What a Bulgarian Company Really Costs: Hidden Costs and How to Spot Them

Search for "company formation Bulgaria" and you will find offers from €89 right up to €1,700 and beyond – for what sounds like the same thing. Both ends of the range are real, and both can be misleading. In this third part of our formation series (here are part 1 and part 2), we put numbers on every cost of a Bulgarian EOOD – the ones in the advertised price, and especially the ones that are not.

Why the price range is so wide

The cheapest offers come from Bulgarian-language online registrars built for Bulgarian residents: you generate the documents online, walk to your local notary yourself, and file electronically. For a resident, €89–€130 "all-in" can be genuine. As a foreign founder you are buying a different product: bilingual documents, a power of attorney or accompanied notary appointment, translation, bank coordination, a registered address – and someone who answers your questions in your language. That service level is what the €400–€1,700 offers price in, to very different degrees.

The rule of thumb from part 1 applies here in full: the registration is the cheap part – the recurring obligations are the real budget line.

One-off costs at formation

Item	Typical range	Notes
State fee, Commercial Register	~€28 online / ~€56 paper	Electronic filing halves the fee
Notarization in Bulgaria	€10–€30	Manager's specimen signature etc.
Notarization abroad instead	€50–€150+	Foreign notaries charge more
Apostille (remote route)	€20–€80	Per document, country-dependent
Certified translations	~€50–€150	Depends on volume (estimate)
Bank/KYC costs	€100–€500	Capital account, account opening, bank fees for non-residents
Courier for originals (remote)	€30–€80	Often forgotten
Provider service fee	€150–€1,700	The advertised "formation price"

Independent lawyer-led breakdowns put a straightforward EOOD formation at roughly €800–€1,500 all-in for a foreign founder – which tells you immediately how to read a €150 headline price: it covers the service fee, not the process.

Recurring costs – the part that actually matters

• Monthly accounting: effectively mandatory. Under Art. 17 of the Accountancy Act, annual financial statements must be prepared by a qualified compiler; in practice over 95% of Bulgarian companies engage an accounting firm. Typical rates: from ~€30/month for a dormant or minimal company, €80–€150/month for an active non-VAT business, €125–€250/month once you are VAT-registered. If a provider lists accounting as "optional", read that as "not included", not as "not needed".
• Registered address: renews every year. €120–€540 per year is the usual range. Watch for packages where year one is included and the renewal price only appears in the small print.
• Annual closing and publication. The corporate tax return (by 30 June) and the publication of financial statements (by 30 September) are often billed on top of the monthly fee – commonly an extra month's fee. Ask.
• Social-security contributions. As a self-insured manager you pay monthly contributions on at least the statutory minimum insurance income – a real monthly cost that no formation price list mentions.
• Bank account maintenance. Bulgarian business accounts carry monthly fees; non-resident structures sometimes pay premium rates.
• Company changes later. New manager, new address, share transfer, name change – each is a new register filing with state fee, documents and often notary. Cheap to forget, annoying to discover.

The six places hidden costs hide

• 1. "From" prices. "Formation from €150" usually excludes state fees, address, translations and anything remote. The "from" price is for the simplest possible domestic case.
• 2. VAT on the fee itself. Many advertised prices are silent on whether Bulgarian VAT (20%) is added to the service fee. €700 + VAT is €840.
• 3. "Optional" accounting. The single biggest omission in the market. €150 formation + €150/month accounting is a €1,950 first year, not a €150 one.
• 4. Remote surcharges. Power of attorney, apostille, extra notary appointments, courier – some providers charge a flat remote supplement of €250 or more, others itemize. Either is fine; silence is not.
• 5. Registered address renewals. Year one bundled, year two at full price – and moving your registered address later is itself a paid register change.
• 6. Bank "guarantees". "Guaranteed bank account" sounds like a promise; the bank's compliance department has not signed it. Expect KYC fees and the possibility of needing a second bank. More on marketing language in part 5.

A realistic first-year budget

For a remote foreign founder with a simple, active EOOD (non-VAT, provided address, mid-range accountant), a realistic first year looks like this – as an estimate, not an offer:

Position	Estimate
Formation incl. state fees, notary, translations, service fee	€400–€1,200
Apostille, courier, remote extras	€50–€250
Bank/KYC	€100–€500
Registered address, year 1	€120–€540
Accounting, 12 months	€960–€1,800 (at €80–€150/mo)
Annual closing	€80–€250
Realistic first-year total	≈ €1,500–€3,500

Note what dominates the table: not the formation fee, but twelve months of accounting. This is why comparing headline formation prices is almost useless.

How to compare offers properly

• Always compare first-year totals, never formation fees. Ask every provider the same question: "What will I have paid you and third parties in total after 12 months, assuming X invoices per month and no VAT registration?"
• Ask for the exclusions in writing. A serious provider can list what is not included faster than what is.
• Clarify VAT and state fees on every single line.
• Check the renewal prices for address and accounting after year one.
• Budget the boring extras yourself: social security, bank fees, and one company change per year as a buffer.

Conclusion

A Bulgarian EOOD is genuinely inexpensive to run by EU standards – but it is not €89. Plan with a realistic €1,500–€3,500 for year one and roughly €1,200–€2,500 per year ongoing (accounting, address, closing), and the 10% tax rate does the rest of the maths for you. In part 4 we look at the remote route in detail – what genuinely works from abroad and where the surcharges come from.

Our own formation package at €400 all-inclusive was built as a reaction to exactly this market: one price, the exclusions stated openly, and honest answers on the recurring costs before you commit. Compare us – with the first-year question, please. We're happy to answer it.

All figures are a snapshot as of July 2026 and typical market ranges or clearly labeled estimates, not binding prices. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.