Bulgaria

The measures to support creativity and artists are included in different acts of Bulgarian legislation referring to different aspects of creative activity of authors: labor relations, social insurance and protection against unemployment, taxation, levies, tax exemptions for donors in cultural sector, etc. SOCIAL PROTECTION Social security for artists is regulated by the Labor Code and the Ordinance on Social Security of ersons !ho ractice a Liberal rofession or "ngage in Trade, or !or# $ithout "ntering into an "mployment %elationship. &nder these la$s, artists practicing a liberal profession are treated e'ually $ith those $ho have registered companies as sole traders or partners in commercial corporations under the Commercial Code. (n all three cases, artists have t$o options. )irst, to pay compulsory social security contributions for all types of retirement insurance *retirement, old age, disability, survivor+s pension, at the rate of --. of an income of their choice, $hich may not be less than t$o or more than eight national minimum $ages. Second, to pay voluntary contributions at the rate of /-. for all types of social insurance *pensions, sic#ness benefits, monthly child benefits,. 0rtists *1ust li#e all other employees, $ho have signed a contract of employment *e.g. an artist employed by an advertising agency, are sub1ect to compulsory social security contributions at the rate of /2. of their gross salary, payable by the employer, and -. payable by the employee. 0nother contribution is due to the Occupational Training and &nemployment )und. (n vie$ of the specificity of the $or# performed by artists, $ho usually practice a liberal profession, the amended Transitional and )inal rovisions of the rotection and 3evelopment of Culture 0ct entitle artists $ho have $or#ed for at least 4 of the past 5- months *$ithout entering into an employment relationship in artistic associations, to unemployment benefits. TAXATION AND TAX EXEMPTIONS 0rtists pay taxes under the ersonal (ncome Tax 0ct, $hich allo$s them to deduct 67. of their expenses from the taxable income for the creation of $or#s of art, science and culture, fol# arts and crafts, and copyright royalties. )urthermore, ta#ing into account the specificity of creative $or#, the legislation provides an opportunity for income averaging derived from creative $or# performed in the course of more than one year *e.g. the $riting of a boo#,, but not exceeding four years. 0rtists thus avoid the progressive annual income tax. To encourage private persons and companies to sponsor the development of the arts and culture, the legislator has offered resident and non resident natural persons and legal entities a tax deduction up to 57. for donations for cultural purposes, as $ell as for conservation and restoration of historical and cultural monuments, or for grants *the tax deduction rate $as increased from 6 . to 57. under amendments to the Corporate (ncome Tax 0ct adopted in -77-,.

Cultural Policies The particularly important role of 89Os in the mobilisation of society for successful resolution of the problems of transition has become obvious in the past years. The data sho$ an increasing participation of the third sector in supporting cultural pro1ects. )oundations offer three main forms of support to artists: : talent scouting and arrangement of exhibitions, sho$s, competitions and other forums for young hopefuls : creation and improvement of $or#ing and training conditions *facilities, $or#shops, courses etc., : grants for education or specialisation abroad. There are several large 89Os in Bulgaria such as the foundations Open Society, )uture for Bulgaria, SS Cyril and ;ethodius, the 5/ Centuries Bulgaria )und and, since -777, the 8ational Culture )und $hich, together $ith the Phare Program, granted a total of more than &S3 <,<24,/5< for cultural pro1ects from 5==> to -775. Obviously, the ma1or sponsor of culture during the revie$ed period is the Open Society )oundation. 0t the same time the )oundation, through its Soros Centre for the 0rts, has developed speciali?ed programs *on visual arts, theatre, music, literature, cultural heritage,, as $ell as a comprehensive database, through $hich it provides consulting services to Bulgarian and foreign artists and experts. The National Culture Fund of Bulgaria $as established under Chapter 6 of the rotection and 3evelopment of Culture 0ct *5===,. (nitiated and supported by the ;inister of Culture, it started on <th 8ovember -777 at the first Board ;eeting. The ;inistry of Culture ensures the conditions of its functioning. The )und $as established to support the development of culture by collecting, managing and spending resources designated to carry out the national policy in the field of culture. Structured 0ccording to the rotection and 3evelopment of Culture 0ct * 3C0,, the )und is managed by a ;anagement Board, Control Council and an "xecutive 3irector. "ligible applicants for receiving financial aid from the 8ational Culture )und are public *state and municipal, and private cultural organisations. &p to -776, the )und concentrates its efforts to provide alternative funding to significant Bulgarian culture activities and sites in the follo$ing programmes: : rogramme for support of research and preservation of immovable cultural heritage *a programme started in -77-, : Start up of a ne$ programme for support of immovable cultural monuments : Continuation of the programme for support of publishing of critical literature in the field of arts and cultural studies. Bearing in mind that the studies of literature is in the focus of the 8ational Boo# Centre, the 8ational Culture )und targeted in -77publication in the field of arts history and critics, theatre studies, musicology, cinemalogy, cultural studies. The priority is to support the ne$ Bulgarian research in these fields. Continuation of the )und+s programme for support of: creation and maintaining of a rubri'ue for operative critics in the nationally distributed $ee#lies@ nationally distributed arts+ and culture periodicals.

: Continuation of the -77- programme for support of fulfilling the library funds in the country $ith boo#s in human studies and contemporary Bulgarian literature. : Continuation of the programme for one:year grants for youngest generation in the national high schools of arts. (n -77/, 67 scholarships have been distributed. : 0 ne$ grants programme for support of circus performances and fello$ships for circus art abroad. : Continuation in -77-:-77/ of the grants programme *started in -775, for preservation and popularisation of the authentic Bulgarian fol#lore. The collected archive of authentic fol#lore, available at the )ol#lore (nstitute $ith the Bulgarian 0cademy of Sciences, is the base for future research in the field. : Continuation of the grants programme for realisation of contemporary Bulgarian music. (n -776, the focus has been on the production of phonograms of famous Bulgarian composers. : rogramme for support of museum exhibitions for promotion of Bulgarian fine arts and cultural heritage in Bulgaria and abroad. The programme supports catalogues+ publishing and other promotion activities in order to intensify the interest and the flo$ of visitors. : The )und continues the grants programme for support of debuts for theatre producers on professional stage. The 8ational Theatre Centre offers grants for theatre pro1ects, therefore the 8ational Culture )und decided to focus on young creation in drama, puppet and dance:theatre in Bulgaria. : rogramme for cultural and ethnical integration : related to survey on authentic fol#lore of different ethnical groups@ development of performing arts and literature creativity of culturally diverse communities in the country. : rogramme for support of translations of Bulgarian literature into various "uropean languages. Source National Co!!ission of t"e Re#u$lic of Bulgaria for %NESCO& Marc" '(()