Taxation of Influencers in Bulgaria — YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and DAC7 (2026)

Types of influencer income — what must be declared

Regardless of platform, any revenue generated through online activity is taxable. Typical sources:

All of these are taxable in Bulgaria if the individual is a local person (tax-obliged person in Bulgaria) under Art. 4 PITA — criteria: permanent address, centre of vital interests, presence over 183 days in the tax year, or other grounds. The worldwide income principle applies in full.

Legal form — four structures for taxation

The choice of legal form determines the tax and social-security burden. Comparative overview:

Liberal profession (СОЛ) — key for emerging influencers

The most common choice for influencers with annual revenue up to EUR 25,000–30,000 is registration as a liberal professional. The procedure:

1. Registration in the BULSTAT register (Registry Agency) within 7 days of commencing activity.
2. Declaration to the NRA for commencement of activity within the same 7-day window.
3. Election of a monthly insurance base (minimum EUR 550.66 for 2026).
4. Monthly contributions by the 25th, annual reconciliation with the income tax return by 30 April.

Detailed regime in our self-insured persons (СОЛ) article.

ЕООД — for higher income

For annual income over EUR 30,000 an ЕООД with a dividend policy is usually more efficient due to the fixed 15% combined rate (10% CIT + 5% dividend). Additional benefit — separation of personal assets from business risk. Main drawback — complexity: accounting, annual financial statements, annual corporate tax return.

Mandatory VAT registration under Art. 97a — before the first revenue

This is the most overlooked obligation by emerging influencers. Art. 97a VATA obliges every taxable person (including individual, self-insured, ЕТ, ЕООД) to register for VAT when receiving services from a supplier registered in another EU Member State.

Why does this affect influencers? AdSense, TikTok and Instagram monetisation are advertising services that Google Ireland, TikTok Ireland and Meta Ireland supply to the influencer. Under the place-of-supply rule (Art. 21(2) VATA) the service is deemed performed in Bulgaria — meaning the recipient owes VAT under reverse charge.

Registration deadline

An application must be filed no later than 7 days before the date the tax becomes chargeable — in practice before receiving the first service from an EU platform. For AdSense, this means before monetisation is activated, not after the first payment.

Post-registration obligations

• Monthly VAT returns by the 14th of the following month, including zero returns.
• VIES declarations for EU transactions.
• Self-assessment of VAT (20%) on the value of services received from EU platforms — without the right to input VAT credit, because Art. 97a registration is special and does not grant it.
• Payment of 20% VAT on the value of advertising services received (value = monetisation income).

Consequences of non-compliance

Fine under Art. 178 VATA: BGN 500–5,000 (EUR 256–2,557). Retroactive VAT assessment for the entire period of unreported services, plus interest. The limitation period is 5 years regular, 10 years absolute under the Tax-Insurance Procedure Code.

General VAT threshold (Art. 96) from 1 January 2026

From 1 January 2026 the general threshold for mandatory VAT registration is EUR 51,130 taxable turnover per calendar year (not rolling 12 months, as before 31 December 2025). Monitoring is daily and the registration date is the day after the threshold is exceeded.

For influencers already operating under Art. 97a, exceeding this threshold converts to full VAT registration — with 20% charged on Bulgarian sponsored posts and the right to input VAT credit for all business expenses (equipment, software, office).

Turnover counted towards the threshold

• Sponsored posts for Bulgarian and EU brands.
• Sales of digital products (courses, e-books) to Bulgarian audiences.
• Merchandise sales (physical goods) on Bulgarian territory.
• AdSense and similar revenue does NOT count towards the Art. 96 threshold (taxed under Art. 97a separately).

DAC7 — automatic exchange of platform information

Directive (EU) 2021/514 (DAC7), transposed into Bulgarian law via amendments to the Tax-Insurance Procedure Code, imposes obligations on operators of digital platforms to collect, verify and transmit data on sellers and content creators to tax authorities.

Platforms covered

DAC7 applies to platforms that facilitate for consideration:

• Rental of immovable property (Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO).
• Personal services (Uber, Bolt, Fiverr, TaskRabbit).
• Sale of goods (eBay, Amazon, Etsy).
• Rental of means of transport.
• Monetised content creation (YouTube Partner Program, TikTok Creator Fund, Patreon, OnlyFans, Twitch).

Reportable data

• Influencer identification: names, address, national ID, VAT number (if any).
• State of tax residence.
• Total consideration per quarter.
• Bank account or other payment means.
• Number of transactions/publications.

Deadlines and automatic exchange

Platforms provide data to the NRA by 31 January of the following calendar year. The NRA automatically exchanges with the tax authorities of other Member States. This means that if an influencer receives AdSense from Google Ireland, both the Bulgarian NRA and Irish Revenue have information about the income.

Patent tax — can it apply?

The patent tax under the Local Taxes and Fees Act is a fixed regime for specific activities listed in Annex 4. For typical influencer activity (content creation, advertising services) it does not apply — it is not on the patent list.

Exceptions may arise for ancillary activities:

• Sale of books or physical goods from home — under specific conditions (see our patent tax overview).
• Organising in-person courses/workshops at a physical site — under strict conditions.

For most digital influencers, the optimal choice remains СОЛ with 25% statutory expense deduction or ЕООД with a dividend policy.

Annual filing — steps and deadlines

For individual and СОЛ

• Annex 3 to the Art. 50 PITA return — income from liberal professions and services (Art. 29).
• Schedule for final size of insurance income (Table 1) for СОЛ.
• Filing deadline: by 30 April of the following year.
• 5% discount up to EUR 255.65 for electronic filing by 31 March with full payment.

For ЕТ and ЕООД

• ЕТ — Art. 50 PITA return by 30 June.
• ЕООД — Art. 92 corporate tax return between 1 March and 30 June.

Income documentation

Recommended practice:

• Monthly statements from AdSense, TikTok Creator Rewards, Meta Monetisation, Amazon Associates.
• Bank statements with all transfers (Wise, Revolut, Payoneer, bank account).
• Contracts for sponsored posts with Bulgarian brands.
• Invoices for expenses (equipment, software, office, professional services).
• FX calculations for foreign payments — at the fixed BNB/ECB rate.

Practical example — 2026 calculation

A female influencer with EUR 25,000 annual AdSense revenue + EUR 10,000 sponsored posts in Bulgaria (total EUR 35,000). Structure: СОЛ at minimum base of EUR 550.66, without GIM.

The same influencer via ЕООД with dividends:

• Corporate profit EUR 35,000 − reasonable business expenses (e.g. EUR 7,000) = EUR 28,000
• Corporate tax 10%: EUR 2,800
• Distributed dividend: EUR 25,200, 5% dividend tax: EUR 1,260
• Net income: EUR 23,940
• Effective burden: 15.7% — no insurance service accrued.

Takeaway: above EUR 25,000–30,000 annual income, the ЕООД structure is financially more efficient, but accrues no insurance service or entitlement to benefits — a long-term planning decision.

Frequently asked questions