🇧🇬 Bulgaria — EOOD vs. Freelancer Crossover in 2026

Should I register an EOOD or work as an individual freelancer in Bulgaria?

It depends on income and which recognized-expense category your freelancer income falls into. And then of course also on your options and nature of your work, but in this guide, we focus on the tax comparison.

For the ordinary 25% category (most freelancers: IT, design, translation, engineering, accounting, and other free professions): the EOOD wins between roughly 16,400 and 66,300 EUR/year; the individual freelancer route wins above 66,300 — and below 16,400 as well.

The reason is structural, not a difference in headline rates — both eventually rely on the same 10% corporate/income tax:

• EOOD: social insurance is a fixed cost (~1,934 EUR for 2026, blending the pre- and post-August minimum base), which barely matters once revenue is high enough.
• Freelancer: health and social insurance are both proportional up to a cap (2,111.64 EUR/month through July, 2,300 EUR/month from August), but once the cap is hit, the marginal rate drops to 7.5% for every additional euro earned.

At lower incomes, the EOOD's minimum-base social cost dominates. Once the freelancer's gross income passes roughly 36,800 EUR/year, social contributions hit their cap in full (≈26,281 EUR/year in social base) and the marginal rate falls to 7.5%, while the EOOD's dividend tax layer (10% + 5%) keeps applying to every additional euro — eventually making the freelancer route cheaper overall.

Is 66,300 EUR a hard rule?

No — it's the crossover point for the ordinary 25% category, assuming zero company expenses and default settings. Genuine company expenses (subcontractors, equipment, office costs) reduce the EOOD's tax base directly and can shift the crossover higher, since the freelancer route has no equivalent real-expense deduction (only the fixed recognized-expense rate).

What about the 40% category — author/licence income and lawyers?

Because the 40% deduction leaves a smaller taxable base at every income level, the freelancer route starts out ahead of the EOOD, then the EOOD pulls back in front for a middle stretch, then the freelancer overtakes it again at higher income:

• Below roughly 29,700 EUR/year gross: the freelancer route wins — the 40% deduction keeps the taxable base (and so the social base and income tax) small enough that scaling contributions still beat the EOOD's social floor.
• Roughly 29,700 to 54,600 EUR/year gross: the EOOD wins — the freelancer's social contributions are climbing toward the cap and have not fully hit it yet, while the holds the EOOD owner's minimum-base cost constant.
• Above roughly 54,600 EUR/year gross: the freelancer route wins again — the social base cap is fully in force by 46,000 EUR/year gross, dropping the marginal rate on additional income to 6% (versus the EOOD's combined 10% + 5% layers on distributed profit), and the gap keeps widening from there.

Which one is simpler to run?

The freelancer route, by a wide margin — no company registration, lighter records, and no company annual financial statements. The EOOD requires full company accounting and reporting, in exchange for the lower cost at low-to-mid income and the option to retain profit inside the company.

See the EOOD guide and freelancer guide for the full breakdowns.

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