The process

We have summarised briefly the purchasing process below:

• Reserve a property.
• Determine whether the sale is with land.
  • If the sale is with land a company needs to be incorporated to hold the land.
  • If sale is without land no company is needed.
• Your receive an initial contract of sale (similar to 'Sold subject to contract' in the UK).
• If already built, do the standard checks on the property using a reputable Bulgarian solicitor.
• Sign the Notary Act (Contract of purchase) in front of a Bulgarian Notary either in Bulgaria or at the Bulgarian embassy in London.

Taxation

The relevant taxes that investors purchasing property in Bulgaria will be liable for will vary from person to person due to a number of factors including your tax domicile, the extent of your business activities in Bulgaria, the nature of the property transaction and more.
While we are not qualified to provide tax advice there are some good sources of information available on the Internet with respect to Bulgarian Tax law which are listed below:

Property ownership in Bulgaria

Under the Bulgarian act on Foreign Ownership, foreigners are not allowed to own land but may own buildings. Foreigners can however own land by setting up a Bulgarian company to hold the property for them.

The situation is summarised below:

• No land ownership for foreigners in Bulgaria.
• Buildings can be owned by foreigners.
• Foreigners wishing to own land can do so through a company.
• Bulgarian company incorporation costs less than £600.
• Bulgaria’s ownership policy will be harmonised with the EU in the future.