Bulgarian Currency, Tax & Financial Transfers
What You Need to Know About Bulgarian Currency
The Bulgarian currency is the Lev.
1 "Lev" equals approximately 30pence (£) in today’s money (11/06). This form of Bulgarian money is used for most financial transactions in Bulgaria. More than 1 Lev is referred to as "Leva".
Where larger purchases are concerned, the Lev is disregarded and prices are set in Euros. However, if you go to the rural regions of Bulgaria, you may find villagers offering to sell you their property for xx,000 Leva.
The Euro (€) has been fluctuating at between £1 = €1.4 to €1.5, and currently stands at 1.5 (as at 12/2006).
Bulgarian Tax
The Bulgarian tax year runs from April to April, as in the UK. Bulgarian tax was reduced to 15% in 2005.
There have been discussions in the Bulgarian Parliament of reducing this levy to just 10%, but at the time of writing, this had not been agreed to.
All Limited Companies are required by law to submit a tax return, even if they have no income to declare. Failure to offer a tax return of any kind may result in fines.
If you have incurred expenses in purchasing property and setting up your Bulgarian Limited Company you can hold this back and submit the claim to offset against earned tax in the following year.
Tips for Quick and Easy Financial Transfers
To purchase larger items, you will probably require the services of a currency exchange company. We have used several other companies in the past, but CurrencyUK really know what they are doing, and we highly recommend them. They make the transaction simple to execute and have great service.Editors Note:
If you are a British national, recent UK Government legislation aimed at breaking money-laundering activities means that you have to go through identity checks prior to sending money around the world.
Once you have selected your currency exchange partner, you will need to fax a copy of your passport to the company. That’s why it's very important that you select a reputable company — the last thing you want is to have your identity hijacked!
Next, there is a short form to fill in to register yourself (personal or company) with the exchange company before you can start to make the transaction.
After registration, you will need to fill in another form which asks for the specific details of the transaction.
You will need to provide:
- The value and currency that you want to transfer
- The name of the person/company receiving the funds
- The Bank Account, Sort Code, Address and SWIFT code of the receiving Bank
IIn practice the whole process - from registration to transfer of the funds - can be done in a day, but only if you start the process in the morning.
One last point: if you are doing a TT (Telegraphic Transfer) from a UK High Street Bank, then you will almost certainly need to go to a branch to prove your identity (take 2 forms of ID - passport + drivers licence or utility bill is usually enough).
There you will need to fill in another form - this time with the details of the currency exchange company, and their bank.
Transfers are not performed after about 2pm, so make sure that you act swiftly if you need money to be sent fast!
