How to open an IE or LLC in Armenia

The public services number (also called the social number, SSN or ՀԾՀ) is a personal number that banks, the tax service and state bodies ask for. The Migration Service issues it, by appointment. Book right away: the nearest free time can be weeks away, and the other steps can be done before the appointment.

1. Open the appointment booking on e-gov. The service is called “Reference on provision of social services number”.
2. Enter your email and phone, then the code sent to your email.
3. Choose a region and an office. Only offices that issue the number are listed.
4. Enter your first and last name in Latin letters, as in your passport, and the passport number. The details must be those of the person who will come.
5. Choose a day and time. A confirmation arrives by email.

From community experience, the offices in central Yerevan (Kentron, Arabkir) are the busiest, while Nubarashen, Erebuni, Shengavit, Malatia and Nor Nork have almost no queues. The office at Tairov 14 does not issue the number.

Armenian state bodies work with documents in Armenian, so you need a translation of your passport's main page certified by a notary. Any notary office will do. Notaries are listed on e-notary.am.

• Order 2–3 copies at once. You will need the translation for the number, for the registration and later for the bank, and a copy costs less than a new translation.
• Check how your name is spelled in Armenian. That spelling goes into every later document, so fix it right away.

Come to the office you chose at your time. Bring:

• your passport with the entry stamp;
• the notarized translation;
• a copy of the passport's main page, just in case.

You get an A4 sheet with the number and a stamp. Usually it is handed over at once; sometimes you are asked to come back the next working day, to the same office. The number is issued once and never changes.

An address is rarely asked for. If it is, any address where you live will do, a rented flat included. Residence registration is not needed.

If you cannot come yourself, the number can be obtained by power of attorney: notary offices do it for about 15,000 drams in 1–2 days.

Without an electronic signature you cannot open the tax cabinet or file a return. Without a residence permit the only option is CoSign from EKENG. It needs the public services number, so order it as soon as you have one: it can take a few days, and after registration there are only 20 days to choose the tax regime.

1. Apply through the form on ekeng.am or by email to support@ekeng.am, attaching scans of your passport and of the sheet with your number.
2. Pay 10,000 drams by bank transfer to the details in EKENG's email. Put your public services number and name in the payment reference.
3. Get identified at the EKENG office, Yerevan, 4 Tigran Mets Ave. (sign ԵԿԵՆԳ over the door). Some people were identified by email, from scans of the passport, the number and the receipt.
4. Receive the signature certificate as a PDF and a login and password by email.

The official signing program, ARX CoSign, runs only on Windows. To set up a user in the tax cabinet the PDF certificate alone is enough.

Registration is accepted at:

• the State Register Agency of Legal Entities, Yerevan, 49/3 Komitas Ave. There can be queues; come by 9 am.
• the public services centre at 3 Vazgen Sargsyan St. The queue is usually 30–60 minutes.
• some HayPost branches in Yerevan, such as 0015, 0018, 0034 and 0070.
• private service centres: they charge 1,500–2,000 drams more but have almost no queue.

Bring your passport (with the notarized translation, for foreigners) and the sheet with your number. You will be asked for your activity and an address in Armenia. The state fee is 3,000 drams plus about 200 drams of terminal commission.

You get an extract from the register, which is your IE certificate. The ՀՎՀՀ field holds your tax number (TIN).

Returns and statements are filed in the cabinet at file-online.taxservice.am. The reliable way is to visit any tax office, no appointment needed. Bring the sheet with your public services number, the registration certificate and your passport or residence card. The application in Armenian is filled in together with the officer, and the administrator login and password arrive by email. Bring a translation of your passport too. Do not go to Khorenatsi 5: it is the head office, not a service office.

• The login is often your TIN, but if the business had administrators before (accountants, for example), it may be the TIN with its last digit one higher.
• After the first login the cabinet may ask you to confirm your email through a link in a letter. Do it within 10 days, or the account is locked and you have to visit the tax office again.

There is also an online application on file-online: confirm your email, fill in the form, sign the contract with your electronic signature. With a foreign passport, the community reports, it does not go through.

A new IE or LLC starts on the general regime: 20% VAT and profit tax. To pay turnover tax instead (the rate depends on the activity; for most services it is 10% of turnover), file a statement (form 201) within 20 days of registration. Miss it, and the general regime stays until the end of the year.

The statement has to be filed again every year, by February 20. Otherwise the general regime applies from January 1. If the cabinet is not ready in time, ask at a tax office how to file the statement another way.