The Virtual Assistant (VA) profession has seen explosive growth over the last few years and continues to be one of the most desired remote professions in 2026. As a VA, you provide administrative, technical, marketing, or creative services to various businesses around the world, working entirely from the comfort of your home in Bulgaria.
The freedom to choose your clients, your working hours, and your pricing is unmatched. But along with this freedom comes the responsibility for your own accounting. Unlike a classic employment contract, where the employer deducts and pays your taxes, as an independent contractor you bear full responsibility before the National Revenue Agency (NRA).
If you work through platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or find clients directly via LinkedIn, you generate international income. In this comprehensive article, we will examine step-by-step how to legalize your activity as a Virtual Assistant, what taxes you owe, whether you need a company, and why working with foreign clients hides specific VAT traps.
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1. The First Step: Do I need a company (LLC)?
This is the most common question asked by every beginner VA. The answer is: No, you do not need a company to start.
The Virtual Assistant profession is a classic example of providing services through personal labor and expertise. This gives you the right to register and operate completely legally as a private individual practicing a Freelance profession.
How do you become a freelancer? The procedure is extremely fast and cheap. You must submit an application to the Registry Agency (BULSTAT Register) within a 7-day period from the start of your activity (e.g., from signing the first contract or setting up an Upwork profile). You receive a unique BULSTAT number (usually matching your personal ID number/EGN), through which you will issue invoices and pay your social security. For the full steps on administrative registration, we recommend The essentials for registering and accounting as a freelancer.
2. Taxes and Social Security: How much exactly will I pay?
Choosing to work as a freelance professional has a massive tax advantage over registering an LLC, especially when your business expenses are minimal (just a laptop and internet).
Social Security in 2026 As a freelance professional, you are obliged to insure yourself. As of August 1, 2026, the minimum insurable threshold in Bulgaria was raised to 620.20 euros.
- On the first of every month, you owe social and health security contributions on this amount, which equal about 27.8% (or around 172 euros).
- This money must be paid to the NRA by the 25th of the following month, accompanied by the submission of Declaration 1.
Exception: If you already work full-time for a corporate company and are insured at the maximum threshold (2,300 euros), you owe absolutely no additional social security for your activity as a Virtual Assistant.
Income Tax (10% Flat Tax) The Personal Income Tax Act grants individuals with freelance professions the right to use 25% statutory recognized expenses. This is the biggest bonus of this legal form.
Here is how the math works:
- You earned 10,000 euros during the year as a VA.
- The state automatically assumes you incurred 2,500 euros in expenses for your activity (without you needing to keep receipts for internet, electricity, or coffees).
- Your tax base becomes 7,500 euros.
- From these 7,500 euros, you also deduct the social security paid during the year.
- You pay a 10% tax on the remainder.
In reality, your tax burden drops below 7.5% of the gross revenue, making Bulgaria one of the best destinations for digital nomads and freelancers in Europe.
3. Working with Foreign Clients: The Big VAT Trap (Art. 97a)
As a Virtual Assistant, you will most likely work with clients from the US, UK, Germany, or other developed markets. There is nothing wrong with this, but it entails a serious administrative commitment that 90% of beginner freelancers miss.
According to the VAT Act, when a Bulgarian entity (even a freelance private individual) provides services electronically to a legal entity (company) established in another EU country or in a third country (outside the EU), you are obliged to register for VAT (Art. 97a) BEFORE you issue your first invoice or receive your first income.
This rule applies with equal force if you receive services from abroad – for example, if you pay fees to the Upwork or Fiverr platforms (which are based in the US or Israel), or if you buy ads on Facebook or Google.
What does this registration mean? This special VAT registration does not make you a classic VAT company for the Bulgarian market. You DO NOT charge 20% VAT on your invoices to clients in the US or Germany (reverse charge applies).
However, you are obliged to file VAT returns (often zero) and VIES declarations with the NRA every month to report what amounts you received from or sent abroad. Missing the 7-day deadline for registration before starting activity brings fines of over 250 euros.
4. How to issue invoices to international clients?
Invoicing is your primary tool for legalizing revenue. When you are a freelancer in Bulgaria, you have full right to issue invoices to foreign clients using your BULSTAT.
A valid international invoice must contain:
- Your name, address, and BULSTAT number (along with the BG prefix, if registered under Art. 97a).
- The client’s details (company name, address, and their VAT number, if in the EU).
- Description of the service (e.g., “Virtual Assistant Services for June 2026”).
- The amount (can be in euros, dollars, or pounds).
- Grounds for not charging VAT. (Most often “Reverse charge / Article 44 of the VAT Directive” is written if the client is in the EU, or “Outside the scope of EU VAT” if in the US).
For more details on invoicing services in the US and Europe, see How to Invoice Foreign Clients as an IT Freelancer in Bulgaria (the rules for VAs are identical). Also, read How to Invoice Foreign Clients as a Consultant in Bulgaria.
5. Do I need a cash register?
One of the best pieces of news for Virtual Assistants is that by law you do not need a cash register (fiscal device).
The reason is that all your payments are made entirely cashless – via international bank transfer, credit cards, PayPal, Payoneer, or Revolut Business. The NRA’s Ordinance N-18 requires cash receipts only for payments in cash or equivalent methods. Because VA services are digital and paid via bank, you are completely exempt from this obligation. Further reassurance on this topic can be found in Cash register for freelancers 2026 | Do you need one?.
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6. Working through platforms: Upwork and Fiverr
If you agreed on a project for 1,000 euros, Upwork will withhold its commission (e.g., 100 euros) and transfer 900 euros to your bank account. Before the state, however, you cannot report a revenue of 900 euros. The law requires you to report your full gross revenue of 1,000 euros (and pay tax on it). The 100 euro fee that Upwork withheld is your business expense for an “intermediary service”. It is exactly this fee to Upwork that requires you to have a VAT registration under Art. 97a, because you are actually receiving a service from a foreign entity.
Conclusion
The Virtual Assistant profession offers incredible freedom and unlimited growth potential. The Bulgarian tax system, through the “Freelance Profession” tool and statutory recognized expenses, creates a highly favorable environment for this type of remote work.
Administrative burdens should not scare you. Register in BULSTAT, get a VAT number under Art. 97a (so you can work smoothly with Upwork and international clients), hire an accountant to file your monthly declarations, and focus on what you do best – helping businesses grow while you grow with them.
