Running an online e-store and selling goods or services worldwide while paying the lowest corporate tax in the world? If this idea has already come up to your savvy business mind please search no further – Bulgaria is the place for setting up a limited company and conducting EU based e-commerce activities while paying only 10% tax, no matter where you are selling / shipping goods / services to!

Just like anywhere around the world, setting up an online web shop in Bulgaria does not require the availability of an offline store although you still have to register a Bulgarian company which will receive payments, issue electronic invoices, etc. The e-store is a computer software that provides the merchant (trader) with the opportunity to easily and quickly publish information for his goods on the Internet – and respectively sell goods / services and make profit. Although most legal requirements for traditional offline commercial activities apply for e-trade, some special rules need to be implemented. Applicable are mainly Bulgarian E-commerce Act and The Consumers Protection Act as well as other laws.

When making a decision to start or simply move an e-business in Bulgaria you should keep in mind the following:

Any Bulgaria based e-merchant / provider of services on the Internet shall be registered as a Bulgarian company. It could be a limited liability company with only 1 (one) Euro capital! Once duly formed, this company will be the operator of the online store.

According to Bulgarian law it is obliged to provide to the consumers and to the competent authorities direct and permanent access to the following information: the name of the merchant; the seat and the registered address; the address where the activity is performed; correspondence details – telephone numbers, e-mails, etc.; Unique Identification Code of the trader; information for the supervising authorities; information for VAT registration – if any; another information required by Bulgarian laws. The online trader is also obliged to inform whether all web shop advertised prices include taxes, fees and other expenses.

Another requirement demands the online trader to make a registration in accordance with Bulgarian Protection of the Private Data Act or to provide special options before the consumer.

As for advertisement – the advertisement messages have to be: easily recognized as such; to identify unanimously the addressee; to provide understanding about the characteristics and the conditions of the advertised product. Should you decide to send unsolicited messages you are obliged to clearly and unanimously provide the identification of these commercial messages as unwanted.

During the process of concluding of an online contract some EU requirements shall be met. They concern: the technical steps that shall be undertaken for the conclusion of the contract; the back up of the contract; the means of searching and correction of any mistakes; the languages that can be used for concluding the contract.

General terms and conditions to the e-contracts shall be also be presented and made publicly available.

According to Bulgarian and EU laws by concluding the e-contract, the buyer becomes legitimate owner of the purchased goods. One should bear in mind that according to the Bulgarian Protection of the Consumers Act, the client may cancel the contract, within a 14 day period, without stating any reason and having the right to a full refund. In this case the goods shall be returned back to the merchant and then the said trader shall refund the price that has been paid by the client.