All online shops are subject to registration with the NRA until 29.03.2019.
A special NRA register has been set up for this purpose. The changes were adopted by Ordinance amending and supplementing Ordinance No. N-18 of 2006 on registration and reporting of sales in commercial establishments through fiscal devices promulgated in State Gazette No.: 80, dated 28.9.2018
The text concerning the registration of online shops is as follows:
Paragraph 29. Chapter seven "d" is created with Articles 52m and 52n:
"Chapter Seven "d"
REQUIREMENTS FOR PERSONS MAKING SALES THROUGH AN E-SHOP
Art. 52m. (1) A person referred to in Article 3 who sells goods or services through an e-shop, whether using his own domain, a rented domain or the domain of another person providing a platform for making sales on the Internet, prior to commencement of the activity of sales of goods/services through an e-shop shall submit information electronically with a qualified electronic signature under the Tax and Social Security Procedural Code through an electronic service in the e-services portal of the NRA, available on the website of the NRA, in accordance with Annex No. 33.
(2) The information referred to in par. 1 shall be submitted separately for each e-shop through which sales are made.
(3) In case of change of the data referred to in par. 1, updated information shall be submitted within 7 days of the change.
(4) In case of termination of the activity of sales of goods/services through an e-shop, the information about this circumstance shall be submitted in accordance with the procedure of par. 1 within 7 days from the termination of the activity.
Art. 52n. Persons making sales through an e-shop shall be obliged to store within the time limits referred to in Article 38, par. The tax authorities shall ensure access to the information created through the e-shop software (current database and backup copies of the database) and, upon request of the tax authorities, to export and copy the data."
At first glance, one of the first controversies that the new regulation raises is the text of Article 52n, namely the conflict with the Personal Data Protection Ordinance and the notorious euroregulation GDPR. On the one hand, according to the NRA regulation we are obliged to keep the database of the online store unchanged for 5 years. On the other hand, according to GDPR we are obliged to delete all personal data about the customer from the DB upon his express will.
All kinds of speculations have started on the internet about the change in Regulation No H-18 some of which border on outright hysteria. I will refrain from adding further fuel to the fire, but I cannot help but note that it is striking that changes to our tax legislation are being made piecemeal, without synchronising them with European directives and the rest of our national legislation.
Below I attach a sample NRA Request for documents and written explanation from an obliged person concerning online shop owners.
I would like to ask the gentlemen from the NRA what happens to the many online stores based on open source systems such as Woocommerce, Magento, Opencart and others if they do not meet their technical requirements for access, format of the information they submit and DB?!
Maybe you will oblige them to migrate to the "correct" and approved by the NRA systems of "our people" which of course are paid?!
Goodbye free code, goodbye GPL license, goodbye freedom of choice!
This is just a small part of the issues that arise around the changes in Ordinance No. H-18 of 2006 on recording and reporting of sales in retail outlets through fiscal devices.
Let everyone draw their own conclusions.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- According to the requirements of the Ordinance, all online shops and online sales channels are subject to registration, including eMag, Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress and others. In other words, if you are a registered trader on any of the mentioned platforms, you must submit a separate registration application for each of the channels you are registered on.
APPLICATIONS:
- Annex 33
- Request of the NRA for the submission of documents and written explanations by an obliged person
Need help registering your online store with the NRA?
We offer the service Completing an application for online shop registration with the NRA
Does the Online Store constitute Point of Sale Management Software (POSMS)?
Pursuant to § 1, item 84 of the Tax Law "point of sale management software" (POSMS) is any software or software module, regardless of the technology used to implement it, used to process information for sales of goods and/or services in a commercial establishment for which there is an obligation to issue a fiscal receipt.
Pursuant to §1, item 19 of the Regulation No. N-18/2006. "sales management" through the use of sales management software in a commercial establishment is the process of automated processing of information for the performance of sales of goods or services, including tracking the movement of goods or the performance of services from their request to their provision and/or payment.
Here is the NRA's interpretation on the matter:
Example 6
An obliged person sells goods through an e-shop. For each order placed by customers of the e-shop, information on the type, name, unit price, quantity and total value of the goods ordered is stored in the database. The status of each order from the time it is placed until the goods are delivered to the customer is reflected.
The software described in the example is a PMS and should meet all the requirements of Regulation No H-18/2006, including being connected to and managing the fiscal device put into operation in the establishment.
Some clarifications:
- If your online store only has a payment method - Payment by bank transfer / Direct bank transfer / Bank account or Cash on delivery via a Licensed Postal Operator /not to be confused with ordinary cash on delivery/ with which you have a contract for such a service, in this case your Online Store IT'S NOT SUPER;
- If you have payment methods in your online store - Cash on delivery / when not via Licensed postal operator/, Payment by debit/credit card, Payment by cheque and the like, or a combination of all of the above, then in this case Your online shop is a PMS and should be connected to and manage the fiscal device put into operation in the shop.
- Interpretation of the NRA regarding the registration of an online shop which does not accept paymentsfor which there is an obligation to issue a fiscal receipt /for example: bank money transfers and postal money transfers/ - "It should be taken into account that a person who makes sales through an e-shop, but does not accept payments for which there is an obligation to issue a fiscal receipt / for example: bank transfers and postal money orders /, does not fall within the scope of the persons obliged under Article 3, accordingly for him there is no obligation under Article 52m to submit the information, referred to in Annex 33 of Regulation No H-18/2006. Only at the request of the person, the same may be included in the public electronic list of electronic stores, which the NRA maintains and is available on the website of the Agency, after submitting the information specified in Annex No. 33 of Regulation No. N-18/2006."
Author's comment:
Whether we like it or not these are the current regulatory requirements for online shop owners. This is yet another blow to small and medium-sized businesses insofar as there are still any in Bulgaria. The bandit overlords in the service of certain lobbyist circles /manufacturers of fiscal devices and not only/ are pushing through another administrative arbitrariness whose only effect will be the ruin of thousands of small businesses and the benefit of a small group of lobbyist companies that will benefit from the whole campaign, because the merchants once again in the last few years will have to change their fiscal devices and sales management software. The only way to stop this arbitrariness is by protesting, and best of all by throwing out for good this venal rabble that has entrenched itself for 30 years in state government and is ruining our State methodically and brazenly with an Enquirer's zeal!
The author of this article is a Master in Financial Management from SA "D. А. Tsenov". Svishtov