Bulgaria Tax Residence and Foreign Income

Residence tests do not depend on citizenship

Domestic tests include a Bulgarian permanent address, presence exceeding 183 days in any twelve-month period, a Bulgarian centre of vital interests, or specified assignments abroad by Bulgarian state bodies or enterprises and accompanying family. The permanent-address rule has an important foreign-vital-interests exception.

Strictly more than 183 days

The presence test applies to the year in which the 183-day threshold is exceeded. Entry and exit days count as days of presence. Stays exclusively for study or medical treatment are excluded from this test, not necessarily from the other residence tests.

A Bulgarian address is not conclusive

A person with a Bulgarian permanent address but a centre of vital interests outside Bulgaria is not resident under the stated exception. Family, property, work or business activity and where property is managed are relevant to locating those interests.

Worldwide residents; Bulgarian-source non-residents

Residents generally face tax on domestic and foreign income; non-residents on Bulgarian-source income. Work or services performed in Bulgaria and income from Bulgarian real estate are source examples. The place where payment is received does not determine source by itself. Exemptions and treaties still apply.

Double-tax relief depends on the treaty

Depending on the applicable treaty, relief may use foreign-tax credit or exemption with progression. The NRA identifies dedicated annual-return schedules for these methods. This does not establish that every income item must be declared or that foreign tax is always fully refunded.