Half of Bulgarian Holiday Rentals Set to Vanish from Airbnb and Booking Under New EU Rules

From May 20, 2026, around half of Bulgarian short-term rental listings are expected to disappear from platforms such as Airbnb and Booking, as new EU rules on digital registration and data exchange come into force. The information was reported by TravelNews, citing Boris Pavlov, chairman of the Bulgarian Association for Tourist Properties and Innovations (ATII) and founder of Flat Manager.

The new framework requires platforms to automatically exchange data with national authorities and to list only properties that have a valid registration number issued by municipalities and entered into the Unified Tourist Information System (ESTI) under the Ministry of Tourism. According to Pavlov, properties without proper registration will be automatically removed from booking platforms once the system is active. He also claimed that roughly half of Bulgaria’s holiday accommodation sector currently operates in the informal economy and does not declare taxes, meaning these listings will no longer be visible online after the change takes effect.

Industry data from ATII shows that more than 10,200 Bulgarian properties are currently listed on Airbnb, while Booking.com hosts over 15,100. Sofia leads the market with around 2,200 listings on Airbnb and 2,100 on Booking, followed by Varna with about 1,300 properties. Bansko records 769 listings on Airbnb and around 1,100 on Booking, while Plovdiv has over 650 properties listed across platforms.

The measure is part of Regulation (EU) 2024/1028, adopted by the European Parliament in 2024. Under the new system, a software-based control mechanism will verify registration numbers in real time, automatically deactivating listings that fail validation. Miroslav Gospodinov, founder and CEO of myDataValue, explained that this will effectively eliminate undeclared rental activity and reduce the grey sector by removing non-compliant properties from the market.

The new rules also redefine tax obligations for individual hosts. They are required to register under the VAT Act due to services received from foreign platforms, specifically under Article 97a, a form of registration without the right to VAT credit. This means owners must pay 20% VAT on platform commissions, alongside other obligations such as patent tax, which varies depending on property size (approximately 128 euros for a one-bedroom apartment up to 383 euros for a three-bedroom unit annually), a tourist tax, and a 10% income tax. In addition, individuals are also subject to social security contributions reaching nearly 42% of income.

For legal entities, the system differs, as they are exempt from patent tax and do not carry the same social security burden on this income, while benefiting from the reduced 9% VAT rate applicable to tourism services.