Merchants sharply increase their reported turnover the moment NRA inspectors enter the premises. The data are from the NRA Summer Control Campaign on the Black Sea Coast, during which over 3,400 inspections were carried out and more than 1,040 violations were identified. About what are the most common violations, how the NRA monitors turnover concealment and what is ahead with price control after the end of dual price display… Anna Mitova, Director of the Communications Directorate at the NRA, told FACTS.
- Ms. Mitova, almost every third inspected establishment The Black Sea coast is found to have a violation. Does this mean that the real turnover in the tourism sector is still being hidden on a large scale and how much money is the state losing from this?
- I would not draw such categorical conclusions. The fact that we detect violations in some of the inspections is a signal of problems with low fiscal discipline, but it does not mean that the entire turnover of the relevant facility or sector is being hidden. At the moment, we most often detect violations related to the failure to issue a fiscal receipt and discrepancies between the sales reported on the cash register and the cash in the cash register. During inspections on the Black Sea coast, we also use the “mystery shopper“ method, as well as explicit observations of sales and comparison with previous periods.
How exactly the potentially unreported revenues are and what the fiscal effect is can be established after specific audit and control actions against the incorrect traders. Therefore, I would not indicate a specific amount for the “state losses”, if it is not calculated on the basis of verified data. This is the time to say that after a thorough risk analysis, monitoring of the behavior of traders and better targeting, as well as optimizing the work and expenses of the revenue agency for the Summer Control Campaign, a 5% increase in the ratio of violations to inspections carried out compared to 2025 is reported. That is, we managed to increase efficiency, with fewer employees carrying out more inspections and detecting more violations.
- What is the most common trick you are currently catching at sea - failure to issue a cash receipt, concealing turnover, working with unreported employees or something else?
- Most often, we detect failure to issue a fiscal receipt and a discrepancy between the amounts marked on the cash register and the actual cash in the cash register, as well as the lack of a fiscal device. This season, we also detected several traders who use non-fiscal printers and thus avoid reporting turnover to the NRA. Others issue notes that are not are fiscal, i.e. some kind of official receipt, not a cash receipt.
With regard to seasonal workers, we also carry out checks for the presence of employment contracts and whether the insurance is on the actual remuneration. Our goal is, together with the General Labor Inspectorate, to counteract the receipt of “salary in an envelope“. This risk of non-compliance with tax and social security legislation causes serious damage to the budget, and also to the workers themselves, who agree to conclude contracts for 4 hours, but in fact work 8 or more hours, receive an official minimum wage, and others take it in hand.
- You mentioned that you use “mystery shopper“ during inspections. How serious is the difference between the turnover that traders declare and the real turnover that you establish during control purchases?
- “Mystery shopper“ is only one of the tools that use. During the control purchase, we check whether the sale has been reported correctly, but this alone does not allow us to calculate the entire hidden turnover of a given trader. Therefore, we combine control purchases with explicit observations, analysis of data from fiscal devices and comparison of reported turnover with previous periods.
For the period June 29 - August 31, over 3,400 inspections were carried out within the summer control campaign on the Black Sea coast, with more than 1,040 violations identified. Of these, the most common are: failure to issue a fiscal receipt - 245, lack of mandatory details in the cash receipt - 287, difference in cash availability and marked amounts in the cash register - 328, and in 44 facilities a fiscal device was missing.
During the summer control campaign, the fiscal inspectors of the revenue agency carried out 300 observations of commercial facilities. In one of During the observations, the NRA inspectors established an increase in turnover from zero to 1,500 euros. Before the start of the inspection at the commercial establishment, the revenues marked on the fiscal device were zero euros. After identification and the clear presence of NRA employees at the establishment, by the end of the working day it was established that the turnover exceeded 1,500 euros.
It is important to clarify here that the monitoring did not begin at the beginning of the working day, but hours later. This is not the only site we identified. Within two weeks alone, in two retail outlets in cities in Northeastern Bulgaria, there were similar cases in which turnover after monitoring jumped hundreds of times. In one outlet, the increase in turnover was from 100 to 400 times, and in the other between 170 and 300 times. These are striking violations and are isolated. In general, during such observations in different retail outlets, increased turnovers of 50 to 300 percent were reported.
- After August 9, dual price labeling ended. What will the NRA monitor from now on with retailers and is there a risk that some of them will use the end of dual labeling as an excuse for new price increases?
- The end of dual labeling does not mean the end of price control. The dual labeling was valid from August 8, 2025 to August 8, 2026, but the rules against economically unjustified price increases are a separate issue. With amendments to the Consumer Protection Act and the Competition Protection Act, the Consumer Protection Commission and the Competition Commission have the authority to monitor unjustified price increases after August 8.
- The National Revenue Agency and the Consumer Protection Commission reported thousands of inspections for unjustified price increases. Where do you think the biggest problem was - in food, services, tourism, medical services or in another sector?
- Yes. 37,955 inspections were carried out. Traders in all major economic sectors were inspected - food and non-food stores, gas stations, parking lots, car washes, catering establishments, stock exchanges and markets. There are violations in all sectors, perhaps with a slight predominance in the services sector - parking lots, annual technical inspections, beauty industry, etc.
- Have there already been cases where the NRA has found that a trader has used the introduction of the euro itself as a justification for an artificial increase in prices?
- The euro is not an automatic reason for a price increase. If the price has increased, there must be an economic reason that can be proven with documents. During inspections, we required various documents through which to establish whether an increase is economically justified or not. The introduction of the euro itself is not a valid reason for a good or service to become more expensive.
The law is clear - prices cannot be increased when this is not justified by objective economic factors. The NRA monitored the movement of the goods and pricing along the chain to establish whether there is a real economic reason for the increase or not.
However, it is important to say that not every increase is economically unjustified. There are serious factors that have influenced and continue to influence the entire pricing chain. We must not forget that in a market economy, demand determines supply and the consumer determines the market.
- Will the NRA continue to check prices after the one-year period of dual labeling expires, or will this battle remain entirely in the hands of the CPC?
- Price control does not end with the expiration of the dual labeling period. The NRA will assist its colleagues from the CPC and the CPC, who have the authority after August 8 to carry out checks for unjustified price increases, with essential goods remaining a priority.
- Has there already been a change in business behavior since the introduction of the euro – more or less concealment of turnover, cash payments and violations in cash receipts?
- During the inspections both under the Euro Adoption Act and for compliance with tax and social security legislation, we have indeed found numerous violations, but a large part of the business correctly fulfills its obligations. Therefore, no definitive conclusions can be drawn about a lasting change in business behavior.
What we can say categorically is that the NRA continues to monitor sales reporting very carefully, we will continue with control actions and we will be uncompromising towards attempts to damage the tax authorities and the honest Bulgarian taxpayer. We remain a partner of honest business and will support its activities with all the means given to us by law.
- How many of the violations identified under the Euro Adoption Act have already ended with real sanctions and what is the total amount of fines collected? According to the latest publicly presented data, this amounts to nearly 2 million euros in fines?
- The National Revenue Agency and the Civil Procedure Code have drawn up 2,755 acts establishing administrative violations and have issued 1,598 penal decrees worth a total of 3,261,657 euros.
- Now that the euro is a fact and the period of dual designation is over, do you expect a new wave of appreciation in the fall and does the National Revenue Agency have a mechanism to establish whether such an increase is actually justified or speculative?
- We have no reason to believe that a price increase is imminent. As I indicated in a previous answer, the NRA requires documents on the origin and movement of goods and compares prices in different periods. Objective economic factors can be, for example, changes in labor costs, social security thresholds, inflation, fuel prices and other factors that the trader cannot influence.
Ultimately, we cannot influence pricing, since we are in a market economy. Customers also play a major role here. Our message to businesses is clear - the euro cannot be an excuse for arbitrary price increases. We call on them to respect their customers. We appeal to consumers to compare prices, request their receipts and file reports in case of suspected violations.