VIES Declaration in Bulgaria

What is VIES?

Quick answer: VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) is the EU's cross-border VAT information network. Bulgarian businesses providing services to VAT-registered businesses in the EU must file a monthly VIES declaration by the 14th of the following month, reporting each EU client's VAT number and the total amount invoiced.

VIES enables tax authorities across the EU to cross-reference intra-community transactions. When you report a service to a German company, the German tax authority sees your declaration and matches it against the German company's purchase entry.

Who must file a VIES declaration?

All VAT-registered entities making:

B2B services to EU businesses (Art. 21(2))

Almost any service provided to an EU VAT-registered business falls here:

• IT development, SaaS, technical consulting
• Marketing, advertising, design
• Education, coaching, training
• Legal, accounting, translation services
• Creative and media services

Intra-community supplies of goods (Art. 7)

Sale and dispatch of goods from Bulgaria to a VAT-registered business in another EU member state, invoiced at 0% (zero-rate).

What goes in the VIES declaration?

For each EU client you report:

If you issued multiple invoices to the same client in a given month, aggregate the amounts into a single line per client.

Step-by-step: how to file

Step 1: Validate client VAT numbers

Before filing, verify each client's VAT number on the EU VIES validator. An invalid number means the client is not a taxable person in the EU — the transaction does not go into VIES.

Step 2: Prepare the VIES summary

Aggregate all EU B2B invoices for the month by client. If you use Firmify, the system automatically:

• Detects EU counterparties (Country ≠ BG + VAT number present)
• Calculates the total taxable base per counterparty
• Generates the VIES section in the export XML

Step 3: File on the NRA portal

The VIES declaration is submitted together with the monthly VAT return as Appendix 4. You can:

1. Upload an XML file — generated by Firmify or another accounting system
2. Enter manually — through the form in the NRA e-portal

Corrections and errors

Wrong VAT number

If you discover an error after filing:

1. Submit a corrective declaration (zero out the wrong line and add the correct one)
2. Do this before the deadline if at all possible

Missed transaction

If you forgot to include a client, file a corrective declaration for the relevant month via the NRA portal.

Client with invalid VAT number

If the client provided an invalid VAT number, the supply is not a cross-border EU service under Art. 21(2). Instead, it is a Bulgarian taxable supply at 20% VAT. You will need to correct the invoice.

VIES for Svobodna Profesiya (Art. 97a)

Individuals registered under Art. 97a file VIES in exactly the same way as companies. The process is simple when you only have one or two EU clients per month.

Example (Daniel, online teacher):

• 1 invoice for €600 to a Dutch educational platform (VAT: NL123456789B01)
• VIES: 1 line — NL, NL123456789B01, €600, S (services)
• VAT return: Box 18 = €600, everything else = 0

Total time in Firmify: ~15 minutes.

Penalties