Company Registration in Armenia: Taxes, Accounts, and Timelines

• Legal registration of an LLC takes 1–3 business days and incurs no state fee; however, the company becomes fully operational only after an average of 4–8 weeks, as the timeline is dictated by the bank.
• The 18% profit tax rate applies to a minority of companies; most small and medium-sized enterprises pay a turnover tax, where the rate depends on the type of activity and is reduced based on documented expenses.
• IT certifications have been abolished; they have been replaced by a high-tech registry—featuring a 1% turnover tax rate—and a separate income tax subsidy mechanism for foreign specialists.
• As of July 1, 2025, legal, accounting, and management consulting services are excluded from the turnover tax and micro-business regimes, leaving only the general tax regime available to them.
• Since August, Armenian banks have been applying a specific methodology to assess the risk of sanctions circumvention; consequently, corporate account application rejections have become common, even for companies with a clean corporate structure.
• Registration in Yerevan triggers obligations in Russia, including notifications of participation, account reporting, and compliance with Controlled Foreign Company (CFC) rules.

To put it briefly: an Armenian LLC can be registered in 1–3 business days; there is no state registration fee, no minimum authorized capital requirement, and a foreign national can own the company outright and submit documents via a representative holding a power of attorney. For most new companies, the tax burden consists not of an 18% corporate profit tax, but of a turnover tax ranging from 1% to 12%, depending on the business activity. However, the timeline for when a company actually begins operations and accepting payments is determined by the bank rather than the state registry: it typically takes four to eight weeks from the submission of documents to the receipt of the first incoming transfer. We will now examine each of these three aspects—taxes, bank accounts, and timelines—in detail, and highlight the areas where entrepreneurs from Russia tend to lose time and money.

What Has Changed in Armenian Regulations Over the Last Two Years

Armenia is no longer just a simple story of "5% turnover tax and no questions asked." The tax system has become more complex but also more predictable: tax breaks are now tied to official registries and activity codes rather than one-off certificates. Online information published before 2025 is completely outdated, which is a primary reason why entrepreneurs arrive in Yerevan with incorrect expectations.

Abolition of IT Certificates and the High-Tech Registry

The IT certification program has been discontinued: applications ceased in November 2024, and the associated tax benefits expired on January 1, 2025. It has been replaced by a law on state support for the high-tech sector, effective through the end of 2031. Companies listed in the high-tech registry qualify for a 1% turnover tax rate, provided that at least 90% of their revenue comes from "qualified activities," annual turnover does not exceed 115 million drams, and there are no outstanding tax arrears.
An alternative exists for companies that exceed the turnover limit or conduct development work with a large payroll: the general tax regime. This offers a deduction of 200% of relevant employees' salary costs from the corporate income tax base, plus a subsidy covering 60% of the personal income tax withheld for foreign specialists. The 1% turnover rate and general regime benefits cannot be combined; a choice must be made annually by February 20. New companies have a different deadline—20 days from the date of registration—and missing this window automatically places the company on the general regime for the entire first year.

Health Insurance and Stamp Duty: New Recurring Costs

Mandatory health insurance came into effect in Armenia on January 1 of this year. For an employee, the contribution is 10,800 drams per month and is withheld by the employer upon salary payment. For an individual entrepreneur, the contribution is a fixed 129,600 drams per year, payable as a lump sum in advance if the previous year's turnover exceeded 2,400,001 drams.
The military tax has evolved into a stamp duty with two tiers: 12,000 drams for an annual turnover of up to 12 million drams, and 120,000 drams for turnover above that amount. Crossing this threshold causes the fixed payment to jump tenfold; consequently, businesses with a turnover near the 12-million-dram mark plan their year with this figure in mind. While these amounts are modest by European standards, they are fixed and independent of profit—meaning they belong in the financial model rather than under "miscellaneous expenses."

Taxes for Armenian Companies: Calculating the Tax Burden in Practice

The Armenian Tax Code offers three regimes, and the difference in tax liability between them—based on the same revenue figure—can be substantial (varying by multiples). A mistake at this stage is the costliest of all, as the tax regime can generally only be changed once a year, rather than at will.

Turnover Tax and Deductions for Documented Expenses

The turnover tax regime is available for companies with annual revenue of up to 115 million drams. Nominal rates are as follows: trade 10%, manufacturing 7%, food service 12%, other services 10%, and high-tech/R&D 1%. Starting in 2025, a mechanism applies that reduces the tax based on a portion of documented expenses, subject to a minimum floor. For services, up to 6% of turnover can be deducted, though the effective rate cannot drop below 4.5%. For trade, the deduction reaches 9.5% of procurement costs (with a 1% floor); for manufacturing, the deduction is 5% (with a 3% floor); and for food service, it is 9% (with a 3.5% floor).
This leads to a practical conclusion that is rarely voiced: a marketing agency or production studio with actual expenses for contractors, advertising, and software pays around 5% of turnover rather than 10%. However, this applies only if expense documents are issued to the Armenian legal entity, listing its Armenian address and tax ID number. Here, accounting translates directly into money; skimping on an accountant can wipe out half the savings gained from the chosen regime.

General Regime, VAT, and Profit Distribution

If turnover exceeds 115 million drams, the company switches to the general tax regime: 18% corporate income tax and 20% VAT. Service exports are subject to a 0% VAT rate, making an Armenian legal entity an attractive option for working with foreign clients. Starting from the second year of operations, quarterly advance corporate income tax payments apply; the amount is the lesser of two figures: 20% of the previous year's tax or 2% of the previous quarter's revenue.
Dividends are taxed at a rate of 5% upon payout. Capital gains tax does not apply to the sale of a company share by an individual, and there are no inheritance or wealth taxes in Armenia. Payments to non-residents for services are subject to a 20% withholding tax; this can only be waived by presenting a tax residency certificate from the counterparty under an applicable treaty—Armenia has over fifty such agreements.

Who is excluded from preferential regimes?

As of July 1, 2025, professional services—such as legal, accounting, and management consulting, as well as certain types of recruitment—are excluded from both the turnover tax and micro-business regimes. A consultant arriving in Yerevan expecting a 5% rate might find themselves subject to the general tax regime, including corporate income tax and VAT. The zero-rate micro-business regime remains available for turnover up to 24 million drams, but the list of permitted activities is narrow, and most service-oriented sectors are excluded.
A specific nuance involves activity codes. Marketing and management consulting appear side-by-side in the classification system, yet they carry different tax implications. The code is selected during registration and determines the tax regime for the entire following year; therefore, this entry in the application should be discussed with a tax consultant rather than simply filled out by analogy with the Russian OKVED system.

IT-OFFSHORE Expert Opinion

Over the past two years, we have stopped starting projects in Armenia with the question, "Which legal form should we register?" The first question is now different: who are your payers, from which countries do the funds originate, and how will you document the source of those funds? The reason is simple: the corporate registry registers almost everyone, whereas banks reject roughly one in three applicants due to poorly prepared documentation—and a rejection from one bank makes dealing with the next one more difficult. That is why we compile the banking application package alongside the incorporation documents, or sometimes even beforehand: we clear the client’s profile with the bank first and only then submit the paperwork to the registry. While this sequence may seem unconventional, it eliminates the project’s primary risk: ending up with a company that exists legally but cannot accept a single payment.

 

Timelines: How long the launch actually takes

The "three days" figure often cited in marketing materials refers to just one of the five stages. A realistic schedule looks different, and it is useful to know it before promising payment details to a client.

Registration in the state registry

Checking name uniqueness takes one day. Preparing the articles of association, the founder's resolution, and the application takes one to two days. Registering an LLC with the State Register Agency for Legal Entities takes 1–3 business days; an expedited procedure costs 30,000 drams. The registration certificate and tax ID number are issued simultaneously.
A remote setup process adds logistics time. A power of attorney must be notarized at the founder's location, apostilled if necessary, and the passport translated into Armenian. Courier delivery of the original power of attorney takes three to seven days. In total, the process from start to receiving the certificate usually takes ten to fourteen calendar days—provided nothing goes missing in transit. We always begin with a scan for a preliminary check, as redoing a notarized document would cost another week.

What happens after receiving the certificate

The clock starts ticking immediately after registration. A declaration of the ultimate beneficial owner must be filed within 40 days of registration and subsequently confirmed annually by February 20; penalties for non-compliance range from 30,000 to 100,000 drams, and systematically ignoring this requirement for three consecutive years leads to court-ordered liquidation. Selecting a tax regime takes 20 days. A foreign director must obtain a social security card—without it, certain banking and tax operations are unavailable—a process that takes one to two days.
Next comes accounting, which is handled on a monthly basis in Armenia. Statistical reports are filed monthly; payroll taxes are due by the 20th of the following month; turnover tax is paid quarterly; and the annual report is due by April 20. Starting this year, all notifications from the tax authorities are sent exclusively to the electronic account, meaning "I didn't receive the letter" is no longer a valid argument when contesting a fine.

The Bank Account: Where the Project Often Stalls

Company registration and opening a bank account are two separate procedures governed by different logics. The registry verifies the formal aspects of the documentation. The bank, however, vets you, your counterparties, and the economic rationale behind your intended transactions. The latter process takes between two and six weeks and culminates in a decision made entirely at the bank's discretion.

New Compliance Requirements

Decision No. 21-N of the Central Bank of Armenia Board, dated January 30, 2026, introduced specific requirements for identifying risks associated with the circumvention of international sanctions; these rules came into effect on August 12. Banks are required to maintain their own risk assessment methodology—reviewed at least annually—and to analyze not merely the client’s name against sanctions lists but the entire transaction structure: counterparties, intermediaries, jurisdictions involved, the origin of goods, services, and technologies, the payment chain, and the economic purpose of the deal.
In practical terms, this means the following: Russian citizenship is not, in itself, a barrier, and refusing service solely on the basis of a passport is unlawful. However, due diligence has become more rigorous, and requests for documentation regarding specific payments have become a routine part of operations rather than an exception. A company unable to quickly retrieve the contract, invoice, and acceptance certificate for any given incoming transfer will sooner or later face a transaction suspension.

Preparing the Documentation Package and Choosing a Bank

There is no "universal" document package that guarantees account opening at any bank. Success depends on matching a client’s profile with a bank whose risk appetite aligns with that profile. Ardshinbank, Ameriabank, Inecobank, Unibank, IDBank, and Converse Bank all work with foreign founders, yet their requirements and processing speeds vary; it is not uncommon for the same client to be rejected by one bank while being approved by another during the very same week. We prepare a dossier in advance, tailored to the specific bank: a plain-language description of the business model, contracts with key clients, statements for active accounts in other jurisdictions, tax returns, proof of the source of funds, and an explanation of projected turnover and payment destinations. We cover working with banks and payment solutions in greater detail in the "Banking" and "Processing" sections. When time is tight, ready-made companies with existing accounts offer a sensible alternative—you gain an operational structure immediately, without the month-long wait for a compliance decision.

Obligations of the owner arising in Russia

Owning an Armenian company does not exempt the owner from Russian legal requirements. Most articles overlook this, yet the tax implications are far more significant than the mere difference between 1% and 5% tax rates.

Notifications and reports

A Russian tax resident who acquires a stake in a foreign entity must file a notification of participation within three months of the date such participation begins. Currency residents must notify the tax authorities within one month of opening, modifying the details of, or closing a foreign bank account, and must submit an annual report on the movement of funds. Armenia is included in the list of jurisdictions with which the Federal Tax Service engages in the automatic exchange of financial information; consequently, account data reaches the Russian tax authorities without a specific request, while the range of permitted currency transactions for such accounts is notably broader.

Controlled Foreign Company (CFC) rules

An Armenian LLC with a Russian controlling person falls under the Controlled Foreign Company (CFC) rules. A notification regarding such a company must be filed annually; if profits exceed the statutory threshold, they are included in the taxable income base, while taxes paid in Armenia are credited against Russian tax liabilities under the double taxation avoidance agreement between the two countries. A separate risk assessment is required regarding the potential classification of the Armenian company as a Russian tax resident based on its place of effective management: if all decisions are made from Moscow while the Yerevan presence is limited to a registered address, the structure becomes vulnerable. A genuine director, a local office, local expenses, and verifiable business activities are not merely cosmetic formalities but essential conditions for the structure's stability.

For whom Armenia is a good fit—and who should look further afield

A jurisdiction is not inherently good or bad; its value depends on the specific objective. We advise roughly one in five clients who specifically request Armenia to consider a different country instead—simply because we will be working with that corporate structure for years to come.

Scenarios where Armenia works well

Software development and R&D with a turnover of up to 115 million drams: a 1% tax rate combined with zero-rated VAT on service exports creates a tax burden that is hard to match elsewhere in the region. Intra-Eurasian Economic Union trade: Armenia’s membership opens up a market of approximately 184 million consumers with no customs duties. Manufacturing operations with tangible expenses, where a deduction of 5% of documented costs lowers the effective tax rate to 3%. And structures where the owner requires a residence permit: holding a share in the company provides grounds for obtaining one, eventually paving the way to permanent residency.
It is worth noting an upcoming change here. Starting November 1, 2026, formal thresholds will be introduced for obtaining a residence permit based on business ownership: an LLC must have a share capital of at least 2 million drams, or the share must hold an equivalent value. For those planning to relocate, it makes sense to establish this capital upon initial registration rather than adding to it later via a separate procedure. Details regarding immigration solutions can be found in the "Residence Permit" section.

When it makes more sense to choose a different jurisdiction

Consulting and professional services in Armenia are no longer eligible for preferential tax regimes; for these sectors, Georgia or the UAE often offer a more straightforward economic proposition. Businesses targeting European clients and payment services may find Estonia more suitable, given its deferred corporate income tax system. Projects involving cryptocurrency should look toward jurisdictions with dedicated regulations; some of these options are listed in the "Crypto-offshores" section. We begin by analyzing your business model: where the revenue comes from, who the payers are, where your employees are located, your projected turnover for the next two years, and whether personal relocation is required. Only then do we specify the jurisdiction, the timeline, and the total cost—broken down by stage—with no additional fees arising later on. Details and cost estimates for Armenia are available on the "Company Registration in Armenia" page, and you can discuss your specific situation using the contact details or the Moscow phone number listed on the website.