Legislative changes
FIAK · Legislative update
Brief overviews of adopted and effective Armenian legislative changes, with notes on their practical relevance for businesses.
- 236-Ն
Effective from 09.10.2026
Amendment and Supplements to CBA Board Decision No. 242-N of 18 September 2012
What the legislative change concerns
From 9 October 2026, the Central Depository may provide agency and support services for issuing, validating, updating, transferring and terminating Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs), and for verifying and maintaining the related information. Access to the LEI service may not be conditional on the customer using another Central Depository service. The Depository may also issue international identifiers for financial instruments, reference instruments and indices, while its risk-management procedures must expressly cover information-security and data-security risks.
Open the source on IRTEK - 91-Ն
Effective from 01.10.2026
Minimum Standards for Providing Care to Older Persons and Persons with Disabilities
What the legislative change concerns
Transitional minimum standards for organisations providing care to older persons and persons with disabilities apply from 1 October 2026. They cover residential and day-care centres, community-based small homes and home care, regulating premises, accessibility, hygiene, food, furniture, transport and communications, staffing ratios and mandatory medical examinations, service frequency and documentation. Providers should review their premises, staffing, procurement and contracts for delegated services. Part of the revised standards will apply from 1 January 2027, with the full permanent framework taking effect on 1 January 2028.
Open the source on IRTEK - 1367-Ն
Effective from 28.09.2026
Supplements and Amendments to Government Decision No. 1257-N of 8 August 2024
What the legislative change concerns
The procedure for attaching, safeguarding and confiscating property constituting the subject matter of a tax offence has changed. Instead of immediately taking the property into responsible custody, the tax officer must issue an attachment decision and, as a rule, leave the property in the taxpayer’s custody. The property may be taken into responsible custody if the taxpayer attempts to dissipate, conceal, transfer, damage or destroy it. The taxpayer bears safeguarding costs until the property is taken into state ownership. Confiscation follows only after the relevant administrative act becomes final or, if appealed, is upheld. If no confiscation decision is made or it is invalidated, the property must be returned and the state must compensate damage caused by the attachment.
Open the source on IRTEK - ՀՕ-457-Ն
Effective from 19.09.2026
Ratification of the EAEU–Indonesia Free Trade Agreement
What the legislative change concerns
Armenia has ratified the agreement on trade in goods between the EAEU and Indonesia. It provides for phased tariff reductions or elimination under tariff schedules, common rules and proof of origin, simplified and electronic customs procedures, and rules on technical barriers, sanitary measures, e-commerce, consumer protection, intellectual property and competition. Importers and exporters seeking preferential treatment should verify the applicable origin criteria and supporting documents. The ratification law has been effective since 19 September 2026, but tariff preferences will apply only after the agreement enters into force internationally.
Open the source on IRTEK - 109-Ն
Effective from 17.09.2026
Criteria for Prohibiting Audiovisual Content That Calls for, Encourages or Justifies War
What the legislative change concerns
The decision sets criteria for assessing calls for war and content that encourages or justifies starting, resuming, continuing or expanding war in programmes distributed by audiovisual media service providers. The Commission will consider the programme as a whole, its presentation, message and context, and whether a countervailing or critical position is provided. Labelling content as a personal opinion does not by itself prevent it from being classified as prohibited. News, analytical, educational, documentary and artistic material is not a breach unless its overall message calls for, encourages or justifies war. Media providers should align their editorial and live-broadcast response procedures with the new criteria.
Open the source on IRTEK - 110-Ն
Effective from 16.09.2026
Criteria for Prohibiting Hate-Inciting or Discriminatory Information in Audiovisual Programmes
What the legislative change concerns
The decision sets criteria for audiovisual media to assess information that incites national, racial, gender or religious hatred or promotes, encourages or justifies discrimination based on age, disability or other personal or social characteristics. Protected characteristics also include ethnic or social origin, language, citizenship, political views, health, gender identity, family status and migration status. The assessment covers stereotyping, encouragement of hostility or social exclusion, calls to restrict rights, collective blame and portrayals of a group as a threat, taking into account the overall context, format, presenter’s position and audience impact.
Open the source on IRTEK - 111-Ն
Effective from 16.09.2026
Criteria for Prohibiting Audiovisual Content That Promotes Violence and Cruelty
What the legislative change concerns
The decision establishes combined criteria for assessing the promotion of violence and cruelty in audiovisual programmes. The programme’s overall context and purpose, presentation, the author’s or presenter’s position, overall message and impact, and the way the material is emphasised will all be considered. The prohibition covers content that justifies, praises, encourages, glorifies or normalises violence or cruelty, or incites their use. Factual depiction or description of violence is not promotion by itself unless the context shows such an intent. Media providers should incorporate the criteria into pre-broadcast and post-broadcast content review.
Open the source on IRTEK - permit.am
Effective from 01.11.2026
From 1 November, Armenia’s residence-status process for foreign nationals will become digital
What the legislative change concerns
From 1 November 2026, applications for residence status by foreign nationals will be submitted online through permit.am. The article outlines the main digital steps, transitional rules, key thresholds for the entrepreneurial ground and FIAK’s support.
Read more - 1224-Ն
Effective from 15.10.2026
Establishment of a Database of Tourism Service Providers and Approval of Its Regulation
What the legislative change concerns
A state database will be established for tourism service providers that have filed activity notifications. It will contain entity or individual identification and notification details, activity types, trading names and trademarks with equivalents in at least Russian and English, tour destinations, outbound-tourism guarantee information, hotel room capacity and occupancy, and guide and escort qualifications. The State Revenue Committee, Police, Market Surveillance Inspection Body and Statistical Committee may also use the data within their statutory powers. Tour operators, agents, hotels, guides and other notified providers should ensure that submitted information is complete and update it promptly, or file a new notification where the relevant entity or activity changes.
Open the source on IRTEK - 385-Ն
Effective from 30.09.2026
Approval of the Technical Regulation for Nicotine-Containing and Nicotine-Free Products
What the legislative change concerns
The restated regulation sets safety, composition, identification, labelling, packaging and conformity-declaration requirements for nicotine-containing and nicotine-free products placed on the Armenian market, including e-cigarette liquids and cartridges, heated products and oral-use products. It introduces maximum nicotine levels, liquid-volume limits, child-resistant packaging and mandatory health warnings. Manufacturers, importers and sellers should review product composition, packaging, labels and conformity documents by 30 September 2026; the documentation package must be retained for 10 years after sale.
Open the source on IRTEK - 1313-Ն
Effective from 04.09.2026
Supplements and amendments to Government Decision No. 1976-N of 3 December 2020
What the legislative change concerns
The Government has introduced a single list, in a new Annex 10, of the mandatory information to be printed on cash-register receipts. Depending on the transaction, a receipt must include the seller’s and corporate or sole-proprietor buyer’s taxpayer numbers, the product name and customs-classification code or the work or service name and code, quantity and unit of measure, discount, total and VAT amounts, any advance-payment indication, marked-goods identification data and, for medical services, the electronic healthcare-system code. Businesses should review their cash-register and external sales-software settings to ensure that all mandatory data are printed.
Open the source on IRTEK - 229-Ն
Effective from 04.09.2026
Supplements and amendments to CBA Board Decision No. 174-N of 4 October 2022
What the legislative change concerns
Regulation 22, which sets criteria for the external auditors of financial organisations, now also covers crypto-asset service providers. Where a provider neither operates a crypto-asset trading platform nor issues asset-referenced tokens, the provisions applicable to reporting issuers apply to it. The change should be taken into account when selecting an independent auditor and planning the annual audit.
Open the source on IRTEK - 1292-Ն
Effective from 13.09.2026
Supplements to Government Decision No. 1130-N of 3 October 2013
What the legislative change concerns
The Foreign Intelligence Service has been added to the approval and contracting procedure for installing and maintaining communications equipment on roofs, in attics and on stand-alone towers of state-owned buildings. Where a proposed installation is within 500 metres of a building or structure assigned to that service, its positive opinion must also be obtained within 15 business days before consent is granted. The change is relevant to telecom operators and companies deploying communications infrastructure on state property.
Open the source on IRTEK - 150-Ն
Effective from 19.09.2026
Amendment and Supplements to CBA Board Decisions No. 50-N of 26 February 2008 and No. 377-N of 30 December 2014
What the legislative change concerns
The CBA has moved banks’ international and domestic money-transfer data into a new section of the comprehensive reporting framework, replacing the former Form 24 reports under Regulation 3. From 19 September 2026, the threshold for detailed reporting of international transfers falls from USD 50,000 to USD 20,000: transfers up to that amount are reported in aggregate, while above-threshold transfers through correspondent accounts or foreign branches are reported transaction by transaction. The same threshold governs separate fields on legal-entity identification, sector and residence, and transfer purpose.
Open the source on IRTEK - 921-Ն
Effective from 03.09.2026
Form for banks to report information on unlisted shares and interests in bank capital to the tax authority
What the legislative change concerns
The State Revenue Committee has approved a new reporting form for banks to submit information to the tax authority on bank-issued shares not listed on stock exchanges included in the Government-approved list, as well as interests and units in a bank’s contributed or pooled capital. The form separately records dividend-distribution decisions for corporate participants, dividend payments to individual participants, the state duty calculated and the total amount payable to the budget. Banks must use the standard form from 3 September 2026.
Open the source on IRTEK - 222-Ն
Effective from 03.09.2026
Supplement to CBA Board Decision No. 229-N of 28 July 2009
What the legislative change concerns
Following a written application and identity verification, a financial organisation must provide an individual, free of charge and electronically within five business days, with a certificate confirming whether bank accounts exist in that person’s name. At the applicant’s request, the certificate must also state the account balance for the specified period and whether either party has outstanding obligations to the other. The rule also covers applicants who are not current customers, while a paper certificate must be supplied free of charge at least once per calendar year.
Open the source on IRTEK - ՀՕ-388-Ն
Effective from 30.08.2026
Amendments to the Law on Local Duties and Fees
What the legislative change concerns
New local duties have been introduced and existing ones revised. The annual permit fee for using a municipality’s name or symbol in a trademark, company name or commercial activity is AMD 100,000–300,000. Use of public space adjacent to catering premises is charged at AMD 10,000 per sq. m, while each outdoor automated self-service device is subject to AMD 10,000–15,000 per month. Certain rates may be increased up to threefold in urban communities and sevenfold in Yerevan.
Open the source on IRTEK - ՀՕ-396-Ն
Effective from 30.08.2026
Supplement to the Law on Trade and Services
What the legislative change concerns
Only legal entities and sole proprietors may trade or provide services through automated self-service devices located outside buildings, and a permit from the head of the municipality is required. The municipal council sets the permit procedure, conditions and restrictions, permitted goods and services, and placement and distance requirements.
Open the source on IRTEK - ՀՕ-400-Ն
Effective from 30.08.2026
Amendment to the Law on Advertising
What the legislative change concerns
Outdoor advertising in settlements is now regulated under revised rules. Municipal councils determine the permitted volume, quantity, procedure and placement conditions, while advertising in public areas or on poles, trees and street furniture requires the municipality head’s permit. Outdoor advertising is prohibited in museums, inside historical and cultural monuments, and in or on the premises of state and municipal authorities.
Open the source on IRTEK - ՀՕ-405-Ն
Effective from 30.08.2026
Amendments to the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia
What the legislative change concerns
The amendments address the transfer of abandoned property and waste to municipal ownership, demolition of unauthorised structures, and the consequences of terminating land-use rights. As a rule, a private landowner must demolish an unauthorised structure and restore the land within one month after receiving a written municipal demand. When a land-use right ends, buildings and other real estate may pass to the landowner by court judgment against market-value compensation, unless the contract provides otherwise.
Open the source on IRTEK - ՀՕ-407-Ն
Effective from 30.08.2026
Amendments to the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia
What the legislative change concerns
The rules linking real estate and vehicle property-tax payments to state registration have been revised. Before registering real estate or obtaining a new certificate, an organisation must settle liabilities for all its taxable real estate in the relevant municipality; for vehicle registration, re-registration, deregistration or a new certificate, it must settle tax for all vehicles registered there. Registration proceeds on the basis of a tax-clearance certificate, including in electronic form.
Open the source on IRTEK - ՀՕ-409-Ն
Effective from 30.08.2026
Supplement to the Law on State Registration of Property Rights
What the legislative change concerns
The law now regulates partial termination of lease or gratuitous-use rights over state or municipal land occupied by buildings owned by another person. After the agreement expires, the landowner may register termination on the basis of an approved plan, retaining only the portion beneath the building or structure, without re-registering ownership of the structure itself.
Open the source on IRTEK - ՀՕ-309-Ն
Effective from 01.09.2026
Supplements and Amendments to the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia
What the legislative change concerns
From 1 September 2026, rules on the timing of accounting documents and cash-register receipts apply. A sales document for goods must be issued before supply; a document for work or services must be issued upon completion, including at contractual milestones; and a consignment note must be issued before transportation. A cash-register user must issue a receipt for payments made in cash, by card or through another payment instrument. The broader electronic cash-register rules and the AMD 500,000 penalty generally take effect on 1 January 2027.
Open the source on IRTEK - ՀՕ-8-Ն
Effective from 01.09.2026
Supplement and Amendments to the Law on State Duty
What the legislative change concerns
The state duty for customs clearance operations covering goods declared under a single goods declaration has been revised. It now depends on gross weight, ranging from seven times the base duty for goods up to 3 tonnes to 35 times the base duty for goods exceeding 60 tonnes. Declarations made solely to move goods from the customs office of arrival to an inland customs office are excluded from this duty.
Open the source on IRTEK - 3-Ն
Effective from 01.09.2026
Amendment to CBA Board Decision No. 269-N of 14 October 2011
What the legislative change concerns
Regulation 17/02 is restated in full. It clarifies the regulation of payment and settlement organisations, sets a minimum total-capital requirement of AMD 100 million and a 60% minimum liquidity ratio, and details calculation elements and monthly monitoring. The decision takes effect on 1 September 2026.
Open the source on IRTEK
Source
IRTEK legal information system
