A Bulgarian sole trader (ednolichen targovets, or ET) can stop trading without the corporate liquidation used for an OOD or EOOD. The short registry filing is only the final step, however. Employees, social-security archives, tax notification, VAT, assets, contracts, and records should be dealt with in the right order before the Commercial Register entry disappears.

The central point is easy to miss: an ET is the individual acting as a trader, not a separate legal person. Deletion ends the commercial registration; it does not transfer assets out of a company, release the individual from debt, or erase earlier tax and employment obligations.

This guide provides general information as at 1 August 2026. It is not legal, tax, accounting, employment, social-security, insolvency, or inheritance advice for a particular trader or estate.

ET Deletion at a Glance

Deletion Is Not Company Liquidation

Article 60a of the Registry Agency's current Commerce Act allows deletion when the trader stops activity or establishes residence abroad, on the trader's application; on death, on an heirs' application; and after interdiction, on the guardian's or custodian's application. A voluntarily closing trader does not appoint a liquidator, publish an invitation to creditors, wait through a creditor-claim period, or distribute a liquidation surplus.

That contrasts with the statutory process in our company liquidation guide. An ET can be deleted while claims remain because the debtor before and after deletion is the same natural person. The practical close-down should nevertheless identify and provide for creditors, receivables, warranties, leases, subscriptions, permits, consumer complaints, litigation, and possible tax assessments. Deletion is a registry event, not a discharge.

There is also no corporate-body resolution. The individual chooses a genuine cessation date and documents that decision. A closing plan should identify the last trading day, final invoices and deliveries, employee dates, asset treatment, access to bank and accounting systems, and the address at which notices can still be received.

Step 1: Close Operations Without Losing Evidence

Stop accepting work that cannot be completed or transferred lawfully. Reconcile cash, stock, fixed assets, customer deposits, receivables, supplier balances, loans, taxes, security interests, guarantees, and pending disputes. Preserve delivery evidence and obtain written settlements rather than assuming that an inactive trade name ends a contract.

Regulated traders should notify or surrender licences, registrations, fiscal devices, customs permissions, municipal authorisations, and sector records under the relevant special rules. A business bank account need not be closed to obtain deletion and may be needed for late customer payments, tax refunds, or creditor payments. Coordinate its closure only after the remaining flows and bank requirements are clear.

Assets require tax-led planning. Moving a business asset back into the individual's non-business sphere can produce a market-value income-tax result; selling, gifting, scrapping, or retaining it may produce different accounting and tax treatment. If property was introduced from personal or marital assets, review its title and the original tax protocol before recording its exit.

Step 2: Employees and Self-Insurance

Where the enterprise genuinely closes, Article 328(1)(1) of the Labour Code can permit employer termination with notice. It is not a formality. Check protected categories, notice, selection issues where only part of an activity closes, unused-leave compensation, closure compensation, wages, payroll tax, and social contributions. Issue the termination document and complete the employee file. Since 1 June 2025, employers enter termination data in the Employment Register; the Ministry of Labour confirms the seven-day termination-entry deadline.

The owner should separately end self-insured activity. The NRA requires an OKd-5 declaration within seven days of starting, interrupting, resuming, or terminating self-insured work. The relevant date is the factual cessation of that activity, not automatically the later Registry Agency deletion date. Final declarations and contributions for both employees and the owner must still be reconciled.

Step 3: Obtain the NSSI Archive Certificate

Ordinance No. 1 requires the Article 5(10) NSSI certificate for ET deletion. An employer without a successor applies to the competent NSSI territorial unit and hands over payroll and specified employment records in the required archival order. The process includes checks by NSSI. Electronic-only records have their own format and signature rules.

The current NSSI termination service also covers heirs and explains that the certificate is issued after the control work and is valid for 12 months. Do not promise a fixed 30-day completion time for the ordinary ET route: the 30-day rule shown for fast corporate liquidation is a different procedure. A trader who never employed anyone should use NSSI's corresponding no-employees/no-payroll-records service rather than simply omit the certificate.

Step 4: Notify the NRA Under Article 77

Before filing A1, submit the Article 77 notification to the competent National Revenue Agency office. It can be sent through the NRA electronic service with a qualified electronic signature, in person, or through a licensed postal operator. The NRA's current Article 77 service page states that the service is free and that the notification certificate is issued within 60 days. That certificate is the basis for the Registry Agency to consider the deletion documents.

Do not rely on an assumed automatic notification after deletion. Article 77 is a pre-filing step. The certificate does not mean that an audit was completed, that every liability was paid, or that later assessment is barred. Check the NRA tax-and-insurance account and preserve funds for open periods.

Step 5: Prepare and File A1

Use A1 as an application to change circumstances and select field 27, “Deletion of trader/NPLE.” The Registry Agency's A1 portal guidance confirms both points. G1 is for announcing an act, not deleting an ET.

A voluntary file will normally include:

• the completed A1 and evidence of the cessation ground where appropriate
• the NSSI certificate under Article 5(10) of the Social Security Code
• the NRA notification certificate under Article 77
• the truth declaration under Article 13(4) of the Commercial Register Act
• a power of attorney and the Article 13(5) submitter declaration where the filing method and representative make them applicable
• evidence of the Registry Agency fee

For death, attach the heirship evidence and use the correct entitled applicant; interdiction requires the relevant court and representation documents. Foreign-issued civil-status or authority documents may require authentication or an apostille, a Bulgarian translation, and properly evidenced representative authority. Avoid publishing unnecessary personal data in attachments.

The 2026 Registry Agency fee tariff converts to EUR 15.34 for paper and EUR 7.67 for electronic ET applications. Article 19 of the Commercial Register Act says that the officer rules immediately after three working days expire. That is the registry stage only; the NRA certificate can take up to 60 days, while NSSI checks and correcting an incomplete file can extend the overall project. Monitor the electronic file for instructions or a refusal.

Step 6: Complete VAT, Tax, and Accounting Work

Commercial Register deletion is generally a mandatory VAT-deregistration ground, but the rule has important exceptions. According to the NRA's current VAT deregistration guidance, registration continues if the individual remains mandatorily registrable under Article 96. If not, the individual can apply within seven days of the deletion to continue voluntary registration under Article 100(1). Otherwise, the deregistration application is due within 14 days of deletion. Death follows a separate no-application rule, with special succession provisions.

VAT deregistration can deem available goods and services supplied where input tax was deducted, subject to statutory exceptions. Prepare the asset inventory, final VAT-period records, and any Article 111 adjustment before disposing of stock or equipment. Do not assume that deleting the ET deletes the natural person's VAT history or permits a clean new registration number.

ET business profit remains subject to 15% annual tax. The NRA's ET income-tax guidance requires the Article 50 return with Appendix 2 between 1 March and 30 June of the following year, with payment by 30 June. Closing-year accounting should also address advance tax, final insurance reconciliation, asset-market-value rules, and any local taxes.

The Accounting Act requires payroll records to be kept for 50 years, accounting registers, financial statements, and tax-control documents for 10 years, and other accounting information for three years. Payroll archives go to NSSI where there is no successor. An ET not subject to mandatory audit is generally exempt from publishing annual accounts, but deletion does not cure an earlier filing duty where the audit/publication rules did apply.

Death, Inheritance, Marriage, and Foreign Owners

After an ET owner's death, heirs should decide whether the enterprise will be continued before seeking deletion. Article 60(2) lets heirs who take over the enterprise preserve the trade name with the new owner's name added. That route requires coordinated succession and registry documents; simple deletion can destroy operational continuity, permits, banking access, and contract value.

Inheritance debt needs particular care. Under Article 60 of the official Inheritance Act, heirs who accept answer for estate debts according to their shares; only acceptance by inventory supplies liability limited to the value received. Renunciation, acceptance by conduct, the three-month inventory deadline, minors, multiple heirs, VAT succession, and employee records should be assessed before anyone operates or disposes of business assets.

Marriage does not make every ET asset jointly owned or every business debt a spousal debt. Article 22(3) of the Family Code treats rights acquired by an ET spouse for commercial activity and included in the enterprise as personal property. But pre-existing community assets, the family home, contributions between spouses, guarantees, and family-needs debts can change the analysis. Deletion itself does not settle title.

A foreign individual remains subject to the same Bulgarian close-down duties. Establishing residence abroad is itself an Article 60a deletion ground, but does not settle Bulgarian tax residence, permanent-establishment, VAT, debt, or service-of-process questions. Keep a usable Bulgarian correspondence route and arrange certified translations and foreign-document formalities early.

Debts and Insolvency: Deletion Is Not an Escape

Creditors can still sue and enforce against the individual after deletion, subject to ordinary limitation and enforcement rules. Keep a claims schedule, preserve limitation evidence, and do not distribute or hide assets on the assumption that the ET name protected personal property.

If the trader cannot pay due commercial debts, obtain insolvency advice before selectively paying creditors or filing deletion. Article 611 of the Commerce Act expressly allows insolvency proceedings for a deleted or deceased ET that was insolvent before deletion; the request may be made within one year after deletion or death. See our insolvency overview for the warning signs, while recognising that an ET estate requires its own analysis.

If the business is viable and the goal is limited liability rather than closure, deleting first may waste contracts, permits, tax history, and goodwill. Compare an asset or enterprise transfer with forming an EOOD through our company registration guide. Neither route retroactively limits the individual's ET liabilities.

Lion Consult can coordinate the cessation plan, NRA and NSSI clearances, A1 filing, employee and creditor review, tax-accounting handoff, inheritance route, and post-deletion compliance. Contact our team before stopping activity or moving assets so the legal, tax, and registry dates remain aligned.

Legal notice: This article is general information only. Deletion grounds, applicant standing, employee protection, archive requirements, tax and VAT treatment, marital title, inheritance choices, insolvency duties, and filing documents depend on the facts and the law in force when action is taken.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is deleting an ET the same as company liquidation?

No. An ET is the individual acting as a trader, not a separate legal person. There is no liquidator or creditor-claim period, and deletion does not discharge debts.

Which form deletes a sole trader?

A1 as a change application, with field 27 selected. G1 is for announcing an act and is not the deletion form.

Which certificates are needed before filing?

Normally the NRA Article 77 notification certificate and the NSSI Article 5(10) archive certificate; an ET who never employed anyone uses NSSI's corresponding no-records route.

How long and how much does deletion take?

The 2026 Registry fee is EUR 7.67 electronically or EUR 15.34 on paper. The officer normally rules after three working days, but the NRA certificate can take up to 60 days and NSSI checks often determine the total timetable.

Do ET debts disappear after deletion?

No. The same natural person remains liable, and Article 611 can permit insolvency proceedings within one year where insolvency existed before deletion or death.

What happens to VAT registration?

Deletion is generally a mandatory deregistration ground, but Article 96 continuation and a seven-day voluntary-continuation option can apply; otherwise the application is generally due within 14 days, with asset and VAT adjustment review.

What happens when the ET owner dies?

Heirs should choose between continuation under Article 60(2) and deletion, and assess acceptance, inventory acceptance, or renunciation before acting. Only acceptance by inventory limits liability to inherited value.