Micro business in Armenia: who still qualifies in 2026

A micro business in Armenia pays no tax on its turnover, as long as last year's turnover across all its activities stayed within AMD 24,000,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. MB-01: Microbusiness turnover cap. Sources agree, not verified. That part is simple. The hard part is who is allowed in. Legal, accounting, auditing, consulting and notarial work are out for certain. For the jobs most foreign freelancers actually do (software, design, marketing, translation) sources disagree about whether the regime is still open after the changes of 2025. Teaching and tutoring appear to still qualify. And even where it applies, it is not free: stamp duty and health insurance still come on top.

What the micro-business regime is

Micro-business is one of the special tax regimes an individual entrepreneur (IE) can elect instead of turnover tax or the general system. If you qualify, the business pays no turnover tax at all. Two conditions decide whether you can use it: your activity must not be on the excluded list, and your turnover must be under the cap.

The cap is tested on the previous year, and it counts every activity of the business together MB-01: Microbusiness turnover cap. Sources agree, not verified. A tutor who also sold a few handmade items through the same IE counts both. If you registered this year and have no previous year yet, how the cap is applied in your first year is worth confirming with the State Revenue Committee or an accountant before you rely on it.

The regime is not automatic. Like turnover tax, you elect it: within 20≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. days of registering as a new IE DL-01: Regime election after registration. Sources agree, not verified, or by February 20≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. for the year if you are already registered DL-02: Annual regime election. Sources agree, not verified. Miss the window and you are on the general system for the whole year DL-03: Missing the election deadline. Sources agree, not verified. This catches people who register in a hurry for a residence application and sort out taxes later.

The cap has nothing to do with the VAT threshold of AMD 115,000,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. VAT-01: VAT registration threshold. Sources agree, not verified, which is much higher. You will see the two mixed up on agency pages.

Which freelance activities are excluded from micro business in Armenia

This is where most articles stop at "zero tax up to the cap", and where most of the risk sits.

The core list is not disputed. Legal, accounting, auditing, consulting and notarial services cannot use micro-business MB-02: Activities excluded from microbusiness. Sources agree, not verified. On July 1, 2025≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. the list was widened with further professional and staffing categories. Educational services are reported to remain eligible.

Beyond that, the sources we track disagree MB-03: Disputed microbusiness exclusions. Sources disagree:

• One, the newer of the two, says that since July 1, 2025≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. micro-business is not available for IT and data processing, advertising, translation, medicine, dentistry and most professional B2B services.
• An older one lists design, marketing and translation as excluded, and describes some exclusions as applying only in Yerevan.

The list itself lives in the micro-business provisions of the Tax Code. We have sent the exact question (which of software, data processing, design, marketing, advertising, translation and engineering are excluded in 2026, and whether anything is limited to Yerevan) to an accountant. Until the answer comes back, we treat these activities as unclear rather than pick a side.

Here is how that maps to common freelance work. "Unclear" means sources disagree, not that you are probably fine.

Take a designer in Yerevan billing a German agency for UI work. The older source lists design as excluded. The newer one does not name design, but excludes most professional B2B services, which agency work may well be. And nobody we have read settles whether UI work counts as design or as IT. That is a question for an accountant who will put it in writing, not for a blog post. An English tutor teaching students online, on the other hand, is in the one freelance category that no source we track excludes.

Not sure where your work falls? The calculator only offers micro-business as an option when your answers make you appear eligible. For disputed activities it shows micro-business as unclear, leaves it out of the lowest-cost comparison, and marks every figure built on an uncertain rule as an estimate.

Is micro business really zero cost

No. The tax on turnover is zero, but the fixed charges every IE pays still apply.

• Stamp duty FX-03: Stamp duty for IEs. Sources agree, not verified: AMD 12,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. a year if annual income is up to AMD 12,000,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet., and AMD 120,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. above that.
• Mandatory health insurance FX-04: Health insurance for IEs. Sources agree, not verified: AMD 129,600≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. a year if the previous year's turnover was more than AMD 2,400,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet.. That amount is confirmed for the payment based on last year's turnover. How it works from the next base year onward is not known yet FX-05: Health insurance bands for later years. Not confirmed.
• The fixed monthly payment FX-01: Fixed monthly payment. Sources disagree is described for IEs on turnover tax, and the calculator does not add it to micro-business.
• The social (pension) payment for IEs FX-02: Social (pension) payment for IEs. Not confirmed is the real unknown: nobody has confirmed whether it applies to foreign nationals or to micro-business IEs. The calculator leaves it out and says so.

So a tutor near the cap pays no tax on turnover, and still pays the higher stamp duty plus health insurance. The full list of charges and their dates is in the IE fixed costs and tax calendar.

What happens if you go over the cap mid-year

We do not know for certain, and we will not guess. Our rule set only covers the entry test: last year's turnover under the cap. It has no confirmed rule for what happens during a year in which you pass it, whether you move to another regime from that point, from the start of the year, or from the next year.

For comparison, turnover tax has a documented exit rule: a taxpayer who stops qualifying must file a declaration within 20≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. days TT-05: Leaving turnover tax. Sources agree, not verified. We have not found an equally clear rule for micro-business, so do not assume the same one applies.

What you can do:

1. Track your turnover in AMD every month, not once a year.
2. If you are paid in euros or dollars, remember that which exchange rate converts your receipts into AMD is itself unconfirmed in our sources FXR-01: Currency conversion. Not confirmed. A developer invoicing in euros close to the cap could cross it on exchange rates alone.
3. Ask the State Revenue Committee or an accountant before you cross the cap, not after. It is far easier to plan a switch than to undo a year.

If you expect to grow past the cap, it helps to know what the other IE regimes would cost you before you get there.

Can you hire someone on micro business

The rule set has one figure here: a micro-business with employees pays AMD 5,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. per employee per month FX-06: Microbusiness with employees. Sources agree, not verified. It comes from a single secondary source, and newer material suggests the way micro-business employees are taxed may have changed since. The calculator leaves employees out of scope.

You will also find claims online that micro-business status is lost above a certain number of employees. We have not confirmed any such limit. If you are about to take on even one person, get the current rule from an accountant before you sign the contract.

Is the micro-business threshold going up in 2027

Possibly, but nothing has been adopted that we could find.

Pages that already quote a specific 2027 figure as fact are ahead of the law. If your plans depend on it, wait for the amendment to be published on ARLIS.

Micro business and your residence permit

This is the newest risk, and nobody has an answer yet.

From November 1, 2026, the amended Law on Foreigners adds a condition to residence granted on the business ground. If, within 180 days after the status is granted, the State Revenue Committee's database has no information on taxes calculated from your business activity, the status loses force. It is a single window after the grant, not a rolling test.

A micro-business IE, by design, has no tax calculated on its turnover. The law does not mention micro-business, and we found no official clarification of how this rule treats it. It is also unclear whether stamp duty or health insurance would count as "taxes calculated from business activity". Meduza raises the same question for Russians relocating under the new rules.

This window is not the visa-free stay limit of 180 days "within one year", even though the two numbers look alike. They are different rules in different parts of the law. For the full residence picture under the new law, see the Law on Foreigners checklist for IEs.

Questions people ask

Is Armenia tax free?

No. There is a narrow regime, micro-business, that pays no tax on turnover under a cap, and many freelance activities are excluded or disputed. Everyone else pays turnover tax, the general system or salary tax, and IEs also pay stamp duty and health insurance.

Can an IT freelancer use micro business in Armenia?

It is unclear. The newer of the two sources excludes IT and data processing since July 1, 2025≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet., while an older one lists different exclusions MB-03: Disputed microbusiness exclusions. Sources disagree. The calculator marks micro-business as unclear for IT work and leaves it out of the lowest-cost comparison.

Can I switch from micro business to turnover tax?

An existing taxpayer elects or changes regime by February 20≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. for the year DL-02: Annual regime election. Sources agree, not verified. Switching in the middle of a year is a different question, covered in the section on going over the cap.

Does income from foreign clients count towards the cap?

The cap counts turnover across all the activities of your business MB-01: Microbusiness turnover cap. Sources agree, not verified, and our sources make no exception for foreign clients. Which exchange rate converts that income into AMD is not confirmed FXR-01: Currency conversion. Not confirmed.

Where do I check the official position?

The State Revenue Committee administers the regime, and the law is the Tax Code on ARLIS. For a classification question like "is UI design IT or design?", get the answer from an accountant in writing. Our method and sources are on how we calculate.