Before you start

Public Services Number
A registered entity or sole-trader status, if using a company regime
An Armenian accountant — genuinely necessary here, not a nicety

Step-by-step

1
Establish whether you are an Armenian tax resident
You are resident if you spend 183 days or more in Armenia in a calendar year, or if Armenia is your centre of vital interests — your home, family and principal economic ties — which can bite earlier than 183 days. Residents are taxed on worldwide income at a flat 20%. Non-residents pay only on Armenian-source income. Work out which side of this you are on before you set up anything else, because the answer changes the whole structure.
OnlineWho: Everyone staying more than a few monthsAssess before your first full tax yearFree to assess; advice strongly recommended
2
Register the entity, then choose the regime deliberately
Company registration is same-day and cheap, but the tax regime is a separate election and the one that matters. The three candidates are the 1% high-tech turnover regime, the general turnover-tax regime, and the 0% micro-business regime. Each has a turnover ceiling and an exclusion list, and the exclusions are where relocated professionals get caught. Have an accountant map your actual activity codes onto the regimes before you file anything.
In personWho: Founders and sole tradersAt registrationAccountant fees are modest by Western standards
3
Check the 1% high-tech regime's conditions carefully
Laws HO-498-N and HO-499-N created a 1% turnover tax for high-tech companies, in force from 1 January 2025 and legislated to run through 31 December 2031. To qualify a company must be enrolled in the state High-Tech Registry, derive at least 90% of sales from government-defined high-tech activities (software, data and AI, engineering, R&D), have no overdue tax liabilities, and stay under AMD 115 million in annual turnover. Banks, insurers, legal, accounting and management-consulting firms are expressly excluded. Exceed the ceiling and you wait a full year before you can reapply.
OnlineWho: Software and engineering companiesApplication to the registryFree to apply; 1% of turnover thereafter
4
File on time — the regimes are unforgiving of neglect
Turnover-tax and micro-business filings run on a statutory calendar through the State Revenue Committee's electronic system, keyed to your tax number. Missed filings attract penalties and can cost you the regime. Most foreign founders in Yerevan pay a local accountant a small monthly fee to handle filings, VAT thresholds and payroll — it is inexpensive and it is where the value of local advice actually shows up.
OnlineWho: All entities and sole tradersPer the filing calendarAccountant fee, typically modest monthly

Documents you’ll need

Public Services Number
Company registration documents and tax number
High-Tech Registry enrolment (for the 1% regime)
Turnover records, invoices and contracts
Evidence of days present in Armenia, for the residency test

Things most newcomers don’t know

The '0% micro-business' headline is real and almost certainly does not apply to you if you moved here to do tech or consulting.

The regime taxes turnover up to AMD 24 million at 0%. Since July 2025 it excludes IT and data processing, consulting, legal, accounting, advertising, translation and medical services — precisely the professions of the people who relocated to Yerevan. It remains available for manufacturing, hospitality, education and certain retail. This is the exact shape of Georgia's 1% exclusion trap, in a different jurisdiction.

Source: State Revenue Committee

Armenia's turnover tax got materially more expensive on 1 January 2025 — the trade rate doubled from 5% to 10%.

Coverage written before 2025 describes a 5% trade rate that no longer exists. Production is 7% and catering 12%, with documented-expense credits leaving effective floors of roughly 1%, 3% and 3.5% respectively. Anyone modelling a small trading or hospitality business on pre-2025 figures is understating their tax by half.

Source: State Revenue Committee

The flat 20% on worldwide income is the number that actually governs your personal position, and no company regime removes it.

People conflate the company regimes with their personal tax. The 1% regime taxes the COMPANY's turnover. Money you take out as salary or dividends meets Armenian personal tax rules, and if you are resident, your worldwide income is in scope at 20%. The regimes are a corporate optimisation, not a personal exemption — and the 'Armenia is a 0% country' framing collapses these two into one claim that is not true.

Source: State Revenue Committee

The centre-of-vital-interests limb can make you resident before you hit 183 days.

Most people plan around a day count. Armenia's residency test also catches you if your home, family and principal economic ties are here, which can apply to someone splitting the year across two countries and spending fewer than 183 days in either. If you are running a close-call year, document where your ties actually sit rather than assuming the calendar decides it.

Common mistakes to avoid

Expecting the 0% micro-business regime to apply to IT or consulting work — both excluded since July 2025
Modelling a trading business on the pre-2025 5% turnover rate, which doubled to 10% on 1 January 2025
Treating a company regime as a personal tax exemption — residents pay flat 20% on worldwide income
Assuming Armenia taxes territorially the way regional marketing implies; it does not
Missing the High-Tech Registry conditions — 90% of sales from listed activities, and a hard AMD 115m ceiling

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.