Excise duties after 2026: Customs will only accept euros, what you need to know

Sofia, Bulgaria - All excise duties collected by the "Customs" Agency will be paid only in euros by bank transfer from January 1, 2026, when the euro is introduced as the official means of payment in Bulgaria. This is clear from the detailed information published on the Agency's official website.

Payments and Information Systems

Despite the strict rule for payments in euros, there will be a period of dual circulation of levs and euros throughout the month of January 2026. During this transitional period, in cases where cash payment of public obligations is permissible, it will also be possible to do so in levs. The exception is provided for by virtue of the Excise Duties Act and applies only to natural persons who are not sole traders.

The preparation for the introduction of the new currency is at an advanced stage. To date, 18 information systems of the "Customs" Agency, adapted to work with the euro, have successfully passed test trials. Among them are all external systems not owned by the Agency. The remaining three systems are expected to be completed by the end of September to ensure a smooth transition to the new financial environment.

Declaring Obligations: Step by Step

To facilitate the transition, the Agency has provided clear guidelines on declaring excise obligations. In an excise declaration to be submitted in January 2026 for the tax period of December 2025, obligations will have to be stated in levs. However, the payment itself, which will be made within the legally defined 14-day period (from January 1 to 14, 2026), will be in euros.

From February 2026 onwards, for the January tax period and subsequent months, both declarations and payments will be made entirely in euros. Corrective excise declarations will follow the same rule, with the currency being determined by the period being corrected.

All public obligations unpaid before the introduction of the euro, as well as sums unduly paid or collected, will be automatically revalued into euros on the date of the introduction of the new currency. Exceptions will be made for minimal sums, with any claim or obligation to the National Revenue Agency in the amount of 1 stotinka on the last day before the introduction of the euro being considered written off and not revalued.

As has already been announced, the revaluation will be carried out at the fixed official exchange rate of 1 euro = 1.95583 levs. The resulting amount will be rounded to the second decimal place, in accordance with strict mathematical rules. If the third digit is less than five, the second digit is kept, and if it is equal to or greater than five, it is increased by one unit. All refunds of overpaid sums after January 1, 2026, will be made in euros, regardless of the currency in which the initial payment was made.

Special Regime for Tobacco Products

Special attention has been paid to the regime for tobacco products. Those that are for sale or in circulation in the country before the introduction of the euro with a price written in levs can be sold after January 1, 2026, until stocks are exhausted or their shelf life expires. Their sale will be carried out by applying the official exchange rate and the revaluation and rounding rules. The requirement for dual price labeling, which has been in force since August 8, will not apply to them when the price is already printed on the packaging or banderole. This measure is intended to facilitate trade by avoiding the need for re-labeling.

All prices of tobacco products in the Register maintained by the "Customs" Agency will be displayed in both levs and euros. Certificates of registered prices issued before January 1, 2026, will not require the submission of change notifications if the only correction is the revaluation from levs to euros. These measures are part of the overall preparation for the transition to the single European currency, which will affect all sectors of the economy and public finance.