Owner social contributions: how a self-insured person pays in Bulgaria

Who has to self-insure in Bulgaria

If you own and personally run your EOOD (Bulgaria's single-member limited-liability company) without a formal employment contract, or you work as a freelancer, consultant, lawyer, or registered farmer, you almost certainly have to insure yourself as what Bulgarian law calls a self-insured person, СОЛ for short (самоосигуряващо се лице). The term comes from the Social Insurance Code (Кодекс за социално осигуряване, KSO) and means you pay your own social contributions instead of an employer paying them for you. This is a different topic from hiring staff: this article covers only how the owner insures themselves, not payroll for employees.

• An EOOD or OOD owner or manager who personally works in the company without an employment contract must self-insure.
• Sole traders (ET, Bulgaria's version of a registered sole proprietorship) always self-insure, regardless of other income.
• Freelancers under civil contracts (lawyers, architects, consultants, IT contractors) and registered farmers fall under the same rules.
• You register with NAP, Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency, within 7 days of starting the activity.

Already holding a Bulgarian employment contract elsewhere at or above minimum wage does not automatically exempt you from self-insuring if you also run your own company, though it can change which contributions are mandatory. Check your specific case with an accountant.

Minimum and maximum insurable income for 2026, in euro

"Insurable income" is the base you pick, on which contributions are calculated every month. It does not have to match your company's actual profit, you choose it yourself within set limits. Since 1 January 2026, following Bulgaria's adoption of the euro, every social-security figure is quoted in euro rather than lev.

• The minimum monthly insurable income for self-insured persons in 2026 is 550.66 EUR.
• The maximum monthly insurable income for 2026 is 2,111.64 EUR.
• You choose any figure between those two limits, declare it at registration, and can raise it later.
• A higher chosen income means a bigger monthly contribution now, but also a larger future pension, sick-pay, or maternity/paternity payout.

Most new EOOD owners start at the minimum to preserve cash while the business finds its footing. Raising it later, once revenue allows, is straightforward.

The rate: 27.8% or 31.3%, and what OZM means

Contributions on your chosen insurable income run at one of two rates: 27.8% without the General Sickness and Maternity fund (ОЗМ, Общо заболяване и майчинство), or 31.3% with it.

• 14.8% goes to the state Pension Fund (part of ДОО, the state social insurance system).
• 5% goes to a universal pension fund, Bulgaria's mandatory "second pillar" private pension for anyone born after 1959.
• 8% is the health insurance contribution (see the next section).
• Total: 27.8% without OZM.

OZM adds a further 3.5% and is entirely optional for self-insured persons. Pay it, and you're entitled to state sick-pay and maternity or paternity compensation, the same as an employee on a labor contract. Skip it, and you save that money every month, but if you get sick or have a baby, NSSI (Национален осигурителен институт, Bulgaria's National Social Security Institute) pays you nothing. The choice is made at registration and holds for the calendar year. Contributions and advance personal income tax are both due by the 25th of the following month.

The 8% health insurance line: why it isn't optional

The 8% health contribution buried inside those percentages isn't just another line item. It determines whether you're entitled to care under NHIF (Национална здравноосигурителна каса, the National Health Insurance Fund), same as any other insured Bulgarian resident.

• Miss health contributions for more than three months within the trailing 36, and your NHIF status drops to "interrupted rights."
• Restoring it means paying back everything owed for the interrupted period, plus interest, before your rights are reinstated.
• You can check your health-insurance status online through the NRA portal, using a PIC (personal identification code) or an e-signature.
• Health coverage in Bulgaria is tied to contributions, not residency or citizenship. That matters for foreign owners who assume a private policy is enough, staying current here is what keeps state coverage active too.

In other words, even if you decide to skip the OZM fund, the mandatory 8% health share stays. Letting that one slip is never a good idea.

The year-end reconciliation under Article 50 of the Income Tax Act

Early each following year comes the reconciliation, изравняване, the moment you compare what you paid in advance during the year against the actual result of your activity.

• The annual tax return under Article 50 of the Personal Income Tax Act (ЗДДФЛ) is due by 30 April of the year following the reporting year.
• The same deadline covers Declaration Form 6 for social contributions due, and any additional amounts owed are settled at the same time.
• If you're a sole trader, freelancer, or farmer and your actual net taxable income for the year turns out higher than the average monthly insurable income you paid contributions on, you owe extra contributions on the difference, capped at the 2,111.64 EUR ceiling.
• EOOD owner-managers who insure only on a chosen base, with no separate freelance or trading activity, typically don't face this extra pension reconciliation, but confirm your specific case with your accountant.
• A flat 10% personal income tax on profit is also due by the same date.

The reconciliation is why "I'll just pick a low insurable income and leave it there" isn't a complete strategy if your real income grows during the year. NAP sees it in the annual return.

How FreeMe.bg helps you keep track of it

Owner contributions are one of the few decisions in a small company that's genuinely yours, not your accountant's: you choose the insurable income, you decide whether to pay into OZM. Everything around it, tracking expenses, judging when you need outside expertise, choosing between dividend and salary, is easier with a bit of structure behind it.

Useful next reads:

How FreeMe.bg tracks your company's expenses
When you actually need an accountant or expert
Dividend vs salary: which one actually pays you more

FreeMe.bg tracks your expenses in one place and shows you clearly what's left for you, before you decide whether to take it as a dividend or a salary. The social insurance of one working owner is included in every plan. Log in with your Google account and see what your own cash flow actually looks like.