I found this and thought it would be on interest to others

GENERAL INFORMATION (2010)

Income tax

Tax residents in Bulgaria: are liable to pay Bulgarian tax on their worldwide income,
Non tax residents in Bulgaria: are liable to pay tax on Bulgarian-source income only.

Individuals will be regarded as tax residents:

- if they have a permanent address in Bulgaria,
- if their centre of vital interests is in Bulgaria, or
- if they reside in Bulgaria for more than 183 days in any twelve-month period.

Individuals who have a permanent address in Bulgaria but whose centre of vital interests is
not in Bulgaria are not considered Bulgarian tax resident.


Married persons are taxed separately.


Taxable income includes:

- all remuneration, including bonus,
- other benefits in cash and kind.
- income from business or professional activities,
- capital gains,
- income from rent.


Certain types of income in 2010 do not constitute taxable remuneration:

- mandatory social security contributions,
- voluntary contributions to pensions, unemployment and life or health insurances
(limited amount),
- allowance for business travel,
- pensions, scholarships,
- certain types of investment income.

There are no tax credits nor personal allowances (except for disabled individuals).


Income tax rates for 2010:

10.00% flat tax rate. Latest information available as at 8 February 2010



Filing date:

Annual tax returns must be filed by the 30
th of April the following year.



Social security contributions

Residents and non-residents working in Bulgaria are required to pay social security
contributions on their gross salary in Bulgaria or in the country of their employer after an E101
has been issued.


Social security rates for 2010:

o 16.90% – 17.60% for employers,
o 12.10% for employees.

The minimum social security bases (thresholds) have been generally increased for 2010.

Employers and employees pay contributions to the following funds:

- Pension Fund
- General Sickness and Maternity Fund
- Guaranteed Receivables of Employees Fund
- Health Insurance Fund
- Professional Qualification and Unemployment Fund
- Additional mandatory private pension insurance if the employee was born after 1959.

In addition, employers also pay into a Labour Accident and Vocational Sickness Fund.


Work permits and visas


Nationals of the EU/EEA Member States and Switzerland are able to work without restriction
in Bulgaria.

For all other nationalities work permits are needed which their prospective employers have to
apply for before the worker can begin the work.

To obtain a work permit:

It is usually lengthy and difficult and in principle only possible if the Bulgarian company has
advertised the open position for several months and can prove that it has been unable to find
a qualified candidate not only on the local labour market but in the whole of Europe.

What's a vital interest? Your business?

There are certainly a large number of British working full time or working part time in BG that do not declare any income and do not pay any social security payments.

I would think it means "
Main"
?

I just read through this and I would agree with bigsavak that the word used is maybe the way they say Main and its sort of got lost in translation

Yes this would seem to make sense.

If a person is resident in two countries under their domestic laws and the two countries are parties to a bilateral income tax treaty to determine which country has the right to tax the person as a resident in order of importance of the following factors:

Location of permanent home available for use
Relatives
Personal and economic ties (center of vital interests)
Habitual abode
Citizenship.
If residence cannot be determined based on these factors, competent authority can settle the question by mutual agreement.

In other words:
Bulgarian legislation doesn't separate foreign and Bulgarian persons, but "
non-local"
and "
local"
, i.e. a Bulgarian can be considered as a non-local person and an Englishman can be considered as a "
local"
person. Beside some conditions, one of them is the "
center of vital interests"
- family, property, job... For example if you have got an address in BG that doesn't mean your center of vital interests is in BG too.