Bulgarian invoice requirements: the full list under Art. 114

A Bulgarian invoice must contain every item in Art. 114, para. 1 of the VAT Act (ЗДДС): the document name, a ten-digit number, the date, the supplier and customer details, the type and date of the supply, the price and taxable amount, the VAT rate or the basis for not charging VAT, and the VAT amount. It is issued within 5 days of the tax event, and the taxable amount and the VAT are stated in euro.

What must a Bulgarian invoice contain

The mandatory contents of a Bulgarian invoice are the 15 items of Art. 114, para. 1 of the VAT Act: item 6 is repealed, and items 14 and 15 apply only in specific cases. The middle column is an unofficial translation of the law; the right column explains it.

Example: an invoice for €1,000.00 plus VAT

A VAT-registered company finishes a website project on 30 September 2026 and issues the invoice on 2 October 2026, within the 5-day deadline of Art. 113, para. 4 of the VAT Act:

The €1,200.00 amount payable is optional here, because it equals the taxable amount plus VAT. It becomes mandatory when the customer owes a different sum, for example when the invoice also includes costs incurred in the customer's name and for their account, which the customer reimburses to the supplier. These are outside the taxable amount when the supplier's accounts show them separately (Art. 26, para. 5, item 4 of the VAT Act).

What to write when an invoice has no VAT

When no VAT is charged, the invoice states the legal basis for not charging it (Art. 114, para. 1, item 12 of the VAT Act). When the customer owes the tax, the rate and VAT amount are left out and the invoice says "обратно начисляване" (reverse charge) and gives the basis (Art. 114, para. 4). The exact wording for most cases is set by Art. 79 of the regulation implementing the VAT Act (ППЗДДС).

A business not registered for VAT may not show VAT on its invoices (Art. 113, para. 9 of the VAT Act). Since 1 January 2026, a business established in Bulgaria whose annual domestic turnover does not exceed €51,130 in either the current or the previous calendar year may apply the domestic small business scheme. The scheme is deemed applied while the business is not registered under Art. 96, para. 1 or Art. 100, para. 1 (Art. 168d, paras. 1, 2 and 4), and its invoices may omit items 12, 14 and 15 (Art. 114, para. 7, item 1). Item 12 includes the basis for not charging VAT, so such an invoice may omit the basis. If you do state it, ППЗДДС, last amended in 2024, prescribes the text "чл. 113, ал. 9 от закона" (Art. 79, para. 2, item 2).

Which currency the amounts must be in

Invoice amounts may be in any currency, provided the taxable amount and the VAT are stated in euro (Art. 114, para. 5 of the VAT Act). The euro value uses the latest exchange rate published by the European Central Bank at the moment the tax becomes chargeable (Art. 26, para. 6).

An example with an assumed rate of €1 = USD 1.1000, for illustration only: an invoice to a customer in Bulgaria for USD 1,100.00 excluding VAT also states a taxable amount of €1,000.00 and 20% VAT of €200.00. The lines may stay in dollars, but both euro amounts are mandatory.

What a simplified invoice is and when it is allowed

A simplified invoice is one without items 12, 14 and 15 of Art. 114, para. 1 of the VAT Act: no VAT rate or basis for not charging VAT, no amount payable and no new-vehicle particulars. The VAT Act does not use the term; it describes the invoice under Art. 114, para. 7. It is allowed in two cases:

• 01The taxable amount and the VAT together do not exceed €100 (Art. 114, para. 7, item 2).
• 02The supplier applies a special small business scheme under Chapter 21b of the VAT Act (Art. 114, para. 7, item 1).

The €100 limit does not cover supplies taking place in another member state, intra-EU supplies or distance sales of goods (Art. 114, para. 7, item 2). ППЗДДС adds that para. 7 applies only to supplies taking place in Bulgaria (Art. 79, para. 16). Every other item remains mandatory, and for an invoice up to €100 that includes the VAT amount under item 13.

Example: supplies for €80.00 plus €16.00 VAT, €96.00 in total, sold to a company in Bulgaria. The invoice may omit the 20% rate, but it states the taxable amount of €80.00 and the VAT of €16.00. A sale of €90.00 plus €18.00 VAT comes to €108.00, so that invoice must contain every item.

Does an invoice need a signature and a stamp

A signature and a stamp are not invoice requirements, and neither are a due date or a payment method. Art. 114, para. 1 of the VAT Act does not list them, and Art. 6, para. 1 of the Accountancy Act (ЗСч) asks a document for an external recipient for its name and number, date, issuer and recipient details and the subject of the transaction, with no signature. The Accountancy Act requires the preparer's signature only on a document that concerns the business's own activity alone (Art. 6, para. 3, item 5 of ЗСч).

The "Съставил" (prepared by) and "Получил" (received by) fields may stay, but the law does not require them. An electronic invoice does not need a qualified electronic signature either: the VAT Act names it only as an example technology (Art. 114, para. 11, item 1).

How invoices are numbered

An invoice number has ten digits, contains only Arabic numerals and may be based on one or more series to suit the business's reporting needs (Art. 114, para. 1, item 2 of the VAT Act). Numbers ascend without duplicates or gaps and do not depend on the document type, so invoices, debit notes and credit notes share one sequence (Art. 78, para. 2 of ППЗДДС). Numbering does not restart with a new year (Art. 78, para. 3), and branches and outlets may use their own range (Art. 78, para. 4). Cancelled documents are not destroyed, and the issuer keeps every copy (Art. 78, para. 5). The guide Document numbering shows how to set up a series.

When the invoice must be issued

An invoice is issued no later than 5 days after the tax event, or 5 days after an advance payment is received (Art. 113, para. 4 of the VAT Act). Some cases have their own deadline:

Examples: a service completed on 30 September 2026 is invoiced by 5 October 2026. An advance received on 12 October 2026 is invoiced by 17 October 2026. An intra-EU supply of goods with a tax event on 20 October 2026 is invoiced by 15 November 2026. When advance invoices cover the full value of the supply, no new invoice is needed at the tax event (Art. 79, para. 8 of ППЗДДС).

VAT-registered merchants record sales to individuals without an invoice in a monthly sales report (Art. 119 of the VAT Act); see Stripe and the Bulgarian invoice.

Which language the invoice must be in

The VAT Act does not regulate the language of an invoice; the rule comes from the Accountancy Act. Accounting documents are drawn up in Bulgarian, with Arabic numerals and in euro, and for deals agreed in a foreign currency with foreign counterparties they may also be drawn up in the relevant foreign language and currency (Art. 5, para. 1 of ЗСч). Accounting software must be able to produce output documents in Bulgarian (Art. 11, para. 2 of ЗСч).

A bilingual invoice, for example in Bulgarian and English, meets both rules. The foreign-language exception in Art. 5, para. 1 is worded for deals in a foreign currency; for a deal in euro with a foreign customer it is not explicit, so a bilingual invoice is the safer choice. When in doubt, check with your accountant.

What a credit or debit note adds

A note to an invoice contains every requirement of Art. 114 of the VAT Act plus two more: the number and date of the invoice it relates to, and the reason for issuing it (Art. 115, para. 4). A debit note is issued when the taxable amount increases, and a credit note when it decreases or the supply is cancelled (Art. 115, para. 3). The deadline is 5 days from the circumstance (Art. 115, para. 2), and the number continues the invoice sequence (Art. 78, para. 2 of ППЗДДС).

An incorrect invoice is not fixed with a note: corrections and additions are not allowed, so the document is cancelled and a new one issued (Art. 116, para. 1 of the VAT Act). If either party has already entered it in its VAT ledgers, a cancellation protocol is also drawn up for each party (Art. 116, para. 4).

Electronic invoices: what the law requires today

An electronic invoice is allowed when the customer accepts it with written or tacit consent (Art. 114, para. 9 of the VAT Act). Tacit consent includes processing or paying the invoices received (Art. 78, para. 11 of ППЗДДС). An electronic invoice counts as issued on the date it is made available so that the customer can receive it (Art. 113, para. 12 of the VAT Act).

An accounting document may be an electronic document in any electronic format (Art. 4, para. 5 of ЗСч), for example a PDF sent by email. Every taxable person ensures the authenticity of origin, integrity of content and legibility of the invoices it issues and receives until the end of the retention period, for example through business controls that create a reliable audit trail between the invoice and the supply (Art. 114, paras. 6 and 10 of the VAT Act). A paper invoice is issued in at least two copies (Art. 113, para. 2).

Common invoice mistakes

• 01A number with letters, a hyphen or fewer than 10 digits, such as INV-2026-15 (Art. 114, para. 1, item 2 of the VAT Act).
• 02A separate credit note sequence that restarts from 1 (Art. 78, para. 2 of ППЗДДС).
• 03No tax event date because it matches the issue date; item 10 is always stated.
• 04"No VAT" or a zero rate with no legal basis (Art. 114, para. 1, item 12 of the VAT Act).
• 05A taxable amount and VAT in US dollars only, with no euro amounts (Art. 114, para. 5).
• 06Editing an issued invoice instead of cancelling it and issuing a new one (Art. 116, para. 1).
• 07Deleting or reusing the number of a cancelled invoice (Art. 78, paras. 2 and 5 of ППЗДДС).

How to issue an invoice: a short checklist

1. Customer name, address and ЕИК or VAT number (items 7 and 8).
2. A ten-digit number, next in the sequence (item 2).
3. Date of issue and date of the tax event or advance (items 3 and 10).
4. Type and quantity, unit price excluding VAT and discounts (items 9 and 11).
5. VAT rate or the basis for not charging VAT (item 12 and para. 4).
6. Taxable amount and VAT in euro (para. 5).
7. Issued within 5 days of the tax event or advance (Art. 113, para. 4).
8. Invoices are kept for at least 10 years (Art. 12, para. 1, item 2 of the Accountancy Act) and until 5 years after the limitation period for the obligation they evidence expires (Art. 121, para. 1 of the VAT Act). The longer period applies.

In smetni.app

In the smetni.app Sales module the number is assigned from the chosen series on issue, and a cancelled number stays with its document and is never reused. You can keep several series and choose each document's currency and language, for example English. Credit and debit notes link to the original invoice, take the next number from its series in the same sequence as invoices, and carry the reason for the correction. If your company is not registered for VAT, the Art. 113(9) basis is printed automatically: see smetni.app for freelancers. The steps are in the guides Your first invoice and Sales.