Registering a Business in Armenia: IE & LLC

For most foreigners the choice is simple: register as an Individual Entrepreneur (IE, also called a private enterprise or PE) if you’re a solo freelancer, or form a limited liability company (LLC) if you need a separate legal entity, partners or limited personal liability. State registration runs through the Agency for State Register of Legal Entities and its electronic system at e-register.am. In-person filings are open to foreign citizens; the fully online path still expects an Armenian ID card and digital signature. You’ll find the official fees and timelines on Armenia’s National Services Gateway, plus what to file and the steps that follow - tax regime, bank account and residence - without pretending the paperwork is finished when you get a registration number.

Not legal, tax or immigration advice. Figures below come from Armenia’s National Services Gateway (english.hartak.am), the e-register portal and the State Revenue Committee (src.am), checked on 1 September 2026. Rules and fees change. Confirm every number on the official pages or with a qualified Armenian adviser before you act.

IE or LLC: pick the shape first

An IE is you, personally, registered to trade under your own name. There’s no separate company shell: contracts, tax filings and liability sit on the individual. That keeps the setup light - passport (with a notarised Armenian translation if you’re a foreigner), the state duty receipt for an in-person filing, and a chosen activity code - and registration’s usually finished the same day.

An LLC is a legal person. Founders can be individuals or other companies; the company has a charter, an executive head and a stated charter capital. Armenian law doesn’t set a minimum charter capital amount, though the online form won’t accept a zero figure, so founders enter an amount at their discretion. Liability for company debts is generally limited to the company’s assets, which is why people with staff, investors or higher operational risk lean this way.

Neither form is “better” in the abstract. Solo remote contractors often start as an IE because the dossier is thinner. Anyone building a shareholding structure, a cleaner split between personal and business assets, or room for co-founders usually needs the LLC. Tax rates are a separate decision after registration - they aren’t locked in by the legal form alone - and they belong in the taxes for foreigners in Armenia article rather than here.

Where you file: e-register, offices, banks, Haypost

The electronic front door is https://www.e-register.am. English service cards that mirror the same Agency live on the National Services Gateway at english.hartak.am. In person you can go to the Agency’s offices - the gateway guide lists the main address in Yerevan as Komitas 49 - or to regional offices of the same Agency. Some commercial banks and Haypost branches also accept company filings; always confirm with that branch first. Companies in banking, credit or insurance must go through the Central Bank of Armenia instead of the ordinary register path.

Online registration for both IE and LLC is currently limited to people who hold an Armenian identification card and an active digital signature (or YesEm mobile ID). Hartak’s online LLC card lists applicants as citizens of the Republic of Armenia. Foreign founders without that stack usually register in person, with notarised Armenian translations of passports for the founder and the executive head. That’s the practical split most newcomers hit first.

Registering as an Individual Entrepreneur

For an in-person IE filing, Armenia’s public service card lists:

• Who: RA citizens and foreigners
• State duty: 3,000 AMD, paid to the state budget (treasury account 900005160750 for paper applications, or via the e-payments system)
• Timing: registration is immediate once documents and activity type are accepted
• Documents: passport or ID; for non-citizens, the passport with a notarised Armenian translation, plus the duty receipt

The online IE card, aimed at people with ID and e-signature, lists the service as free and also immediate, with the registration statement and taxpayer identification number (TIN) sent by email. That card lists applicants as citizens of the Republic of Armenia too - the same limit the LLC card carries. Treat those two cards as published: offline duty is 3,000 AMD; the online citizen path is listed free. Don’t assume the free online route will open for a foreign passport alone.

Registering an LLC

For an in-person LLC, the gateway card states:

• Who: Armenian and foreign citizens
• State fee for registration: free
• Delivery: up to 2 business days in the card header; the detailed note adds 1 business day when founders are individuals, 2 business days when a legal entity is among the founders, and immediate registration when you use the statutory sample forms
• Foreign founders: the card itself lists only the passports of the founder and of the executive head, each with a notarised Armenian translation. The portal’s step-by-step guide adds a public services number (social card) for a non-citizen founder - get it before you go, it is issued separately. The founder decision or minutes, the charter (sample or custom) and the name application are the same papers the citizen route needs

Online LLC registration is listed as free and immediate, but only with ID card, card reader and digital signature, and only on the standard sample charter. After acceptance you receive a registration statement with the state registration number and TIN.

Name choice has a few traps. You’ll need the legal form in the corporate name (for example LLC) plus a distinctive element. Words such as Armenia, Armenian or Armenians (and their translations) need a separate name-registration application and an annual state duty of 600,000 AMD, with the first payment due at registration. Seal stamps aren’t mandatory; if you buy one privately, hartak cites a typical private price band of 8,000-12,000 AMD, which is not a state fee.

The twenty days that matter after you register

Registration is the start of compliance, not the finish. Armenia’s official business life-event guide is blunt on three points - and you’ll feel the deadlines fast:

1. Tax regime within 20 days. You must choose the taxation system that will apply. If you intend to use the micro-enterprise or turnover (simplified) system, you must file the relevant declaration with the tax authority inside that 20-day window. Miss it and you are taxed under the general system for that tax year. Which regime fits which activity, and what the rates and ceilings are, is covered in taxes for foreigners in Armenia and must be confirmed on src.am - this page does not reprint rate tables on purpose.

2. Beneficial ownership within 40 days. Legal entities must submit a beneficial ownership declaration within 40 days of registration. Individual entrepreneurs do not file that declaration.

3. Bank account. For legal entities, having a business bank account is described as mandatory. IEs still need a practical account for tax payments and client transfers. The mechanics for foreigners - documents, in-person identification, multi-currency options - sit in opening a bank account in Armenia.

Licensed activities (pharmacies, foreign exchange, banking, education programmes, gambling and others listed in the Law on Licensing) need a separate licence after or alongside registration. Don’t treat a register extract as permission for a licensed trade.

Business as a ground for residence

Running an active IE or company is a recognised ground for temporary residence in Armenia. That doesn’t mean a registration extract automatically produces a residence card. Immigration officers look for genuine activity, A 2026 reform of the residence rules adds financial thresholds and process changes to business-based applications, but it is reported to take effect on 1 November 2026 - it was first announced for 1 August and then shifted, so confirm the live date before you file. Apply before it lands and the current rules still govern your file. For types of permit, fees, timelines and the reform detail, read the Armenia residence permit article, and confirm conditions with the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which handles residence permits. The same reform is set to retire the migration.e-gov.am portal on 1 November 2026, so check which channel is accepting applications on the day you apply. Register first, open the bank account, start real operations, then file residence on that ground - not the other way around.

A practical order of steps

Work through it in this sequence so you don’t burn the 20-day tax window:

1. Decide IE vs LLC and check whether your activity needs a licence.
2. Prepare identity papers; foreigners should budget time for notarised Armenian translations.
3. File at e-register in person (or online if you truly hold Armenian e-signature credentials). Keep the registration statement and TIN.
4. Within 20 days, elect your tax regime through the tax authority’s electronic reporting system - or accept the general system by default.
5. Open the business (or IE) bank account.
6. If you formed an LLC, file beneficial ownership within 40 days.
7. Only then assemble a residence file on the business ground, if that is your plan.

State registration itself is often the cheapest and fastest piece: 3,000 AMD for an in-person IE, free for a standard LLC on the published cards, with same-day or few-day turnaround when documents are clean. The cost that catches people is the supporting chain - translations, legal address arrangements, accounting and the tax election - not the register fee on the hartak card.

What this guide is for - and what it isn’t

Use this page to choose IE or LLC, find the official filing channels, budget the published state fees and hit the post-registration deadlines. Lean on the tax, bank and residence articles for the specialised layers that sit on top of a fresh registration number. Re-check e-register.am, english.hartak.am and src.am on the day you file, because the cards above were verified on 1 September 2026 and official fees and procedures don’t stand still.