Armenia's corporate framework offers two main shapes for cross-border movers: the LLC (Sahmanapak Pataskhanatvutyamb Enkerutyun) and the Individual Entrepreneur (IE). For qualifying IT companies, IT-sector certification layers in additional tax treatment. Each has its place.
LLC basics
- Limited liability
- Online formation through the relevant register
- Tax registration follows
- VAT registration depends on activity and turnover
- Annual filings required
IE basics
- Individual entrepreneur status
- Simplified registration
- Turnover tax regime at the published rate (5% historically, with category-specific variations) for qualifying activities below the turnover cap
- Activity restrictions apply - certain activities are excluded from the simplified regime
IT-sector certification
Certified IT companies have historically benefited from reduced corporate tax and payroll incentives. The conditions for certification - qualifying activity, qualifying employees, ongoing compliance - are defined by the relevant programme rules and have been adjusted over time.
The current state of IT certification must be verified at planning time; the headline numbers from a few years ago may not match the current regime.
When each fits
- LLC: for cases with significant operations, multiple stakeholders, or planning for scale
- IE: for genuinely individual professionals operating real activity below the turnover threshold
- Certified IT company: for qualifying IT operations with real substance
Where cases go wrong
- Wrapping foreign employment income as IE turnover - if the only customer is one foreign employer, recharacterisation risk is real
- Treating IT certification as automatic - the activity, employee, and compliance conditions matter
- Ignoring substance - structures without real Armenian operations face place-of-effective-management challenges from the home country
- Underestimating banking - corporate accounts open more easily for cases with clear substance
Banking
Major Armenian banks (Ameriabank, ACBA, Ardshinbank, Inecobank, and others) handle corporate accounts with:
- Formation documents
- UBO documentation
- Source of opening capital
- Business plan / activity description
- Director identification
Clean cases open in weeks. Cases with sensitive source-of-funds patterns - particularly Russia / Belarus-linked - face additional scrutiny.
How we coordinate Armenian setups
- Pick the structure based on real activity and growth path.
- Plan IT-sector certification if the activity qualifies and the certification economically makes sense.
- Build real substance.
- Plan banking early.
- Document source of funds carefully.
Armenia's corporate frameworks are real tools for real operations.