Bulgaria's minimum social insurance thresholds, the income floors on which contributions must be calculated whatever the payslip says, are set to rise across the board from 1 August, with increases of 12% to 70% depending on sector and role. The changes arrive via the State Social Insurance's draft budget, reported by Novinite, and the steepest rises are aimed squarely at one group: managers.
Under the proposal, anyone in a management role will have contributions calculated on a base of at least 936 euros a month, with several industries set markedly higher.
The New Floors, Sector by Sector
For management positions, the draft sets these minimum insurance bases:
- Most sectors: 936 euros
- Hotels and restaurants: 1,100 euros
- Wholesale and retail trade: 1,129 euros
- Meat and fish processing: around 1,300 euros
- Financial and insurance activities: 1,381 euros
- Coke and refined petroleum production: 1,532 euros
The other occupational categories move as well. Specialists in economic activities will be insured on at least 826 euros, specialists and technicians on 771 euros, and administrative and support staff on 716 euros. Skilled workers, machine operators, assemblers and related trades get a new floor of 661 euros.
Why Managers Are the Target
The Ministry of Social Affairs says these parameters had sat unchanged for more than a decade, and that the old floors let many people in high-responsibility roles declare income at or near the minimum wage, currently 620 euros. The sharpest rise lands on managerial positions, the ministry explains, because of widespread underreporting and the need to bring declared contributions closer to what people actually earn.
Anyone who has sat in a Bulgarian accountant's office and watched a company director's official salary land at exactly the legal minimum will recognise the practice the ministry has in mind. The gap between what some directors declare and what they drive has been a fixture of the system for years; this is the budget draft that finally reprices it.
The threshold rises travel together with the year's pension increases: Novinite reported in May that social security thresholds and pension payments would both move from August, and in June that the average pension is set to reach 543 euros in 2026.
Still a Draft, and Not Everyone Has Signed Up
One caution the headline numbers deserve: this is a draft budget, not an adopted one. BTA reported on 29 June that the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation failed to reach unanimity on the draft public social insurance and health insurance budgets, and that the Bulgarian Industrial Association has set out conditions for supporting the 2026 budget package. The figures above are what the ministry has put on the table; they become final only when the budget passes.
What This Means for British Expats
If you are employed in Bulgaria, the floors only bite where declared pay sits below them: contributions for your role's category must be calculated on at least the new base, whatever the contract says. If your declared salary is already above the relevant threshold, the change passes you by.
The bigger story is for the many Brits who run their own company here. If you operate an EOOD or OOD and pay yourself as its manager, the minimum insurance base for that role is the number your accountant plugs in every month, and from 1 August it is set to be at least 936 euros, or 1,100 euros if your business is a guesthouse, restaurant or bar. That means higher monthly social contributions even if you pay yourself modestly. The mechanics of who pays what are covered in our running a business in Bulgaria guide, and the employee-side picture is in the working in Bulgaria guide.
The final numbers land when the budget does. Given the tripartite disagreement BTA reported, it is worth checking the adopted figures before your accountant files the first August declarations.