The Law on Statistics on Intra-Union Trade in Goods /ZSVTS/ governs the conduct of statistical activities relating to intra-Union trade in goods between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Member States of the European Union, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics and repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics, hereinafter referred to as ‘Regulation (EU) 2019/2152’ (OJ L 327, p. 1, 17 December 2019), and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 of 30 July 2020 laying down technical specifications and rules pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics and repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics, hereinafter referred to as ‘Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197’ (OJ L 271, p. 1, 18 August 2020).
According to the ZSVTS, intra-Union trade in goods comprises intra-Union exports and intra-Union imports of goods.
Intra-Union exports comprise goods that leave the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and are destined for another Member State:
- Union goods, excluding goods in transit between Member States;
- non-Union goods placed under the inward processing customs procedure in the Republic of Bulgaria.
Intra-Union imports comprise goods that are brought into the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria after having been initially exported from another Member State:
- Union goods, excluding goods in transit between Member States;
- non-Union goods which were previously placed under the inward processing customs procedure in the Member State of export and which remain under that customs procedure or are released for free circulation in the Republic of Bulgaria.
The competent authorities responsible for carrying out statistical activities relating to intra-EU trade in goods are the National Statistical Institute, the National Revenue Agency and the Customs Agency.
The reporting thresholds and the types of data subject to reporting are determined by an order of the President of the National Statistical Institute, which is published in the *State Gazette* by 31 October of the current year. The reporting thresholds and types of additional data specified in the order shall be valid for the whole of the following year.
The ‘Intrastat’ system is used to collect data on intra-Union exports and intra-Union imports of Union goods that are not subject to a customs declaration.
Persons required to submit declarations under the ‘Intrastat’ system – Intrastat operators are persons registered under the Value Added Tax Act who engage in intra-Community trade in goods with annual volumes, expressed in value, exceed the declaration thresholds, separately for intra-Community exports and intra-Community imports. Any Intrastat operator who carries out intra-Community trade in goods with annual volumes, expressed in value, below the specified declaration thresholds, separately – for intra-Community exports and intra-Community imports, but has voluntarily registered as an Intrastat operator. Apart from these cases, persons engaged in intra-Union trade in goods are required to monitor on a monthly basis the cumulative volumes of intra-Union trade in goods separately – for intra-Union exports and intra-Union imports, and to register as Intrastat operators when the requirements are met. Intrastat declarations are monthly and corrective. An Intrastat operator must register and submit monthly declarations for intra-Union exports and/or intra-Union imports:
- where the annual volume of intra-Union trade in goods from the previous year exceeds the declaration threshold for the current year, separately for intra-Union exports and intra-Union imports;
- when the cumulative volume of intra-Union trade in goods – broken down into intra-Union exports and intra-Union imports – exceeds the specified declaration threshold for the current year.
Intrastat declarations, the notification under Article 10 of the Foreign Trade and Foreign Economic Activity Act, as well as other documents or data required to be submitted by Intrastat operators, shall be submitted to the National Revenue Agency electronically, signed with a qualified electronic signature.
By way of exception, in cases of technical impossibility on the part of an Intrastat operator or the National Revenue Agency, as provided for in a regulation, Intrastat declarations, notifications, documents or data to be submitted to the competent regional directorate of the National Revenue Agency on a technical medium that allows for the reliable reproduction of the information and meets the requirements for the format of the record.
Intrastat operators must submit an Intrastat declaration by the 14th of the month following the reference period. Intrastat operators with a current liability must submit an Intrastat declaration by the 20th of the month following the first reference period. For subsequent reference periods, the deadline is the 14th day of the month following the reference period. Where new circumstances arise, the Intrastat operator shall declare the new data or make corrections to the data already submitted within seven days of the date on which the circumstances arose.
The National Revenue Agency notifies Intrastat operators of any circumstances it has identified that differ from those declared for the relevant reference period, on the basis of its powers under Article 3(2), point 7 of the Intra-Community Trade Statistics Act, and shall require them to provide additional documents and data, as well as to submit a corrective declaration for the same period. Intrastat operators shall provide the documents and data and submit a corrective declaration within 7 days of the date of receipt of the notification.
The National Revenue Agency may, on its own initiative, make adjustments to the data in the submitted Intrastat declarations following clarifications with the Intrastat operators or a comparison with data sources identified during the course of its control activities.
Personal data collected under the provisions of the ZSVTS may only be used for statistical purposes. Data on commodity flows are disseminated whilst ensuring the anonymity of the entities that provided them.
An Intrastat operator who fails to submit an Intrastat declaration, fails to submit it within the prescribed time limits, or provides incomplete or incorrect data in an Intrastat declaration, shall be liable to a fine or a financial penalty of between 500 and 5,000 leva.
The reporting thresholds and the types of data subject to reporting are determined by an order of the President of the National Statistical Institute, which is published in the *State Gazette* by 31 October of the current year. The reporting thresholds and types of additional data specified in the order shall be valid for the whole of the following year.
The reporting thresholds for 2024, as set out in Order RD-05-70 of 23 October 2023 issued by the President of the National Statistical Institute, are:
- For intra-Union imports – 1,650,000.00 BGN.
- For intra-Union exports – 1,900,000.00 BGN.
The thresholds for reporting statistical values for 2024 are:
- For intra-Union imports – 16,000,000.00 BGN.
- For intra-Union exports – 37,200,000.00 BGN.
The threshold for simplified reporting of individual low-value transactions is 500 BGN.
Order RD-05-774 of 11 October 2024, issued by the President of the National Statistical Institute (NSI), setting the reporting thresholds under the ‘Intrastat’ system for 2025, has been published.
The reporting thresholds under the IntraStat system for 2025 have been set as follows:
- For the ‘Intra-Union exports’ flow – 2,200,000 (two million two hundred thousand) leva.
- For the ‘Intra-Union imports’ flow – 1,700,000 (one million seven hundred thousand) leva
The statistical value thresholds under the IntraStat system for 2025 have been set as follows:
- For the ‘Intra-Union exports’ flow – 36,100,000 (thirty-six million and one hundred thousand) leva.
- For the ‘Intra-Union imports’ flow – 17,000,000 (seventeen million) leva.
A threshold has been set for the simplified declaration of individual low-value transactions under the IntraStat system for 2025 – 500 (five hundred) leva.
Traders in goods may have an annual or ongoing obligation to submit declarations under the Intrastat system, depending on the period in which the obligation arises.
An annual obligation to submit Intrastat declarations, separately for intra-Union imports and intra-Union exports for the current year, arises when the annual volume of intra-Community trade in goods during the previous year exceeds the relevant threshold for the current year.
A current obligation to declare under the Intrastat system, separately for intra-Community imports and intra-Community exports during a given year, arises when the person has not had an annual obligation and, during the course of the year, the volume of intra-Community trade in goods for a given trade flow exceeds the relevant threshold for that year.
To facilitate compliance with the obligation for persons engaged in intra-Union
trade in goods to monitor, on a monthly basis, the cumulative volumes of intra-Union
trade in goods separately – for intra-Union exports and intra-Union imports – and to register
as Intrastat operators when the requirements are met, we have developed
the following Intrastat Calculator 2025.
