I was wondering if anyone has gone through the process of closing their Company and changing their property into their own name yet. My lawyer has told me I can do this now whenever I wish, but I am hesitant in case the costs will be high and if there will be any benefit except for doing the annual tax returns. Would it make property more desirable for potential buyers to be worth the effort do you think?
This topic might tie up with some potential buyers on this forum who might benefit from some answers so they will be primed if an agent doesn't mention this! It is EU ruling that foreigners can buy in their own name as of this year.

I haven't done mine yet but I think I will soon, I should think the benefits will be not having to pay for the ridiculous accounts every year and I also believe it will make it more desirable to buyers only because its something else they won't need to worry about although they don't need to worry anyway but being in a strange country they will.

I enquired with my lawyer and received the following info if it helps?? :-

Thank you for the interest in our services in regards with the change of the Bulgarian Legislation and the possibility to close /liquidate/ your company and to transfer your property to your personal name. We have decided to offer a whole service that includes the entire process of selling to the physical person and liquidating of the company, for which we carefully thought of all possible steps that need to be done and all associated disbursements that you need to think of before you start.
In order the above mentioned to be possible you have to undertake the following:

To prepare and obtain the needed documents on behalf of the Seller-Company;

To prepare and issue the needed documents on behalf of the Buyer - physical person;

Representation before notary public in regards with the sale of the property;

Registration of the property at the municipality on the name of the Buyer - physical person;

Preparation and obtaining of the needed documents from Tax Office;

Preparation and obtaining of the needed documents from National Health Insurance Institute;

Preparation and submission of all the documents at the Commercial register;

Representation in our capacity as Liquidator, I.e. Upon your confirmation we can be appointed as a Liquidator of the company;

Representation in our capacity as Attorney during the whole period, which usually between 6-7 months;

Accountancy services involving: Starting and Final Balance sheets due to be submitted, as well as regular Balance Sheets.
Obtaining and issuing of all the needed Certificates, Check and declarations;

All the services include state charges, taxes and fees, including travel expenses and postage;

In case you choose the whole package of the services we can offer you two options:
I. Price of the whole package of EURO 1290, payable as follows:
390 EURO upon starting the legal work;

450 EURO when all the documents for the deal completion are ready and we start the liquidation process along with the sale process;

450 EURO upon publishing at the Commercial Register the Invitation to the creditors;

II.Price of the whole package 1490 EURO, payable as follows::
390 EURO upon starting the legal work;

Four installments of 275 EURO payable every month from the moment of beginning of the liquidation process;

The Notary taxes due are payable additionally before the deal, and how much they are going to be depends on the tax evaluation that we will issue on your behalf for the properties that you have.


Company register submission of documents.
It is worth it for those who are paying higher municipality taxes and also do not want to have a company to pay the accountancy and always watching out for the business side of legislation. Also, if they sell, the owners will still have to liquidate and empty liable company, and then our fees will be almost the same.

I know what I am doing
Bill

In principle it is a good idea for people who just have their company for holding property - As with most things in Bulgaria I think it is best to let the new system get into place and wait until a few have tried and tested it first!!!

In 2 or 3 years it will cost much less to liquidate a company and be a quick and easy process. For example.....Company formation used to take weeks to complete and you had to have the 5000k Leva capital and cost a fortune to do. Now it takes a few days a 2 Leva capital and you can easily find people that will do it a lot cheaper than it used to be.

bulgariabill wrote:

I enquired with my lawyer and received the following info if it helps?? :-

Thank you for the interest in our services in regards with the change of the Bulgarian Legislation and the possibility to close /liquidate/ your company and to transfer your property to your personal name. We have decided to offer a whole service that includes the entire process of selling to the physical person and liquidating of the company, for which we carefully thought of all possible steps that need to be done and all associated disbursements that you need to think of before you start.
In order the above mentioned to be possible you have to undertake the following:

To prepare and obtain the needed documents on behalf of the Seller-Company;

To prepare and issue the needed documents on behalf of the Buyer - physical person;

Representation before notary public in regards with the sale of the property;

Registration of the property at the municipality on the name of the Buyer - physical person;

Preparation and obtaining of the needed documents from Tax Office;

Preparation and obtaining of the needed documents from National Health Insurance Institute;

Preparation and submission of all the documents at the Commercial register;

Representation in our capacity as Liquidator, I.e. Upon your confirmation we can be appointed as a Liquidator of the company;

Representation in our capacity as Attorney during the whole period, which usually between 6-7 months;

Accountancy services involving: Starting and Final Balance sheets due to be submitted, as well as regular Balance Sheets.
Obtaining and issuing of all the needed Certificates, Check and declarations;

All the services include state charges, taxes and fees, including travel expenses and postage;

In case you choose the whole package of the services we can offer you two options:
I. Price of the whole package of EURO 1290, payable as follows:
390 EURO upon starting the legal work;

450 EURO when all the documents for the deal completion are ready and we start the liquidation process along with the sale process;

450 EURO upon publishing at the Commercial Register the Invitation to the creditors;

II.Price of the whole package 1490 EURO, payable as follows::
390 EURO upon starting the legal work;

Four installments of 275 EURO payable every month from the moment of beginning of the liquidation process;

The Notary taxes due are payable additionally before the deal, and how much they are going to be depends on the tax evaluation that we will issue on your behalf for the properties that you have.


Company register submission of documents.
It is worth it for those who are paying higher municipality taxes and also do not want to have a company to pay the accountancy and always watching out for the business side of legislation. Also, if they sell, the owners will still have to liquidate and empty liable company, and then our fees will be almost the same.

I know what I am doing
Bill

If I carry on paying the accounts fees as I do at present it will take between 8 - 10 years to recoup the 1290 Euro's. Is it worth it I may be dead before then?

tax evaluation ?, if that is the same tax you paid when you first purchased your land and property, then that will be a lot of money. it was 3% in 2007.
i will wait and watch for a while yet.

First off it seems cheaper to just pay the nil tax return. Second off it sounds like the 'lawyer' who drew up the list of requirements is deliberately making it sound difficult to justify the charges. Thirdly, why is it in EUROS????? I never pay anyone in Bulgaria in Euros from builder to lawyer to accountant to estate agent. Lastly the taxes on my property are very low so why change?
I will also leave it to others to try the system and probably wait until/if I decide to sell up and leave Bulgaria for pastures new.
Its all a load of rubbish. When I asked my lawyer about fees, she said it would cost but didn't warn me how much it would cost. Since all her charges from tax returns to obtaining a court report have never been more than 250levs, I would not expect to pay (and wait so long) for closing the Company.
Incidentally my Company was set up within the week I was in Bulgaria when I purchased my property in 2004. I don't remember paying tax on the property when we bought and if I did, it was certainly not a lot but then the house was only 14,000levs which, at 3% would be 450levs. The agency did all the paperwork for me and I had no reason to complain about anything.
Sometimes it makes more sense not to do things immediately until you are absolutely sure its worth it or would incurr a fine if its not done. Anyone re-newing their Long Term Residency when it matures for the same reason? It seems to me that its the EHIC health certificate that is the most important in everything.

I am sure some lawyers will try and make the most out of some of you that wish to close your company. It seems most estate agents are still working on you opening a business, as our friends are buying in our village and were told by an estate agent. They have since been told by us that this is not so in the VT area. Our friends will be buying direct from the Bulgarian seller who was the Mayor last year in our village. We shall let you know how they get on.
But maybe the British Embassy might help with sorting out a cost for closing a company. As this has happened due to EU rules. When we lived in Turkey we had to get help on certain rules that were made for us Brits living in that country, lots of money making changes were being brought in. The British Embassy did step in and put a stop to some of them. So give it a try as you are in the EU.

I would read the topic on the British Embassy Itchyfeet. Not many people have much faith in them. I am afraid that we old stagers know a thing or two about how the system works here. Good that you have advised your friends about not needing a Company.

Yes Oldun a lot of us had no faith in them in Turkey. Most of the time they were absolute rubbish and no help at all.
But this is going to affect all of you, and you all need to stick together on this one. All of you need to write to the British Consulate and tell them that the costs for closing a company are far too expensive, and they need to look into this for you, and sort out a set price. If a good majority of you do this, they will have to do something.

We have looked at this but it all seems pointless and very expensive or should I say just another way of the BG government making money out of the Brits. For us we are going to leave it for now until such time as we make our minds up whether we are staying or moving on.

Same here LisaA. Too expensive for very little advantage.

Agree with you oldun and Lisa there really isn't any point unless you have money to burn

What about people who sell up in Bulgaria and go back to UK or somewhere? They would no longer need a company in Bulgaria but would they also face a costly process to wind it up?

I think thta's been answered here viewtopic.php?f=12&
t=1635&
p=30188&
hilit=Winding+up#p30188