According to the Local Taxes and Fees Act, any person who has acquired a new property, whether new or old construction, or whether a replacement, is required within two months of the performance of the formalities related to the deal before a notary and the registration of the transaction with the Registry Agency to file a tax declaration, levying an annual tax.

Such a tax declaration is filed not only upon the acquisition of a property, but also upon the establishment of right of use. In this case the user is the one who is required to file the declaration. The declaration is filed at the Local Taxes and Fees Department at the municipality where the property is located. In case of purchase of a building at the stage of rough construction, the owner should wait to obtain use permit and only then they must declare the property within two months from the date of the use permit. The administrative and penal provisions of the law provide for penalties if this deadline is not met. They range from BGN 10 to 400 for individuals at the discretion of the penal authority. In the same range are the fines in case the declaration does not specify or contains incorrect information resulting in determination of a lower tax or in tax exemption. The obligation for declaration of the property also applies to legal persons and in case of failure, the penalty for them ranges from BGN 100 to 1000.
In case of property inheritance, the deadline to declare is different, since it is pursuant to another provision of the law. In this case the tax declaration must be filed within 6 months. The same deadline is determined for the declarations of the inheritance tax. They are subject to the rule that the declaration filed within the set deadline by one of the heirs shall cover the obligations of the other heirs too. If the heirs, legatees, or their legal representative (for example, parents of a minor child who inherits his grandfather’s apartment) fail to file a declaration, the fine ranges from BGN 10 to 500.
This is the point to mention that tax declaration must be filed in case of changes in the property that could lead to changes in the amount of the tax. For example, luxury renovations, major rehabilitation or changes in the intended use of the property - from home to office, from primary housing (for which the owner should pay 50% of the tax under the law) to other housing, etc.
The property may also be declared by an authorized person. For each property a separate declaration is to be filed.
I. Necessary documents for the declaration of a real estate by individuals:
Declaration pursuant to Art. 14 of the Local Taxes and Fees Act (LTFA);
Document of ownership /copy/;
Use permit or certificate of commissioning /in the case of new construction/;
Certificate of Inheritance /in case of inheritance/;
Decision of the Territorial Expert Medical Commission /in case of primary housing/;
Power of Attorney /when the declaration is filed by an authorized person/.
II. Necessary documents for the declaration of a real estate by legal entities:
Declaration pursuant to Art. 17 of the LTFA /if the property is not residential/;
Declaration pursuant to Art. 14 of the LTFA;
Document of ownership /copy/;
Use permit or certificate of commissioning /in the case of new construction/;
Power of Attorney /when the declaration is filed by an authorized person/.