A draft bill was submitted in the Bulgarian parliament on 4 May 2020 that would introduce a reduced VAT rate to support the restaurant and catering sector, which has been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a 9% reduced VAT rate for restaurant and catering services, with a temporary reduced VAT rate of 5% applied from 1 June 2020 to 31 December 2021 in order to help the sector recover more quickly from the effects of the pandemic. Such services are currently subject to the standard 20% VAT rate.