Bulgaria Property Tax and Waste Fee: Dates, 5% Discount, Arrears

Everyone who owns a home or land in Bulgaria — living there or abroad — pays two yearly local charges to the municipality (община) where the property is: the property tax (данък върху недвижимите имоти) and the waste fee (такса за битови отпадъци, ТБО). Both are set by the Local Taxes and Fees Act (ЗМДТ) and collected by the municipality's local taxes department.

Property tax: who pays and how much

• The owner pays; where someone holds a right of use (вещно право на ползване), that person.
• The tax is a rate per mille of the property's tax valuation (данъчна оценка), set by each municipal council within the limits of the law.
• The owner's main residence (основно жилище) pays half; only one home can be declared as such.

When to pay

• The whole year by 30 April — 5% off;
• or two equal halves, by 30 June and 31 October.

The dates are in the law, so the tax is due on them whether or not a notice arrives. A property bought during the year pays by the same dates — or within two months of the purchase if they have passed. A buyer by sale or gift files no tax declaration: the notary informs the municipality. A new building or an inherited property needs one.

The waste fee

The owner pays the waste fee too. Its amount and dates are set each year by the municipal council — since 2026 the law bases it mainly on the quantity of waste — and the municipality must tell owners what is due and when. A home that will not be used during the whole year can be freed from the collection part of the fee by a declaration filed with the municipality in the year before: ask for its form and date.

If you do not pay

Unpaid local taxes and fees carry interest set by law, and the municipality collects them under the tax procedure code (ДОПК), through public enforcement agents (публични изпълнители) or a private bailiff. Before a sale the seller must pay the tax up to and including the month of the transfer.

Check before you pay

• The property, the year and the owner — and whether older years are added.
• Ask what is owed on the municipality's website or at its local taxes office, and pay to the account it gives — never through a link in a message.

A lawyer for property purchase checks that no local taxes are unpaid before you sign; one for property sale settles them before the notary deed.