Bulgaria as an EU base: five things a Japanese company checks first
Euro since 2026, a 10% corporate tax rate, the single market, the EU-Japan EPA and a 1991 tax treaty: five facts to confirm before choosing Bulgaria.
A Japanese company looking for an EU base usually starts with the same short list of questions. For Bulgaria, five of them have clear, checkable answers.
1. Currency: the euro. Bulgaria joined the euro area on 1 January 2026. The lev was converted at the fixed rate of 1.95583 per euro. Contracts, invoices and accounts of a Bulgarian entity are in the same currency as those of most of its EU customers.
2. Corporate tax: a 10% rate. The standard corporate income tax rate is 10%. Dividends paid by a Bulgarian company to a foreign company are generally subject to a 5% withholding tax; dividends paid to a company resident in an EU or EEA state are exempt. Groups with consolidated revenue of EUR 750 million or more fall under the EU global minimum tax rules, which Bulgaria has implemented, so a top-up tax applies where their effective rate is below 15%.
3. Market access: the EU single market. A company established in Bulgaria operates inside the single market of the 27 Member States plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein: about 450 million people, with free movement of goods, services, capital and people.
4. Trade with Japan: the EU-Japan EPA. The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement has been in force since 1 February 2019 and applies to Bulgaria as an EU Member State. At entry into force it removed duties on 99% of EU tariff lines and 97% of Japanese tariff lines. Goods must meet the agreement's rules of origin to qualify for preferential rates.
5. Double taxation: a treaty since 1991. The Japan-Bulgaria convention for the avoidance of double taxation was signed on 7 March 1991 and entered into force on 9 August 1991. It is modified by the OECD Multilateral Instrument (MLI). The convention caps tax on dividends at 10% or 15%; Bulgaria's domestic rate of 5% is lower.
Setting up an entity. The usual form is a limited liability company: an EOOD with a single owner or an OOD with several. Bulgarian law also provides for a joint-stock company (AD) and a branch of a foreign company. Companies are entered in the Commercial Register, maintained by the Registry Agency of the Ministry of Justice. Documents are filed in Bulgarian, with certified translations where needed, and on entry the company is registered automatically with the National Revenue Agency and the National Social Security Institute.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice; decisions on structure and tax need qualified advisers.
If you have a specific requirement for a Bulgarian base, bring it to KyoLink.