VAT Registration in Bulgaria

[estragon]

Hey everyone,

I come with a specific query to UpWork regarding taxation. Right, so I have been told to register for VAT in Bulgaria. This is a non-negotiable option the state's legislation demands from me. The process seems to be straightforward on my end.

However, moving forth, I will have to provide a VAT number in my monthly declarations of income (a rough translation). Now, I suppose the tax office will look into my bank account as listed per my registration and request a VAT number of the company that's paying, i.e. UpWork? What VAT information should I provide to the tax authority every month? Should I seek individual clients on UpWork and ask them for their company's registration numbers if they are EU-based and require VAT? I could be talking complete rubbish right now, but I am trying to understand.

Any clarification on this matter will be of great help.

Thanks!

[BojanS]

Hi Stoyan,

If the client is located in a VAT country, they'll be asked to add their address and VAT number to their Upwork account, that information will then display on the invoice. If the client isn't located in the VAT country, adding the address is optional. You can communicate with the client directly and ask them for the information you need in order to create invoices compliant in your country. Unfortunately, we won't be able to provide legal advice about it. For more information, please see this announcement post. 

[estragon]

Hey Bojan,

This actually begins to chart a course towards a possible solution. I've gone through my invoices and saw that some companies do provide their VAT ID whereas others lack this information. Even then, my question is slightly more specific, albeit your solution - i.e. asking the client for the information directly is brilliant and will definitely work!

In my bank statement, though, the payment provider will always appear as UpWork. My question had to do more with how to prove to the tax office that all of these payments have been recieved as a result of work done here on UpWork.

Now, my solution would be - gather all invoices, ask clients for either VAT (if missing) or their local registration number (in a country outside the EU) for the purposes of tracking my yearly income in given legislations (and whether I must pay taxes there if I surpass a given threshold) and submit all of the information to the tax office.

I will go to the tax office as well and consult the experts during visiting hours.

I hope the scenario I outlined just now makes sense. If you can think of anything specific with regards to the payment issuer always appearing to be UpWork, I'd be immensely thankful. In the meanwhile, I will get hold of my accountant and visit the consultants.

Kindly,

Stoyan