Establishing a Business

Establishing a business starts with the state registration. To be registered businesses are required to file an application (attaching their constituent documents) to the State Register by presenting all necessary documents in hard copies or through the www.e-register.am website.

At present, registration is carried out on one stop shop basis, which means that both the registration of company name, the obtainment of tax code and the registration of company in whole is exercised as one procedure by filing one application and paying one registration fee of 17,000 AMD (≈ 45 USD). The registration fee can be paid at any bank and also at State Register through bank terminals.

According to the Law on “State Registration of Legal Entities” of the RA, State Register must either approve or deny registration applications within 5 working days. For companies established with template constituent documents stipulated by Minister of Justice of the RA and for sole entrepreneurs registration takes up to 2 working days.

It is worth mentioning that in practice the registration takes much less time than the maximum terms provided for by Law on “State Registration of Legal Entities” of the RA: It is carried out with no obstacles and very fast.

As it was mentioned above, the registration of businesses can be executed also on-line through the www.e-register.am website by filing an electronic application. All the necessary documents can be submitted through State Registrar’s electronic system. The applicant is informed immediately of any inequality of submitted information with State Register’s database. After the documents are submitted properly, the company is registered immediately .

At present, ordering a seal is not compulsory for businesses any more. Nevertheless, after the registration is finalized, companies can order a seal and obtain it from the authorized company within 1 day. The cost of ordering a seal is up to 15,500 AMD (≈ 40 USD).

License

There are several types of business activity which require state license. The law on Licensing of the RA provides (according to the fields of activity) two types of licenses: simple and compound. Simple licenses are issued by Ministry of Finance of the RA (www.minfin.am). Compound licenses are issued by state agencies which oversee corresponding economic activities. Due to recent legislative amendments, the number of business activities subject to licensing has approximately been halved. Also, due to recent amendments, it is possible to acquire license on-line through www.e-gov.am website.

Dealing with Customs

Not all companies are required to register with Customs Authorities, only those companies that plan on exporting and/or importing are required to register with customs.

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