Anyone who earned money abroad in 2025 or owns property outside Bulgaria must declare it in their annual tax return by April 30, 2026, the National Revenue Agency says.
Tax authorities in Bulgaria get this data on foreign income and property through information exchanges with other countries.
The tax return, filed under Article 50 of the Personal Income Tax Act, must show all taxable income earned in 2025, both in Bulgaria and abroad. It must also list any shares, company stakes and property held abroad as of December 31, 2025.
People who miss the deadline can still file until September 30, 2026. That later date also applies to anyone who wants to correct a return they've already filed, including cases where they left out foreign income or property.
If tax was already withheld abroad on that income, the double-taxation rules in Bulgaria's treaty with that country apply, the agency says. Where Bulgaria has no such treaty, the "ordinary tax credit" applies instead: Bulgaria taxes the income, but subtracts whatever tax was already paid abroad, up to the amount owed in Bulgaria on that same income. In short, no one pays tax twice on the same money.
The rules in a given treaty may have changed since it was signed, because the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting can alter them. That convention has applied to Bulgaria since January 1, 2023. The law that ratified it sets out which treaties it covers and what reservations and notifications Bulgaria has made.
People can check which method applies to the most common types of foreign income on a list the agency keeps on its website.
By the end of April 2025, more than 718,000 people had filed their annual tax returns, the BTA news agency reported. Nearly 88% filed online, through the National Revenue Agency's e-services portal.