Living in Armenia: 183-day residency requirement, tax of 5, 10, or 20 % depending on income, and annual declaration.

In Armenia, Article 25 of the Tax Code defines a resident as someone who is present in Armenia for 183 days or more, or whose center of vital interests is in Armenia; resident status for a single day of the year is valid for the entire year. The State Revenue Committee (SRC) indicates an income tax rate of 5, 1, 3,000, 10, or 20, 1,000, depending on the nature of the income: 5, 1, 3,000 for dividends from profits earned on or after January 1, 2020; 10, 1, 3,000 for rents; and 20, 1, 3,000 for salaries. Non-residents are taxed only on their Armenian-source income. For the year 2025, the tax return must be filed before November 1, 2026.

Resident: 183 days or center of vital interests

Article 25 of the Tax Code, in the English version of the official ARLIS portal (note "with amendments HO-499-N of December 4, 2024"), provides for the following rules:

• A person is considered a resident if their actual presence in Armenia reaches 183 days or more (§ 1);
• The day of arrival and the day of departure each count as a full day, regardless of the number of hours spent in Armenia (§ 2);
• Residents also include the person whose center of vital interests is in Armenia, that is to say the place where their family and economic ties are concentrated, in particular through their home, family or main activity, and the person in the service of the Armenian State temporarily abroad (§ 3);
• A non-resident is any person who is not a resident under paragraphs 1 and 3 (§ 4);
• a person who is resident on any day of the fiscal year is resident for the whole year (§ 5).

The State Revenue Service (SRC) reiterates these criteria in its information document on income tax: 183 days or more in the tax year, from January 1st to December 31st, or having the center of vital interests in Armenia. It specifies that non-residents are only taxed on income from Armenian sources. Article 26 of the Tax Code defines the place of residence of an individual: the address where they are officially registered, or failing that, their actual place of residence.

The rates: 5 %, 10 % or 20 % depending on the nature of the income

The SRC document, which is undated but cites texts up to 2025, states that the tax is calculated at 5, 10, or 20 times 1.3 times depending on the nature of the taxable income. Another page of the SRC summarizes the range: from 5 for dividends to 20 for salaries.

The document sets out transitional rules for dividends from profits prior to 2020; their details can be found in the SRC document.

Rents: 10 %, then 10 % more beyond 60 million AMD

The SRC indicates 10 % for rents. When the rents received by an individual during the tax year exceed 60.0 million AMD, an additional tax of 10 % applies to the portion exceeding this threshold.

Numerical example (fictitious profile): A resident receives 70,000,000 AMD in rent during the year. The calculation yields 7,000,000 AMD at 10 % on the total, then 1,000,000 AMD at 10 % on the 10,000,000 AMD exceeding 60,000,000 AMD, totaling 8,000,000 AMD. This calculation ignores any deductions not mentioned on the page.

Foreign income: tax credit and foreign-source salary

According to the SRC document, foreign withholding tax is deducted from the resident's annual Armenian tax, up to the amount of Armenian tax calculated on that income. A certificate from the foreign authority indicating the year and amount paid is required. For foreign income up to AMD 12.0 million, received or receivable from 2023 onwards and for the following four years, these certificates are not required.

In its Q&A on tax returns, the State Revenue Service (SRC) addresses salaries paid by a foreign company to a resident: they are not taxable in Armenia if the tax paid abroad is at least 20 %; otherwise, the resident only pays the difference between the Armenian rate of 20 % and the tax already paid abroad. The SRC also indicates that income from services provided to a person located abroad is subject to 20 %.

The SRC also announced that the automatic exchange of information on non-resident financial accounts, according to the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS), took effect in January 2025, with approximately 120 countries. Accounts opened after January 1, 2024, are considered new.

Annual declaration: the dates

The SRC indicates that personal income tax returns are filed electronically. It provides the following periods:

According to the SRC's information document, the universal declaration will be implemented in phases for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, by groups of declarants. The document does not specify a penalty amount for late implementation.

Real estate: land ownership, local taxes and sales

Article 4 of the Land Code, in the English version read (amendments HO-85-N of April 18, 2025), states that foreign nationals and stateless persons may not own land in Armenia and may only use it; persons holding special residency status in Armenia constitute the sole exception provided for in paragraph 3. Paragraph 3.1 waives this restriction for plots of land adjacent to a house, gardens, and land intended for the construction and maintenance of residential buildings, public and production facilities, and multi-unit residential buildings. The exact scope of these exceptions is found in the text. This page does not address the purchase of an apartment.

The SRC (Swiss Federal Tax Administration) states that property and vehicle taxes are calculated by the relevant registration authorities; the page does not provide a rate. Regarding the sale of property, the SRC document classifies the disposal of property (excluding buildings sold by a developer) as income under category 10 %. The SRC's Q&A also indicates that the sale of a building to a private buyer in 2024 must be reported but is not taxable. The conditions for this exemption are not detailed here.

Inheritance and gifts: a state right over the certificate

The State Tax Act (version "with amendments HO-412-N of October 24, 2024") establishes a basic fee of 1,000 AMD (Article 8). For the issuance of a certificate of inheritance and the certification of a gift deed, Article 11, paragraph 10, provides for twice this fee for first-order heirs, three times for second- and third-order heirs, and five times for all other persons. This is a state tax levied upon issuance of the document. The relevant pages of the SRC (State Tax Code) do not detail the taxation of inheritances and gifts.

Coordination with the France-Armenia Convention

The French Official Tax Bulletin (BOFiP) indicates that the convention was signed in Paris on December 9, 1997, and entered into force on May 1, 2001. It applies to taxes withheld at source on taxable amounts from January 1, 2002. An exchange of letters signed in Yerevan on February 5, 2003, and February 3, 2004, amended Article 23 on the elimination of double taxation; it entered into force on December 7, 2006. The BOFiP's list of conventions (BOI-ANNX-000306) classifies it among the texts on income and wealth ("IR – IF") and makes no mention of inheritances or gifts. The withholding tax ceilings and the order of the tie-breaking criteria in cases of dual residence are detailed on our page dedicated to the convention.

What this page does not cover

It does not cover property and vehicle taxes (the pages I read do not provide rates), nor does it cover social security contributions, inheritance and gift taxes, or residency permits. The pages I read do not describe any special regimes for new residents or retirees. Local tax matters are verified with the SRC (Service de Régulation de l'État). Balmont Conseil is not a law firm or a local tax advisor; local tax matters must be verified with a professional based in Armenia. French matters, including the departure declaration, declared accounts, and the exit tax, are addressed in our pages on tax residency.

What changes depending on your situation

• Your number of days spent in Armenia and the location of your vital interests.
• The nature of your income: salaries, dividends, rents, services, sales.
• Tax already paid abroad and available supporting documents.
• The property in question: land, house, apartment, use and status of residence of the purchaser.

The rule depends on your situation. No results are guaranteed.