What kind of information a Bulgarian invoice has to contain?

The invoice requirements are regulated by the Accountancy Act and the Value Added Tax Act.
Art. 7 of the Accountancy Act regulates the requirements for all primary accounting documents issued by the company and addressed to other enterprises or individuals and which also concern the invoices.

The Accountancy Act requires that the invoice contains at least the following information:

1. A name and a number containing only Arabic numerals;
2. Date of issue;
3. Name, address and identification number under Art. 84 of the Tax and Insurance Procedure Code of the issuer and the recipient;
4. Object and value of the business operation.

According to Art.84 of the Tax and Insurance Procedure Code (TIPC):

• The identification of the persons registered in the BULSTAT register shall be done by a unique identification code BULSTAT;
• The identification of the persons registered under the Commercial Register Act shall be done through a unique identification code (UIC), determined by the Registry Agency;
• Sole traders are identified by a unique citizen number, respectively a personal number of a foreign citizen, and by a single identification code determined by the order of the Commercial Register Act;
• The identification of natural persons who are not registered in the Commercial Register, respectively in the BULSTAT register, shall be carried out through the unique citizen number or the personal number of a foreign citizen. - The other persons shall be identified by a service number issued by the NRA.

According to the VAT Act, a taxable person is any person who carries out independent economic activity, regardless of the purposes and the results thereof. Natural persons who are not sole traders and do not exercise a liberal profession are not regarded as taxable persons.
Issuance of an invoice is regulated in Art.113 of the VAT Act.
The requirements for the invoice and the mandatory requisites are specified in Art.114 of the VAT Act.
The Rules for the Application of the Value Added Tax Act further specify the requirements for the invoices in Art. 79.
Every taxable person - supplier must issue an invoice for the delivery of a good or service he has provided or upon receiving an advance payment beforehand, except in cases when the delivery is documented with a protocol under Art.117 of the VAT Act.
The invoice is issued in at least two copies - one for the supplier and one for the recipient. The original of the invoice is provided to the consignee of the shipment.
Upon the occurrence of a tax event, an invoice may not be issued in cases where advance payments are made for the full value of the delivery and for which invoices have already been issued upon receipt.

An invoice may not be issued:

1. for supplies to which the recipient is a non-taxable natural person;
2. for delivery of financial services under Art. 46 of the VAT Act;
3. for delivery of insurance services under Art. 47 of the VAT Act;
4. for airline ticket sales;
5. for free supplies;
6. For services delivered under Chapter Eighteen of the VAT Act (special arrangements for taxation of the supply of telecommunications services);
7. For deliveries made by non-registered natural persons other than sole traders, where for the supplies they carry:
(A) A document is issued under a special law, or
(B) An account shall be issued for amounts paid or a document under Art. 9 of the Personal Income Tax Act, or
(C) The issue of a document is not obligatory under the Personal Income Tax Act.
Except for these cases, an invoice and an invoice notice are issued regardless of whether the recipient is registered or not registered under VAT. In other words, in general, the issue of an invoice to an unregistered person who is not a natural person is mandatory.
The invoice must be issued not later than 5 days from the date of occurrence of the delivery tax event and in the case of advance payment not later than 5 days from the date of receipt of the payment.
In the case of an intra-community supply of goods (ICS), including in the case of an advance payment, the invoice shall be issued not later than the 15th day of the month following the month in which the tax event under Art. 51, paragraph 1 of the VAT Act occurred. In other words, an advance for ICS of goods is not invoiced and the ICS invoice is issued after the delivery, but latest by the 15th of the month following the delivery.
Where the issue of an invoice is not compulsory, it is issued at the request of the supplier or the recipient, and each party is required to provide the necessary assistance to the other party for the issue.
The supplier may authorize in writing another person to issue invoices and invoice notifications on his behalf.
Invoice shall not be issued in the cases under Art. 131, paragraph 1 (when delivering goods or services on a public sale).
Taxable persons who are not registered under the VAT Act are not allowed to indicate the tax in the invoices issued by them and in the invoice notifications. Registered persons pursuant to Art. 97a, paragraph 1 and 2 (VAT registration for intra-community services), Art. 99 (VAT registration for goods and services) and Art. 100, paragraph 2 (optional VAT registration for goods) are also not allowed to indicate the tax in the invoices issued by them and in the invoice notices.

When a registered person makes a taxable supply for which he received an advance payment before the date of his VAT registration, he issues an invoice indicating the entire taxable amount of the delivery. In other words, the advance payment received before the VAT registration date is subject to VAT.
An invoice or invoice notification on behalf of and at the expense of the supplier may also be issued by the consignee of the supply if there is a prior agreement between the two parties and provided there is a procedure for acceptance of each invoice.
Electronic invoices and electronic invoice notifications are deemed to have been issued on the date on which the supplier or another person acting on his behalf provides invoices and invoice notifications so that they can be received by the customer.
For two or more deliveries of goods or services, the tax for which becomes chargeable during the same tax period, a combined invoice may be issued. The combined invoice must contain the requisites under Art. 114, paragraph 1, items 9 to 15 of the VAT for each individual delivery, reflected in the summary invoice, and shall be issued not later than the last day of the month during which the tax for the supplies has become exigible and for the intra-community supplies of goods (ICS) - no later than the 15th day of the month following the delivery.

According to Art. 114 of the VAT Act, the invoice must contain:

1. Name of the document;
2. A consecutive 10-digit number containing only Arabic numerals, which uniquely identifies the invoice. The invoice number may be based on one or more series depending on the reporting needs of the supplier;
3. Date of issue;
4. Name and address of the supplier;
5. The VAT number of the supplier, if registered under the VAT, respectively the number under Art. 84 of the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code - when the supplier is not registered under the VAT Act;
7. Name and address of the consignee of the delivery;
8. The VAT number of the recipient, respectively the numbers under Art. 84 of the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code - where the recipient is not registered under the VAT Act;
9. Quantity and type of goods, type of service;
10. The date on which the chargeable event occurred or the date on which the payment was received;
11. the unit price excluding the tax and the tax base of the delivery, as well as the trade discounts and discounts granted if they are not included in the unit price;
12. The rate of tax and, where the rate is zero, the basis for its application, as well as the ground for non-charging of the tax;
13. The amount of the tax;
14. The amount of payment if it differs from the amount of the tax base and the tax;
15. The circumstances which define the goods as a new vehicle - for the intra-community supply of new vehicles.

When a person sells goods at a distance, the same person is registered for VAT purposes in another Member State and the place of performance of the supply under the conditions of distance selling is in the territory of the other Member State, the invoice shall also indicate:

1. The VAT identification number of the other person, issued by the other Member State;
2. The applicable rate of the tax for the supply in the other Member State;
3. The amount of the tax due on delivery.

Where a registered intermediary in a triangular transaction records the delivery of goods to the acquirer in the triangular operation, the "non-taxable amount" in the invoice shall state "Art.141 2006/112/ EC".
In case of delivery of goods and / or services by a person not registered under the law, the following shall be entered in the invoice / notice as a ground for non-charging of tax: "Art. 113, paragraph 9 of the VAT Act".
In the case of delivery of goods and / or services by a person registered under Art. 97a (VAT registration for intra-community services), Art. 99 (VAT registration for goods and services) and Art. 100, paragraph 2 (optional VAT registration for goods) of the VAT in the invoice / notification as a ground for non-charging of tax shall also be entered "Art. 113, paragraph 9 of the VAT Act ".
Where the tax is chargeable to the recipient, the invoice shall not indicate the amount of tax and the tax rate. In this case, a "reverse charge" is entered into the invoice, as well as the reason for that.
In case of delivery of services under Art. 21, paragraph 2 of VAT on the invoice / notice shall be entered as "reverse charge" as the basis for not charging the tax, as well as the respective provision of the VAT Act or the implementing regulation.
For delivery of a common tourist service, the tax invoice / travel service is indicated as a ground for non-charging of tax in the invoice / notice.
When an exempt delivery is made on the invoice / notice as a ground for not charging a tax, the relevant provision of the law under which the supply is exempt is entered.
The amount of the invoice may be indicated in any currency provided that the tax base and the amount of the tax are indicated in Bulgarian leva, subject to the requirements of Art. 26, paragraph 6 of the VAT Act (the tax base is determined on the basis of the lev equivalent of that currency at the rate announced by the Bulgarian National Bank at the date on which the tax became chargeable).
Every taxable person, in a way chosen by him, shall ensure, from the time of issue, the authenticity of the origin, the integrity of the contents and the legibility of the invoices and the notices of invoices issued by him or on his behalf and the received Invoices and invoice notes, whether in paper form or in electronic form.

Debit and credit notes are a type of invoice that changes the value of a previously documented delivery.
Issuance of Debit and credit notes is regulated in Art.115 of the VAT Act.
In the event of a change in the taxable amount of the delivery or in the case of the cancellation of a delivery for which an invoice has been issued, the supplier shall be required to issue a notice to the invoice.
The notice shall be issued not later than 5 days after the occurrence of the relevant circumstance.
Upon an increase in the tax base, a debit note is issued and a credit note is deducted when the tax base is deducted or when deliveries are terminated.

In addition to the invoice details, the debit and credit notes must also include:

1. The number and date of the invoice to which the notice was issued;
2. The grounds for issuing the notice.

The notice, just like the invoice, is issued in at least two copies - for the recipient (original) and the supplier.
The invoice does not necessarily have to be stamped by the issuer, it is not necessary to indicate the name of the compiler, the invoice need not be signed by the issuer or the recipient, and the invoice value does not necessarily have to be written in words.
The invoice may also include additional information, such as the bank account to which the payment may be made.

We offer for free online based application for invoicing for clients, in which you may issue invoices in English, Bulgarian and Romanian languages.