Bulgaria: the 2026 social contribution ceiling is set at EUR 26,281.48

What changed

Bulgaria’s annual social contribution ceiling for 2026 stands at EUR 26,281.48. It is not a monthly ceiling multiplied by twelve: article 9 of the state social insurance budget act composes it from seven months at EUR 2,111.64 and five months at EUR 2,300. An employee earning above that ceiling contributes on the ceiling, not on their salary.

The employee share is unchanged at 13.78 % of the assessable base, split between the pension fund (6.58 %), the universal pension fund (2.2 %), sickness and maternity (1.4 %), unemployment (0.4 %) and NZOK health insurance (3.2 %). Income tax remains flat at 10 %, with no personal allowance, assessed on income less the employee’s mandatory contributions (art. 42(2) ZDDFL).

The practical consequence runs against intuition: above the ceiling, the effective deduction rate falls as salary rises, because the social share stops growing while the tax stays proportional.

The occupational accident and disease contribution, between 0.4 and 1.1 % depending on the employer’s economic activity group, is not modelled by our calculator: it depends on the employer, not on the salary.

Effective date

The ceiling applies to calendar year 2026. The budget act setting it was published in the Bulgarian State Gazette of 28 July 2026 (DV no. 68).

Worked example

Figures produced by our net salary calculator, single filer with no dependants, Bulgarian tax resident.

At a gross of EUR 30,000, contributions are computed on EUR 26,281.48 rather than on EUR 30,000, which is why the effective rate drops from 22.40 to 20.86 % even though the salary rose by 76 %.