Cryptocurrency owners in Bulgaria may now face stricter tax control: the country’s parliament, in a second reading, approved amendments to the Tax and Social Security Procedure Code, granting tax authorities the right to request data on crypto asset users.
What Bulgarian Lawmakers Changed
The amendments were introduced by the Council of Ministers. 149 deputies voted in favor, while 10 abstained. The new procedure is related to the requirements of EU directives on administrative cooperation and the exchange of tax information between countries.
The mechanism is simple: tax authorities of EU member states and partner countries will be able to exchange information about individuals conducting transactions with crypto assets. For the system to work, crypto companies must register in one of the EU countries.
For the market, this means that cryptocurrency is finally leaving the zone of semi-anonymous circulation. Previously, Bitcoin was often seen as a tool close to the idea promoted by Satoshi Nakamoto, but now transactions with digital assets are increasingly being treated by tax authorities as seriously as bank transactions, investments, account funds, or other assets (accounting).
What Data Crypto Providers Will Transmit
Crypto providers licensed in Bulgaria are required to send the head of the National Revenue Agency identification information about their clients. The list includes names, addresses, dates and places of birth, tax numbers, as well as country of tax residency.
These requirements affect not only Bitcoin transactions. In real digital market practice, users may work with Ethereum, Tether, Bitcoin Cash, store currency in various digital wallets, buy tokens through major platforms like Coinbase, or use payment services such as PayPal. For tax authorities, the brand of the service is not important, but rather the fact of ownership and movement of value.
Most crypto systems are based on blockchain: every transaction (informatics) is recorded in a common digital ledger. In the classic Bitcoin model, mining and proof of work play an important role. The idea of this approach goes back to technologies like Hashcash, and the network itself is built as a peer-to-peer network where participants interact without a single control center.
However, tax regulation views the crypto market differently. For the state, not only the technology matters, but also the economic result: who received income, in which currency it is expressed, whether there was a link to the US dollar, where the tax resident is located, and whether the digital transaction can be matched to a real owner.
Rules for Security and Environmental Control Are Also Changing
In addition to tax amendments, the Bulgarian parliament, in a first reading, supported changes to the Law on Private Security Activities. The main innovation concerns employment contracts: now a security guard’s contract does not have to be the primary one. This opens up the possibility of hiring employees for additional work.
The circle of persons who must meet qualification requirements in the field of security is also expanding. It now includes managers of trading companies and legal entities.
The procedure for ordering personal security services is also changing. Now, not only an individual, such as an owner or director, but also a legal entity can act as a client. This allows a company to officially pay for the security of its employee or manager if there is a real threat.
In the first reading, deputies also adopted amendments to the Law on Ambient Air Purity. 146 parliamentarians voted for the document, 18 abstained.
This set of changes addresses several issues at once: it defines the authorities responsible for enforcing the new EU regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer; repeals two outdated regulations related to fluorinated greenhouse gases and the 2019 EU directive; and introduces a system of control and fines for violating the new requirements.
