--- title: "Fiscal Receipt in Bulgaria: What It Must Show | FreeMe.bg" canonical: "https://freeme.bg/en/blog/fiscal-receipt" language: en date: 2026-03-20 --- Accounting documents # Fiscal receipts in Bulgaria: what they are and when they are not enough A customer pays cash or by card and expects a receipt. As the seller you need to know what must be printed on it, and as a buyer, when that receipt alone is fine and when you need a proper invoice instead. [← Blog](https://freeme.bg/en/blog) · 20 March 2026 **In short** A fiscal receipt is required for cash or in-person card payments, regardless of the amount. On its own it is usually not enough to book a company expense and almost never lets you deduct VAT: for that you need an invoice issued to your company with its EIK. Ask for it when you pay. ## What a fiscal receipt is and what it must contain A fiscal receipt, called kasova belezhka or fiskalen bon in Bulgarian, is printed automatically by a fiscal device registered with the NRA (National Revenue Agency, Bulgaria's tax authority) at the moment of every sale. It is a primary accounting document, like an invoice, but with simpler content and no buyer details by default. - A unique fiscal device ID and a sequential receipt number for every sale. - The date and time of the sale. - The seller's name and EIK (the Bulgarian company registration number), plus the address of the site where the receipt was issued. - A description of the item or service, quantity, unit price, and total amount. - The VAT rate applied and the tax amount, if the seller is VAT registered. - The payment method: cash, card, or another instrument. The exact content requirements sit in Ordinance N-18 issued by the Ministry of Finance. Unlike an invoice, a fiscal receipt carries no buyer information unless the customer specifically asks for it to be added. ## When a business must issue a fiscal receipt The obligation to issue a fiscal receipt depends entirely on how the customer pays, not on the legal form of the business or its turnover. - Cash payment on the spot requires a receipt, regardless of the amount. - Card payment through a POS terminal at a physical location also requires a receipt, even for contactless payments. - Any other on-the-spot payment instrument that is not a bank transfer falls under the same rule. - The only exception is a payment made entirely by bank transfer, for example a client paying an invoice by wire. No fiscal receipt is issued for that sale. The receipt can be a paper document or an electronic one with a QR code, when the sale happens without the customer present, for instance a card entered online in a webshop. Either way, the content requirements are the same, only the format differs. Which fiscal device or software is needed to issue it is a separate question, the obligation to issue the document itself applies equally. ## The receipt as proof for the customer For the customer, the fiscal receipt is the main proof that a purchase happened, even if they never ask for it. The seller must issue it automatically for every sale that requires one. - The receipt serves as proof for a complaint, a return, or a warranty repair under Bulgaria's consumer protection rules. - The customer is required to keep it until leaving the premises, in case an NRA inspector asks to see it. - For an ordinary personal purchase, that is usually the end of the story: the receipt is enough for anything a private individual might need it for later. The situation changes when the buyer is a company or a freelancer who wants to book the purchase as a business expense. ## When the receipt is enough and when you need an invoice: expenses and VAT This is where many small-business owners get it wrong. A fiscal receipt proves the payment happened, but on its own it is usually not enough to book the purchase as a company expense, and it almost never lets you deduct VAT. - To claim input VAT credit, the VAT Act requires a proper invoice issued to your company, showing its EIK. A bare fiscal receipt without an accompanying invoice generally does not give you that right. - Narrow exceptions exist, for example certain fuel purchases where the receipt itself carries additional buyer details. These are specific edge cases, better confirmed with an accountant than assumed by default. - For corporate income tax purposes, an invoice issued to the company is the safer route to get the cost recognized as a deductible expense. A bare receipt for a larger amount is often challenged in a tax audit as insufficient documentary evidence. - A seller is required to issue an invoice on request at the time of the sale, referencing the fiscal receipt number already printed. The practical rule: for small personal-style purchases, the receipt is fine. For anything you want to book as a company expense, and especially if you want the VAT back, ask for an invoice on the spot, before you leave. ## Keeping receipts as expense evidence Even once you have an invoice, it is worth keeping the matching fiscal receipt with it, especially to document details like the payment method. - Store the receipt and the invoice together, on paper or scanned, and log them in your expense records right away, not at the end of the month. - Primary accounting documents, including expense records, must generally be kept for several years under Bulgaria's Accountancy Act, long enough to cover a possible tax audit. The exact period depends on the document type, so when in doubt keep it longer rather than shorter. - A photo or scan is a good backup, but keep the original too in case an auditor asks to see it. - Ask for the invoice right when you pay. Once you have left the premises, getting one issued retroactively for a completed sale is harder and not always possible. None of this needs an accounting background, just the habit of asking one question at the register: "Can I get an invoice, please." ## The receipt is just the first step in documenting an expense A fiscal receipt is a primary document, but it rarely stands alone: an invoice usually needs to sit behind it before you can recognize the expense with the NRA and reclaim the VAT on it. Useful next reads: [Which expenses ЗКПО recognizes and how to document them](https://freeme.bg/en/expenses) [How to issue a proper invoice and what it must contain](https://freeme.bg/en/invoicing) [How VAT and tax filing will work with FreeMe.bg](https://freeme.bg/en/vat-filings) [Cash registers in Bulgaria: when you actually need one](https://freeme.bg/en/blog/cash-register-supto-bulgaria) FreeMe.bg keeps your company's invoices and expenses in one place, including those small receipts that tend to get lost at the bottom of a drawer. Log in with your Google account and get your books in order without spreadsheets. ## Stop letting receipts pile up in a drawer Log in with your Google account and keep your company's invoices and expenses organized in one place with FreeMe.bg. [Get started](https://app.freeme.bg/)