Self-insured persons within the meaning of the Bulgarian Social Security Code (SSC) are:
- persons registered as freelancers and/or craftsmen,
- persons exercising business activity,
- sole traders, owners or partners in companies, and
- individuals - members of unincorporated associations; and duly registered farmers and tobacco growers (Art. 4 (3), item 1, item 2, item 4 SSC).
The social security obligation of self-insured persons in Bulgaria arises from the day of commencement or resumption of their activity and continues until its cessation or termination (Art. 1 (1) of the Regulation on Social Security for Self-Insured Persons, Bulgarian Citizens Working Abroad and Seafarers - the Regulation).
The self-insured persons in Bulgaria must register the start date of their activity through submitting a declaration in standard form to the competent territorial directorate (TD) of the National Revenue Agency (NRA), where the person has their permanent address registration within seven days of its start. The interruption, cessation or resumption of the activity shall also be established by a declaration submitted within seven days of the occurrence of the given circumstance (Art. 1 (2) of the Regulation).
Self-insured persons in Bulgaria are insured for disability due to general sickness, old age and death (Pension fund). At their discretion, they might additionally insure themselves for general disease and maternity (Art. 4 (3) and (4) of the SSC). The type of social security shall be declared by the self-insured person themselves by submitting a declaration in standard form to the competent TD of the NRA within 7 days of the commencement or resumption of the work activity. If this declaration is not submitted within 7 days, the self-insured person will be insured only for disability due to general disease, old age and death (Art. 1 (3) of the Regulation).
By the end of January each year, self-insured persons may change the type of their social security for the relevant calendar year. The type of social security cannot be changed during the year, even in cases where the self-insured persons interrupt and resume their activities or start performing new activities as self-insured persons (Art. 1 (3) and (4) of the Regulation) .
Self-insured persons who have been granted pensions insure themselves only voluntarily (Art. 1 (6) of the Regulation). The law does not define the exact type of pension one must receive to be exempt from paying the social security contributions. Therefore, all persons receiving pensions in Bulgaria - personal, survivors, disability and others - can insure themselves only voluntarily when they exercise their activities as self-insured persons.
Self-insured persons must submit monthly Declaration № 1 "Details of the insured person" and must pay their advance social security contributions until the 25th day of the month following the month to which they relate.
The monthly installments can be paid on selected income, whose amount should not be less than the minimum and not more than the maximum monthly insurable earnings. The amounts of these earnings are determined annually by the State Social Security Budget Act (SSSBA) - Art. 6 (2) of the SSC.
As of 01.08.2026, the minimum social security income for self-insured persons is EUR 620.20. The same minimum social security income also applies to partners in commercial companies when they fall into the category of self-insured persons.
Self-insured persons performing activities on various grounds, make advance payments on one of those grounds, at the person’s discretion (Art. 2 (3) of the Regulation).
When self-insured persons perform employment activities on different grounds and are remunerated accordingly, the social security contributions for these employment activities are due on the sum of the income received. The monthly insurable earnings on which the social security contributions are paid in such cases must not exceed the statutory maximum monthly insurable earnings, determined for the respective year under the SSSBA, which for 2026 is € 2.300.
The minimum insurable earnings for self-insured farmers and tobacco growers in Bulgaria who carry out only farming activities from 01.08.2026 are € 620,20.
If the self-insured persons also work under employment contracts, their social security contributions are due on the sum of their income in the following order:
- Income under the employment contract;
- Selected income as a self-insured person. In this case the monthly insurable earnings should not exceed the statutory maximum monthly insurable earnings of € 2.300 (Art. 4 (2) of the Regulation).
In the case of payment of income for work without an employment relationship to self-employed persons, the employers do not pay social security contributions and do not withhold them from the remuneration of the self-insured person. These earnings are included in the final amount of the insurance income, regardless of the activity for which the self-insured person is registered. The sum of income on which the social security contrbutions are due may not be less than the minimum monthly insurable earnings as defined under Art. 6 (2), item 2 of the SSC (Art. 11 (1) and (2) of the Regulation).
Social security contributions are not due by self-insured persons who are insured for general sickness and maternity for the period during which they receive cash benefits for temporary disability, pregnancy/childbirth/raising a child/adoption of a 2- to 5-year-old child, for the periods of temporary incapacity for work, as well as for the period during which they were not entitled to a cash benefit (Art. 3 (3) of the Regulation).
Persons only insured for disability due to general disease, old age and death owe social security contributions for the periods of temporary disability, pregnancy/childbirth/raising a child/adoption of a 2- to 5-year-old child.
Once a year, the self-insured person must submit Declaration № 6 "Data related to the outstanding social security contributions" by 30 April of the calendar year following the year to which the contributions relate. The final amount of the monthly insurable earnings is determined for the period of employment in the preceding year based on the data declared in the statement enclosed to the annual tax return under the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) and it may not be less than the minimum monthly income determined by SSSBA for the year and higher than the maximum monthly insurable earnings. The amount of insurable earnings on which contributions are paid additionally is calculated as the difference between the amounts on which contributions are due and those which have already been paid. (Art. 6 (80 of the SSC; Art. 2 (4) of the Regulation).
The final amount of insurable earnings for 2026 is established on the basis of the data, declared until 30th of April 2027 with the submission of the statement enclosed to the annual tax return under Art. 50 Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) for 2026. If the declared insurable earnings are higher than the advance contributions, the person should make additional payments in instalments of the difference between the amount due to the Pension fund also for the additional pension insurance in the amounts for the „General Sickness and Maternity Fund“ for self-insured persons who have decided to be insured in this fund by the deadline for submission of their tax returns (the change in Article 6(8) of the CSR is effective from 01.01.2016).
The social security contributions of self-insured persons born after 1959 are as follows:
- State Social Security Funds-14.80 % and if the insured person has chosen to provide for all contingencies including the General sickness and maternity fund, which includes insurance for temporary disability, temporarily reduced capacity and maternity, the amount of insurance for the SSS funds is 18.30 %.
- Additional mandatory pension insurance fund within the Universal Pension Fund - 5.00%
- Health insurance fund - 8.00%.
We will consider in detail two examples with earned income below the maximum social security income and above the maximum social security income, which for 2026 is € 2.300.
With an annual income of € 24.000 and compulsory social security contributions excluding the „General Sickness and Maternity Fund“
The average monthly income in this example is EUR 2,000.00.
Self-employed individuals are entitled to 25% statutory deductible expenses. Consequently, only 75% of the gross income is subject to social security contributions and subsequently to income tax.
In this example, the social security assessment base is calculated as follows:
EUR 2,000.00 × 75% = EUR 1,500.00.
The total mandatory social security contribution rate is 27.8%, resulting in the following monthly social security contributions:
EUR 1,500.00 × 27.8% = EUR 417.00.
The taxable income is determined after deducting the social security contributions:
EUR 1,500.00 − EUR 417.00 = EUR 1,083.00.
The personal income tax amounts to 10% of the taxable income:
EUR 1,083.00 × 10% = EUR 108.30.
The monthly net income after deducting the social security contributions and the income tax is therefore:
EUR 2,000.00 − EUR 417.00 − EUR 108.30 = EUR 1,474.70.
Accordingly, with an average monthly gross income of EUR 2,000.00, the annual net income amounts to:
EUR 1,474.70 × 12 = EUR 17,696.40.
With an annual income of € 96.000 and compulsory social security contributions excluding the „General Sickness and Maternity Fund“
The average monthly income in this example is EUR 8,000.00.
Self-employed individuals are entitled to 25% statutory deductible expenses. Consequently, only 75% of the gross income is subject to social security contributions and subsequently to income tax.
In this example, the social security assessment base is calculated as follows:
EUR 8,000.00 × 75% = EUR 6,000.00.
The total mandatory social security contribution rate is 27.8%. However, it should be noted that as of 1 August 2026, the maximum monthly social security assessment base in Bulgaria is EUR 2,300.00. Since the calculated assessment base exceeds this limit, social security contributions are payable only on the maximum assessment base.
EUR 2,300.00 × 27.8% = EUR 639.40.
The taxable income is determined after deducting the social security contributions:
EUR 6,000.00 − EUR 639.40 = EUR 5,360.60.
The personal income tax amounts to 10% of the taxable income:
EUR 5,360.60 × 10% = EUR 536.06.
The monthly net income after deducting the social security contributions and the income tax is therefore:
EUR 8,000.00 − EUR 639.40 − EUR 536.06 = EUR 6,824.54.
Accordingly, with an average monthly gross income of EUR 8,000.00, the annual net income amounts to:
EUR 6,824.54 × 12 = EUR 81,894.48.
Self-employed persons are insured during the year on a selected monthly insurance income, which cannot be lower than the minimum insurance income, which from 01.08.2026 is 620.20 euros. After the end of the year, the final amount of the insurance income is determined based on the actually received income and the data declared in the annual tax return. If a higher final insurance income is established than the advance income on which the insurance contributions were paid, the person should pay the due insurance contributions on the difference. Income tax is determined in accordance with the rules of the Personal Income Tax Act.