site.btaSofia Municipality Plans to Update Tourist Tax

Sofia Municipality plans to update the tourist tax, which has not been changed in ten years, said Nikola Barbutov, Sofia Deputy Mayor in charge of tourism and the Director of the Municipal Enterprise for Tourism, Anton Penev, at a press conference on Thursday.

Barbutov said that at a meeting with the industry during his election campaign, Vassil Terziev, who was elected Mayor of Sofia, stated his plans to increase financing of tourism and represent the city on international tourist channels. All this goes through updating the tourist tax, so that the Municipal Enterprise for Tourism can have the funds needed for promoting the Bulgarian capital as a tourist destination, he added. 

The fee collected from visitors to the capital is different for different categories establishments, explained Barbutov. The tax for a stay at a five-star hotel is envisaged to be increased from BGN 1.2 to BGN 3, which in 2025 is expected to lead to an income of BGN 1,728,203. The number of overnight stays in five-star hotels in 2023 in Sofia was 523,698, and the income from the tax on them was BGN 628,437. For four-star hotels, an increase from BGN 1 to BGN 2.5 is planned, which in 2025 would bring revenues of BGN 2,401,214. The number of nights spent in four-star hotels last year was 873,169, and they provided revenues from tourist tax in the amount of BGN 873,169. The taxpayers are the hotel owners, but the tax is paid by the tourists, the Municipality pointed out and stressed that this type of tax will go entirely to support the tourism sector.

Plamena Terziradeva, municipal councilor and member of the Committee on Culture, who also participated in the press conference, said that the patent tax, which is paid once a year by the industry, will also be updated, from BGN 25 to BGN 250. This type of tax was reduced to a minimum in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation has now normalized, revenues are increasing, Terziradeva said. She reported that over the past three years, there has been an increase of 42% per year in overnight stays in hotels and accommodations.

Anton Penev, Director of the Municipal Enterprise for Tourism, talked about plans to rebrand Visit Sofia, which were initiated in May.