The Bulgarian government have introduced new legislation that requires UK and other non-EU businesses to now appoint a fiscal representative who will have joint and several liability over their VAT compliance and VAT debts.
Under the new provisions, UK and other non-EU businesses registered for VAT in Bulgaria will have to appoint a fiscal representative in Bulgaria and notify the Bulgarian tax authorities within the following deadlines:
- 15 January 2021 – UK companies registered for distance selling purposes (which will continue to act as distance sellers after 1 January 2021 or which will continue to be VAT registered in Bulgaria but will no longer act as distance sellers)
- 31 March 2021 – UK companies registered on other VAT registration grounds (not for distance sales). This deadline also applies to other non-EU companies from third countries, with which EU has not concluded a Mutual Assistance Agreement similar in scope to Directive 2010/24 / EU and Regulation (EU) № 904 /2010
Failure to appoint a fiscal representative and to notify the tax authorities within the above timeframes may result in deregistration of the company. Therefore, if your business is affected by the above changes, please contact us to find out how we can assist. However, it should be noted that the Bulgarian tax authority may make changes to the requirement for UK companies to appoint a fiscal representative in light of the Protocol on Mutual Assistance contained within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. We’ll update if there are any further developments.
