Corporate and personal income taxes will not increase next year, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova announced. She also confirmed that the 2025 budget deficit will be kept within 3% of GDP, with a package of measures targeting both revenues and expenditures to achieve this goal.

The budget for next year does not include removing Covid-related pension supplements, nor does it propose increases to corporate or personal income taxes. Approximately 9 billion leva is expected to be raised through revenue measures, including excise tax hikes on cigarettes, aligned with steps already planned for 2025 and 2026. Discussions are ongoing about maintaining the 0% VAT rate on bread, while other temporarily reduced rates are set to revert to 20%.

Salaries in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense may see gradual increases rather than significant raises all at once, Petkova noted. Additionally, measures aimed at improving the collection of unpaid taxes and insurance contributions are under consideration. One option involves voluntary payment of declared but overdue liabilities with simplified interest. Another provides an opportunity for individuals who failed to declare their income to do so at a higher tax rate—between 15% and 20% instead of the standard 10%—without facing fines, penalties, or interest.

Petkova shared these details after attending the opening of the Euro Week initiative and the Tenth Annual Monetary and Economic Scientific Conference, held at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE).