically; IBANs generally stayed the same, but confirm with your bank.
- Existing contracts remain valid — a price agreed in lev simply converts at 1.95583. You do not need to re-sign agreements, but it is worth checking any that referenced round lev figures (for example a 10,000 BGN cap, now €5,112.92) so the euro equivalent still reads sensibly.
- The cash-payment limit did not change in substance: the 10,000 BGN ceiling above which payments must go through a bank is now expressed as €5,112.92.
A short checklist for companies
- Confirm your accounting software is set to euro and that opening balances converted correctly.
- Review contracts with clients and suppliers — amounts convert at the fixed rate, but check for any that were quoted in lev.
- Make sure invoicing and POS/cash-register systems issue documents correctly in euro.
- Plan for the 8 August 2026 end of dual pricing — decide when you drop the lev line from labels and receipts.
- If you still hold lev cash, exchange it (free at banks until 30 June 2026; free at the BNB with no deadline).
Reporting periods that straddle the changeover
The cleanest way to think about it: the period determines the currency of declaration; the payment is always in euro from 2026. A VAT return or payroll for a 2026 month is prepared and paid in euro. The 2025 annual income tax return, by contrast, is filled in lev because it covers a pre-euro year — but the tax itself is settled in euro at the fixed rate. If you use an accountant, this is handled automatically; if you self-file, watch which currency each form expects so you do not convert twice or not at all.
FAQ
Did Bulgaria really adopt the euro, and when? Yes — on 1 January 2026, confirmed by the Council of the EU in July 2025, at the fixed rate €1 = 1.95583 BGN.
Did my tax rates go up because of the euro? No. Corporate and personal income tax stay at 10%, VAT at 20%/9%, dividend tax at 5%. Only the currency changed.
Can I still change old lev banknotes? Yes — free at commercial banks until 30 June 2026, and at the Bulgarian National Bank indefinitely and free of charge.
Do I need new invoicing or cash-register hardware? Usually not — a software update for the euro is enough in most cases. Confirm with your provider.
The euro changeover touches accounting, invoicing, cash registers and payments at once. We handle accounting for Bulgarian companies — remotely, in English — and set everything up correctly for the euro when you form your company. See our pricing.