Which are the legal requirements for these tax documents in Bulgaria?
Any taxable person, i.e. any person who carries out an economic activity, whatever the purpose and results of that activity, is obligated document the supply of goods or services or the receipt of an advance payment with an invoice or, for the cases listed in the legislation, with a memorandum under article 117 of the VAT act.
The invoice and the notes to it (credit note and debit note) and the memorandum under art. 117 of the VAT act are tax documents and the requirements towards those are strictly and in details regulated in the VAT Act, the Regulations on the implementation of the VAT Act. In addition, these documents are also primary accounting documents and in their capacity of such they are under the regulations of the Accountancy Act.
What is the term to issue an invoice? Am I obliged to issue an invoice in case that I am not a person, registered under the VAT Act?
Independently of the presence or absence of registration under the VAT Act, all taxable persons are obliged to issue invoices, except in the cases of art. 133, par. 3 of the VAT Act, when the issue of an invoice is not mandatory. In those cases it shall be issued upon the request of the supplier or the recipient and either party is obliged to cooperate to the other for the issuing. An invoice shall not be issued in the cases of public auction according to the procedure established by the Tax and Social-Insurance Procedure Code or by the Code of Civil Procedure and upon a sale according to the procedure established by the Registered Pledges Act or by Article 60 of the Credit Institutions Act.
The persons, who are not registered under the VAT Act or are registered in pursuance of art. 99 and art. 100, par. 2 ( for intra – European Union acquisition), do not have the right to state the tax in the invoices issued.
The invoice shall be issued not later that 5 days after the date of the occurrence of the chargeable event of the supply or the receipt of the advance payment at least in duplicate – one copy for the supplier and one for the recipient. In the cases of intra – European Union supply (including in the cases of advance payment) and invoice must be issued not later than 15th day of the month following the month of occurrence of the chargeable event.
Which are the mandatory requisites listed in the legal framework in Bulgaria?
Pursuant to art. 114, par. 1 of the VAT Act the invoice mandatory states:
1. title of document;
2. sequential ten-digits number, containing only Arabic numerals, based on one or more series depending on the reporting needs of the taxable person, which identifies uniquely the invoice;
3. date of issue;
4. name and address of the supplier;
5. identification number for the purpose of the VAT of the supplier respectively, the number referred to in
6. name and address of the recipient of the supply;
7. identification number for the purpose of the VAT of the recipient, respectively the number referred to in
8. quantity and type of the goods, type of the service;
9. date on which the chargeable event for the supply occurred, or date on which the payment was received;
10. unit price net of the tax and the taxable amount of the supply, as well as any trade discounts and rebates allowed, unless included in the unit price;
11. rate of the tax and, when the rate is zero, the grounds for application of the said rate, as well as the grounds for not charging tax;
12. amount of tax;
13. amount payable, if other than the sum of the taxable amount and of the tax;
14. the circumstances which define the goods as a new means of transport: applicable to an intra – European Union supply of new means of transport.
Art. 78 and art. 79 of the Regulations on the implementation of the VAT Act contain additional important requirements and details regarding the numbers of the documents, the storage of the cancelled documents and the issuing of invoices and notes. Art. 78 requires the invoices to contain permanently recorded at printing:
- Sequential ten-digits number. The numbers of the documents have to be increasing without doubling, no omissions are allowed and their sequence is not dependable on or disturbed by the expiry of the year. Definition of different number ranges is allowed, which shall used gradually during the next periods.
- inscription “original” of the first copy;
- name, identification number of the person, who will issue them;
- Identification number of VAT under Art. 94, para 2 of the law.
According to art. 5, par. 1 of the Accounting act, the invoices and the notes in their capacity of primary accounting documents shall be issued:
- in Bulgarian
- with Arabic numerals
- in BGN (Bulgarian Leva)
The law allows, in the cases, when a deal has been concluded in foreign currency and with foreign counterpart, the documents to be issued in the relative language. We should, however, keep in mind the regulation of art. 114, par. 3 of the VAT Act. It states that the amounts may be written in any currency, provided that the taxable amount and the amount of the tax are stated in Bulgarian leva. The value shall be determined on the basis of the rate of the Bulgarian National Bank for the date on which the tax became chargeable.
Debit note and Credit note
The debit note and the credit note are tax documents, used to document the change of the taxable amount of a supply the rescission of a supply. In case of such change the supplier is obliged to issue the relevant note to the invoice:
- a debit note – when the taxable amount has increased
or
- a credit note – when the taxable amount has decreased or upon rescission of supplies.
Just like the invoices, the notes have to be issued in at least two copies and not later than 5 days after the change in the taxable amount has occurred or the deal has been rescinded.
The debit note and the credit note contain the same requisites, which the invoice does. In addition, in the notes it is mandatory to state the number and date of the invoice to which the note is issued as well as the grounds for issuing of the note.
