New Inn
In my experience of dealing with the Revenue 99.9 times out of a hundred they are quite happy to accept the figures which you give them without any documentary evidence. If you voluntarily advise them that you have made a capital gain from some property in a far away country and that you now wish to pay some tax to them I am quite sure that they will immediately assume that you are a very decent and honest person and I cannot imagine that they would then want to waste their own time demanding documents which are in Bulgarian and which they cannot understand.

Inland Revenue
Can I make a suggestion? Having once worked for Customs and Excise (now Revenue & Customs) why doesnt someone phone them up and ask how they would treat this issue? They will tell you.

This topic was on another forum and someone had phoned them. IR said that you declare on your tax return what you have made so its up to you. They do spot checks on some so you could get caught out if you did lie on it.

New Inn
Londonman - can I make a suggestion? Having previously worked for Customs and Excise then you are the ideal "someone" to phone them!!! Flatlander - what do you mean by lie? The price you paid is the truth. The lie, if there is one, is the price on the notary deed, and you would not declare that to the Revenue

IR
I dont work for the IR anymore so I wont be calling them!

Can't remember what I meant by lie now! Think I just meant generally speaking its up to you what you put on it. But you're right, it would't be a lie if you put down what you paid for it. It might be worth just looking on tax self assessment form to see if they ask you just to put on price you paid or more specifically what is on notary etc. If they just ask you what what you paid then its a bit of a non-issue!

this wouldn't appear on the self assessment form itself - it would appear if anywhere on the supplementary CGT pages which you have to request separartely.

Furniture
I assume people have had the furniture offer from New Inn. Works out at just under 3,000 pound for a studio, which as expected is pretty pricey. They say it meets tour brochure standards necessary etc. Anyone planning to do it themselves and does anyone know of any firms in Bansko that can furnish for you and ensure it still meets these "standards"?

Furniture
I thought it seemed pretty basic - for example no kettle, toaster or microwave, none of which my wife could live without! The prices for the electricals and the linen also seemed pretty expensive. But think of it like this - say they have 80 apartments to rent, and 50 bookings that week - which 50 apartments would you use if you were Lakon? The 50 with identical furniture packs bought from them or the ones with different furniture and appliances? I would be the first to complain if my friends were put in a really nicely furnished apartment with a kettle, toaster and microwave and my apartment had none of these. You would have the best apartment but it would be the last one to be rented out. In the tour operator business better is not best!

You guys probably know that the New Inn is our next neighbour across the street (not obstructing our views). They are in the process now to put the roof on so, I guess, things are moving along there. I suppose you are also aware that the developer of the New Inn is also the builder of the Monastery, and the Refectory and a few other jewels. I am sure there are some of you out there who have seen the "Italian" furniture packages at the Monastery :lol: The way the developer will work with tour operators will be the same as for the Monastery (and Refectory). Ask redcoatduke what letting services they provide and what's the occupancy. On the other hand, Pilot Paul, I hear from a lot of developers here that they complain about the buyers who are ready to spend 150.000 Euros for an apartment but want to get the complete furniture for 5.000 Euros. Which is bullocks. You have to realise that Bulgaria still is not a mass production market. You can find massive, carpenter made to order furniture much cheaper than at home, yes. But all the rest is as expensive (or more) than back in the UK. Look around back home and consider how much it would cost you to furnish your place decently. Why do you think things are for free in Bulgaria? - I pay more for my computers and all kinds of appliances here than I do in Germany, for example. And I do stuff my bags when I am returning from a trip there. By the end of April our property management company "Bansko Property Managers Ltd." (www.bansko-estates.com) will have an online catalogue with furniture packages and complete "rental kits" (cutlery, crockery, linen...). Maybe you should wait till then before you order from someone else ( a little self-marketing, hehe). After all, the New Inn won't be finished soon. :wink: Frank

My old friends Archadia! Have been through all the issues talked about during my purchase at the Monastery. I got the full price on the Notary, but used the fact that the building was a year late to get this and threats of exposure in the UK press. Looks like they have toughened up. Yes you will have to pay to an American company in Hungary. Yes you will be asked to pay your next installment before you should. Yes the building will be massively delayed - The Monastery is still not really totally finished and it should have been 18 months ago! When it is you will probably find workers have been living in your apt. In the end though you will have bought a good quality apt in the right location! Furniture wise, I used a company in Varna (OK) and several carloads to Sofia and Blagovgrad - a huge amount of hassle. If I was buying another property I would add great weight to the service provided by companies, haven't dealt with companies like Ardmore, Bower etc, but from their posts they seem to give a much more honest service. Worth its weight in gold in my opinion. BanskoBoy

I have been in contact with Alexanderservices.co.uk (based in bansko). They provide a furnishing service - I worked it out and to get fully furnished (standard suitable for tour company) it works out at 5000 leva at the most for studio (thats about 1,700 pound compared to Lakons 2,900). They also have a letting service which is 15 per cent (not sure what Lakons is yet but I am guessing it will be around 25 per cent as that is what it was for Refectory). They have a deal with a tour operator for another complex (20-25 apartments). I queried about New Inn. They said they could see if an operator would be interested but they would obviously need more than one person. I asked how many and they said the same operator has 7 apartments in another block. If anyone is interested it may be worth seeing how many names we could get together then see if its a possibilty, so let me know. I'll also put a post on mybulgaria to see if there are any others at New Inn. I know the temptation is to go with Lakon as they are the developer, but from reading a long thread on mybulgaria people seemed pretty disgruntled with the service at their previous developments (i.e. dodgy contracts, no replies from them, rent received 6 monthly, with one owner saying they had got no money depite being told their apartment had been let!). I think it would be better to deal with a small company like Alexander Services as with these big companies it seems virtually impossible to get hold of them when you want. Of course if apartment is up to tour letting standard I assume it would be possible to go back with Lakon if desired.

New Inn Rentals
Count me in as one of the seven! The obvious question though is who would generate the most bookings - Alexander or Lakon!