Earlier this month the Finance Ministry put a five-point increase in the gambling levy into the draft 2026 budget - from 20% to 25% of gross gaming revenue, covering lotteries, betting, bingo, keno and online gaming, from 1 January 2026. The Ministry expected around EUR 32 million a year from it.
The same draft raised dividend tax from 5% to 10% and pension contributions by two points, with spending at a record 46% of GDP. Employers objected on 5 November. Around 20,000 people were on the streets of Sofia on 26 November. On 27 November the government withdrew the whole draft. The fallback is an extension of the 2025 budget from 1 January.
So for the moment the levy stays at 20% and dividend tax at 5%. We would not plan on either lasting.
The deficit that drove the proposal is still there. Romania raised its online GGR tax to 30% in the summer. The Netherlands is heading for 37.8%. A 25% rate in Bulgaria would still be among the lower ones in the EU, which is exactly the argument the Ministry will make again.
For owners of Bulgarian gaming businesses this means three practical things.
Model 25% now. Any buyer will, and a forecast that assumes 20% for five years will be discounted or rejected.
Think about dividend timing. If dividend tax doubles, cash taken out before the change is worth more than cash taken out after. This affects the pre-sale clean-up as much as day-to-day distributions.
Expect buyers to ask for protection. A tax-change clause, a price adjustment or an earn-out tied to the post-tax result are all reasonable requests when the fiscal picture is this open.
We will follow the next budget draft closely and update as it develops.
(Sources: European Gaming, 11 November 2025; SeeNews; Euronews, 27 November 2025)