Bulgaria - Tax rise to fund public sector pay - November 30, 2025

Despite criticisms by the opposition, professional associations and business analysts, the Government submitted a 2026 state budget doubling the dividend tax on private businesses to fund a rise in public-sector wages. The changes are widely seen to be a way for the coalition to satisfy loyal voters in the public sector. More than 558,000 work in state-owned structures, according to the latest 2024 data from the National Statistical Institute. Trade unions welcomed the intention to raise salaries but argued that the financing model unfairly shifted the tax burden.

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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu.
You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.