Dividend tax in Bulgaria 2026: calculator, rate, deadlines
Work out dividend tax for 2026: the rate, who withholds it, the deadline to declare and pay it, and when a dividend is not taxed at all.
You own a single-member limited liability company (ЕООД) or a limited liability company (ООД), the company is making a profit and you want to pay yourself a dividend. There is one question: how much will you actually keep, and what do you owe the National Revenue Agency (НАП)? Short and without accountants' jargon.
Here you will find a calculator, the exact legal grounds and the whole procedure step by step: the general meeting's resolution, withholding at source, declaring and paying. You will also see where most people get the deadline wrong, because it does not run from the day the money leaves the account.
❓How much is dividend tax in 2026 and who pays it?
Calculator: work out your dividend
Enter the gross amount you will distribute and the calculator shows the tax, the net amount you receive and the total tax burden for an ЕООД. It also works in reverse: if you know what net amount you want to receive, it works out what gross dividend you need to vote for.
The calculator works in leva. For 2026 the conversion uses the fixed rate €1 = BGN 1.95583, so €10,000 is BGN 19,558.30. The same tool is also available on its own on the dividend tax calculator page, if you only need the sum without the explanations.
Gross, tax, net: what the numbers mean
The tax is charged on the gross amount set in the distribution resolution, not on the sum you actually transfer (ЗДДФЛ Art. 38(2)). This matters because if you vote for a resolution of €10,000, the tax base is €10,000, regardless of when and in how many instalments the money goes out.
Example: a dividend of €10,000 gross
Gross dividend under the general meeting's resolution
BGN 19,558.30 at the fixed rate
€10,000
Final tax of 5 per cent
BGN 977.92, withheld by the company at source
€500
Total
Net to receive: €9,500 (BGN 18,580.39)
The tax is final. The recipient does not declare it again in their annual tax return.
However, this 5% is not the whole picture. The profit the dividend comes from has already been taxed at 10% corporate tax (Corporate Income Tax Act (ЗКПО), Art. 20). The combined effective burden is around 14.5 per cent, not 15, because the two taxes are applied one after the other rather than added together: 1 - (1 - 0.10) x (1 - 0.05) = 0.145.
5%
Dividend tax
10%
Corporate tax paid before that
14.5%
Total effective burden
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The rate is not the same for every recipient
Most calculators show only the case of an individual. In practice the rate depends entirely on who receives the dividend, and the difference between 5% and 0% comes down to whether the recipient is a trader.
| Recipient | Rate | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Local individual | 5% | ЗДДФЛ Art. 38(1), item 2 and Art. 46(3) |
| Sole trader (ЕТ) | 5% | ЗДДФЛ Art. 38(1), item 1 and Art. 46(3) |
| Local legal entity that is a trader (ООД, ЕООД, joint-stock company АД) | 0% | Falls outside the scope of ЗКПО Art. 194(1) |
| Local legal entity that is not a trader, including a municipality | 5% | ЗКПО Art. 194(1), item 2 and Art. 200(1) |
| Foreign legal entity from the EU or the EEA | 0% | ЗКПО Art. 194(3), item 3, except in the case of a hidden profit distribution |
| Foreign legal entity outside the EU and the EEA | 5% | ЗКПО Art. 194(1), item 1 and Art. 200(1), unless a double tax treaty (СИДДО) provides otherwise |
Rates on a dividend distributed by a local company, 2026
The two rows people mix up most often are the ones with 0%. An ordinary parent company that is a trader does not pay tax, not because of a special exemption, but because Art. 194(1) of the ЗКПО does not cover it at all: that article taxes only foreign legal entities and local legal entities that are not traders. Separately, paragraph 3 excludes a narrow circle of recipients, among them companies from the EU and the EEA.
The 5 per cent rate under the ЗКПО is not in Art. 194 but in Art. 200(1) of the ЗКПО. For individuals and sole traders the basis is different: Art. 46(3) of the ЗДДФЛ.
Social security contributions on a dividend
How to declare and pay: step by step
The procedure from resolution to payment
The distribution resolution
The general meeting of an ООД adopts the annual report and decides to distribute the profit (Commerce Act (ТЗ), Art. 137(1), item 3). In an ЕООД the same is done by a decision of the sole owner of the capital. The date of this resolution is the starting point for all deadlines.
The company withholds 5 per cent at source
The tax is withheld by the payer of the income, that is, by the company itself, and only the net amount is transferred to the recipient. The recipient does not have to do anything (ЗДДФЛ Art. 65(2)).
Filing declaration form 4001
by the end of the month after the quarterThis is the declaration under Art. 55(1) of the ЗДДФЛ and Art. 201(1) of the ЗКПО for taxes due, NRA service No. 1869. It is filed for the quarter, by electronic means only for enterprises (ЗДДФЛ Art. 56(2)), with the NRA territorial directorate (ТД на НАП) where the payer is registered (Art. 57(1)).
Paying into the NRA account
by the end of the month after the quarterThe deadline for payment is the same as the deadline for declaring (ЗДДФЛ Art. 56(1)). For 2026, obligations to the NRA are paid in euro only.
By the end of the month following the quarter of the resolution
Dividend tax is declared and paid by the end of the month following the quarter in which the distribution resolution was taken. A resolution from March is declared and paid by 30 April. A resolution from April has until 31 July.
The deadline runs from the date of the resolution, not from the date the money is actually paid out.
This is the costliest detail in the whole topic, and almost no calculator explains it. If the general meeting took the decision in June and the payment is made only in November, the deadline for the tax was still 31 July. The rule is written down twice, independently: in Art. 65(2) of the ЗДДФЛ and in Art. 202(1) of the ЗКПО.
If you have missed the deadline, late-payment interest runs on the tax due. You can work it out with the statutory interest calculator and check exactly what the НАП has on record for you through the check of your obligations.
The euro change from 2026
Common mistakes that cost a lot
A dividend is not a salary
Hidden profit distribution
Does the report have to be audited?
Do not calculate 15 per cent
Frequently asked questions
❓Are social security contributions due on a dividend?
Source: КСО, Art. 6(2); ЗЗО, Art. 40(1), item 1
❓How is a dividend distributed in an ЕООД and how in an ООД?
Source: ТЗ, Art. 137(1), item 3
❓When is a dividend not taxed at all?
Source: ЗКПО, Art. 194
❓Does the recipient have to declare the dividend anywhere?
Source: ЗДДФЛ, Art. 55(1); Art. 65(2)
Legal grounds
Personal Income Tax Act (ЗДДФЛ)
Art. 38(2)
Official Bulgarian text
„Окончателният данък за доходите от дивиденти се определя върху брутната сума, определена с решението за разпределяне на дивидент.“
Personal Income Tax Act (ЗДДФЛ)
Art. 46(3)
Official Bulgarian text
„Ставката на данъка е 5 на сто за доходите по чл. 38, ал. 1.“
Personal Income Tax Act (ЗДДФЛ)
Art. 65(2)
Official Bulgarian text
„Данъкът по чл. 46 за доходите по чл. 38, ал. 2 се удържа и внася от предприятието - платец на дохода, в срок до края на месеца, следващ тримесечието, през което е взето решението за разпределяне на дивидент.“
Corporate Income Tax Act (ЗКПО)
Art. 194(1)
Official Bulgarian text
„С данък при източника се облагат дивидентите и ликвидационните дялове, разпределени (персонифицирани) от местни юридически лица в полза на: 1. чуждестранни юридически лица ... 2. местни юридически лица, които не са търговци, включително на общини.“
Commerce Act (ТЗ)
Art. 137(1), item 3
A power of the general meeting of an ООД. Certification by an auditor is not required.
Official Bulgarian text
„приема годишния отчет и баланса, разпределя печалбата и взема решение за нейното изплащане;“
The official page of the revenue administration on the subject is Final tax on dividend income (Окончателен данък върху доходи от дивиденти) on the НАП website. If the annual tax closing is also coming up, see what changes in the 2026 tax return and the tax calculator for the other types of income.
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⚠️ Important
Pravko provides legal information, but it does not replace advice from a lawyer. For important legal matters, consult a licensed lawyer.
