The National Assembly rejected at first reading the increase in the threshold for VAT registration from 51,130 to 85,000 euros. With this action, the deputies refused to give hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs the opportunity to increase their employees' salaries, make a profit from their own free initiative and continue working without asking anything from the state. The rulers once again reached into the pockets of free Bulgarians to take money to increase the salaries of the state administration and maintain their corruption schemes. This is stated in their position from "Blue Bulgaria" and adds:
39 votes in favor. 6 votes against. 195 abstentions — 119 “abstained“ and 76 did not participate in the vote. Six members of parliament openly stood against small business, and one hundred and ninety-five refused to take a position on a problem that they themselves recognize as real.
"Blue Bulgaria" assesses what happened as yet another serious sign of neglect of the free market economy and small business as the
backbone of any prosperous society. The economic independence of citizens, guaranteed mainly through small business, is the foundation of democracy and independence. Therefore, we define the actions of the ruling party as a political position against freedom and democracy, whose sole purpose is to provide an even larger budget for left-wing policies - a bloated state administration, state-owned enterprises and wasteful social programs through which to buy political loyalty and feed its party clientele. For "Blue Bulgaria" This is a sign that the government is not just trying to turn the state into an enemy of small
producers, but is yet another attempt to crush and stifle the economic initiative of the free person and to tolerate the gray sector and
anti-market practices.
The rejection of the bill at first reading is a sign that the members of parliament refuse to discuss it at all and are practically stating that this topic does not exist for them.
The proposed 85,000 euros is not a Bulgarian whim — this is the ceiling that Directive (EU) 2020/285 allows member states. A threshold of practically the same amount was already in effect in Bulgarian law in the first three months of 2025, before it was repealed. Four regimes in three years. A state that changes the rules four times in three years is not managing the economy, but improvising on someone else's back.
We also reject the excuse that the effect on the budget should have been calculated first. When the state takes, the accounts are there to the tenth digit - 90.8 million euros from the maximum social security income, 50.9 million from the minimum social security thresholds, 53.3 million from the vignettes. When the measure eases, there are no calculations. This is not fiscal prudence, but selective arithmetic.
It is a deliberate lie that raising the threshold is a “giving“. The state gives nothing to the entrepreneur. It simply takes less than what he has produced, and this would lead not only to an increase in the entrepreneur's personal income, but also to an increase in quality, to stimulating competition, to higher productivity, and from here to more revenue in the budget and to an increase in the quality of life of all citizens.
This connection is being kept silent or deliberately hidden from Bulgarian citizens by most public spokesmen of the ruling party.
„Blue Bulgaria“ insists on:
• a threshold for mandatory VAT registration of 85,000 euros from January 1, 2027 — the maximum permitted by European law;
• a grace period when the threshold is exceeded — the obligation to register should arise from the end of the next month, and not immediately;
• a public estimate by the Ministry of Finance of the fiscal effect within 30 days and a roll call vote on all tax issues affecting small businesses. Every MP has the right to object. Bulgarian entrepreneurs have the right to know their name.
The rejected bill is not our proposal. Support for a good measure does not depend on who submitted it — and that is why we evaluate the vote as it is.
Small businesses do not have an “abstain“ button. It is not there when paying social security contributions on the 20th, it is not there when submitting the declaration, it is not there when checking with the National Revenue Agency. The state owes the entrepreneur one thing above all else — not to interfere with him. One hundred
ninety-five silent MPs decided that even this is too much. We will remind them of it.