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I believe so, but I'm guessing that it's likely to be teeny-weeny.

@gwynj

hi is it legal my seller wants me to pay for their property directly into a UK bank account I thought it had to go into a Bulgarian account

@sryan4824

This is about property tax? Or are you referring back to your separate post/thread about your notary appointment and lost attorney? I am a bear with a small brain, so you will confuse me very quickly. :-)

Certainly, it's legal. There's no requirement that the payment goes to a Bulgarian bank account, or any bank account. (You might take a big envelope of euros to the Notary, and hand it over there.)

The Notary Act certifies that the buyer has paid the seller, and the seller has received the payment. But not how.

Commonly, there is a bank transfer to reflect the "declared" sale price in the Notary Act, with any difference handed over as cash ("black money") at the Notary.

However, while it's legal, paying to a foreign account, or paying to any account prior to the notary appointment, does give more opportunities for fraud and other bad financial behaviour. If you know and trust the seller, maybe OK.

The Notary Act (signed at the notary by both seller and buyer) is the transfer of ownership, and your proof of ownership (deed). If that's the only paperwork, I would prefer to pay all in cash at the notary, or possibly do an online transfer from my bank to the seller's bank. But the transfer would only be feasible if you both have Bulgarian bank accounts (and online banking), or you both have a UK ebank account (either both Wise, or both Revolut). These options are pretty much instant, but doing a regular international transfer to a UK account would not go through in time (and the seller would not sign to say he had been paid).

Typically, to facilitate advance payment (normally a 10% non-refundable deposit followed by the balance prior to notary appointment) you need some form of Promissory Contract signed by both buyer and seller, and notarized, so that there is some legal protection if the seller doesn't complete the sale.

If this purchase is a bit complicated, it might be safer to find another attorney, and reschedule the notary appointment.

Hi. I have fallen behind with my annual tax payments for my property in Bulgaria and my agent is not replying to my emails.

I think I am 3 or 4 years  behind.

Is there a way I can send payments  directly to the authorities.

Thanks.

Gary.

@garylongmuir

If you have the property number from the municipality (it should be on a property tax bill, or you could ask a Bulgarian friend or neighbour to obtain the number from the municipality for you) you should be able to arrange to pay the outstanding council tax obligation via epay.

For my area, the number to use in epay is a specific number for the property, followed by a full stop, followed by my Bulgarian company number. Once I knew the correct number, setting it up in epay and making payment myself rather than going through the agent I bought from became very easy.

The challenge if your agent is being unhelpful might be getting the number, but it should be doable, even if you need to pay a helper to get it from the municipality for you.

@garylongmuir yes, you can.  Do you have a BG bank account? The property tax due appears in the bank account and you can pay with one click.

    @sryan4824
This is about property tax? Or are you referring back to your separate post/thread about your notary appointment and lost attorney? I am a bear with a small brain, so you will confuse me very quickly. :-)
Certainly, it's legal. There's no requirement that the payment goes to a Bulgarian bank account, or any bank account. (You might take a big envelope of euros to the Notary, and hand it over there.)
The Notary Act certifies that the buyer has paid the seller, and the seller has received the payment. But not how.
Commonly, there is a bank transfer to reflect the "declared" sale price in the Notary Act, with any difference handed over as cash ("black money") at the Notary.
However, while it's legal, paying to a foreign account, or paying to any account prior to the notary appointment, does give more opportunities for fraud and other bad financial behaviour. If you know and trust the seller, maybe OK.
The Notary Act (signed at the notary by both seller and buyer) is the transfer of ownership, and your proof of ownership (deed). If that's the only paperwork, I would prefer to pay all in cash at the notary, or possibly do an online transfer from my bank to the seller's bank. But the transfer would only be feasible if you both have Bulgarian bank accounts (and online banking), or you both have a UK ebank account (either both Wise, or both Revolut). These options are pretty much instant, but doing a regular international transfer to a UK account would not go through in time (and the seller would not sign to say he had been paid).
Typically, to facilitate advance payment (normally a 10% non-refundable deposit followed by the balance prior to notary appointment) you need some form of Promissory Contract signed by both buyer and seller, and notarized, so that there is some legal protection if the seller doesn't complete the sale.
If this purchase is a bit complicated, it might be safer to find another attorney, and reschedule the notary appointment.
   

    -@gwynj

You can indeed take a "big envelope of euros" with you but if there's more than 10,000 leva in there then you're breaking the law. Property purchases below 10,000 leva IN TOTAL may be made in cash, anything above that MUST be made via bank transfer. You'd be hard pressed to find a notary these days who'd be prepared to break the law when he's not getting amply rewarded for it: the notary stands to lose his licence and be fined 50% of the amount in question, while the buyer and seller stand to be fined 25% apiece. Any under the table payment may also render the purchaser liable for CGT in the future, when he comes to sell the property....

@JimJ

I think this is a recent change.

My most recent purchase reflected this requirement, and therefore the notary was a 2 step process.

The first step is, as always, buyer and seller (or their representatives) meet at the notary to sign the Notary Act for transfer of the property. This was exactly as I've done it before... except that I had not paid the seller for the property.

Then, I left the notary, having been given instructions to immediately make the transfer to the seller, and then provide the proof of the transfer to the notary before the end of the day. With proof of transfer in hand, the notary would proceed with the sale/transfer. If not, the sale would be void.

In my case, I transferred online (using my phone) from my Wise account, to the seller's Wise account. The seller had all the money a minute later, and I emailed the notary immediately with my Wise payment receipts.

Not only does this get rid of the need for large envelopes of cash, but it now addresses the previous trust problem that necessitated cash (or the added complexity/cost of a preliminary contract). By which I mean that I don't want to transfer before the notary appointment as seller might not then sign as he has the money already! But neither does he want to sign first and trust me to send the money. This new process adds a notary-controlled delay before the signing of the notary act becomes effective, allowing you time to make the transfer, knowing that the seller has already signed the notary act. (Or for the seller, they can happily sign knowing that if I don't send the money, the transfer will be voided.)

Both parties are protected, and the government cuts down the use of black money. Huge improvement!

Thanks all.

My agent and power of attorney (bulgarianproperties) invoiced me every year without fail.

Then Covid happened and since then, nothing.

I have sent lots of emails to them but no reply. Getting concerned about delayed payments and fines.

   
I think this is a recent change.



    -@gwynj

"Recent-ish"; it's part of the Law on Limiting Payments in Cash, which came into force in 2018.  Between 2014 (when the previous version of the law came into effect) and 2018, the amount was 15,000 leva..

    Thanks all.
My agent and power of attorney (bulgarianproperties) invoiced me every year without fail.
Then Covid happened and since then, nothing.
I have sent lots of emails to them but no reply. Getting concerned about delayed payments and fines.
   

    -@garylongmuir

If they haven't been paying, then you'll certainly be fined for the arrears.  You really ought to go  to the municipal offices (with the original Notary Act as proof of ownership) and arrange the payments; ditto with any utility bills if you're connected.  As the owner, you're liable for these bills, the existence of a POA doesn't exempt you from that.

It does seem odd that they stopped invoicing you, as obviously adding an admin fee to these post-sales services is where the agents can make plenty of extra money.

If you're in Bulgaria or can get to Bulgaria, doing what Jim said and going to the municipality with your notary act is the best way to deal with it.

If you can't get to Bg - did they ever send you a copy of the actual payment receipt from their payment to the municipality?  It should have the property number on it and you could try setting that up in epay. I did that from the UK for my electricity and council tax and it's very easy to do, even remotely.

Or I wonder if that agent left the company and no one picked up their clients. I seem to recall someone else mentioned an issue with that agency due to this -- local agents leaving and clients not being passed on. If you haven't already, try emailing Bulgarian Properties head office, someone high up in management if possible.

I hope you can get this resolved, it must be quite a worry!

@garylongmuir

If you haven't been here since Covid (or paying your bills) you are surely overdue for a visit. Then you can check your property and get your property tax up to date.

I don't think Bulgaria is super aggressive about lateness (unlike many countries), but they do have powers to seize/auction properties to pay off arrears so sooner is better.

I had a flat in Bansko that I purchased before moving to Bulgaria, and I started to worry when I realized I'd allowed 10 years to go by! Fortunately, it was still there, still locked up, and the tax department was very helpful. 10 years of tax + late fees was still pretty manageable, I was very pleasantly surprised.

If your agent is Bulgarian Properties (dot com) I know one of the manager types there, so if you send me a private message I can give you some details. Then you could call him and find out what the status is. However, I doubt it's very useful as my guess is that your POA named your sales agent (it usually does), and he/she left to do something else, so then the POA is no longer useful.

@gwynj when you say pretty manageable, could you provide a rough figure?? I am in a similar position in Targovishte province..

@jasonwelch2310

The amount depends on the municipality and the value of your property. Also, officially, the property tax is separate from the garbage tax, but you have to pay both. For us, the total taxes are typically in the 75-300 leva range per property. My Bansko flat was for purchased for less than 20k euros, so it is one of the lowest (90 leva for 2024, less for previous years).

I was pretty worried about going to the tax office, to be honest. I'd been a bad boy not paying my taxes for 10 years, so I feared the worst. In the UK, Council Tax is expensive, and penalties are significant. I paid around 600 euros for 10 years (including late fees for each year).

My guess is that it shouldn't be a problem (the lateness), and the bill will be surprisingly affordable. But I'd still encourage you to get it sorted sooner rather than later!