The Government Establishes Procedures for State Support to the High-Tech Sector The Government of the Republic of Armenia has approved the draft law “On Establishing the Procedures for Providing State Support to the High-Tech Sector.”

Accordingly, the relations pertaining to the provision of state support to the high-tech sector, as defined by the Law “On State Support to the High-Tech Sector” adopted on December 4, 2024, shall be regulated.

The draft decision was presented at the April 17 session by the Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan.

The draft defines the following procedures for the provision of state support: - State support for labor migrants in the amount of 60% of income tax. A labor migrant is defined as a stateless or foreign citizen who had not worked in the Republic of Armenia or paid income tax on wages prior to March 1, 2022. Dual citizens holding RA citizenship are not considered migrants.

- State support for attracting new employees, covering 60% of income tax. A new employee is defined as an individual with no prior employment record in the high-tech sector. This status is retained for three calendar years from the date of employment, regardless of any change in employer.

- State support for personnel training and retraining (hereinafter referred to as Training), in the amount of 50% of income tax. An employee is considered trained if they have received a certificate from any internationally recognized platform. Justifications related to the training shall be reviewed and accepted in accordance with the procedure approved by the order of the Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia. A certificate is valid if no more than six months have passed since its issuance.

- State support for employed migrants, in the amount of 60% of income tax (to take effect on January 1, 2026).

The procedures established by the decision also define the mechanisms for appeals and other relations associated with the provision of state support.

Support is provided for personnel engaged in professional work in the high-tech sector, as approved by a decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

The total amount of support may not exceed 50% of income tax for all employees of a given economic entity. The decision stipulates that applications for support may be submitted starting from the business day following the deadline for submitting tax reports for the last month of the quarter, and up to and including the 20th day of the month following that month. Applications may only be submitted for the quarter immediately preceding the application date; no applications will be accepted for that quarter after the submission period has ended. The support provision process is implemented via an automated platform. The decision also establishes a mechanism for appealing decisions related to support applications. In the event of any adjustment to the support amount, recalculations will be made.

Organizations may apply for support if, according to their VAT and/or turnover tax filings, at least 90% of their total sales turnover during the reporting period for state support is generated from high-tech sector activities, and if no changes have been made to their types of economic activity during the requested period, except for changes between activities eligible for support.

The process of providing support will be supervised and monitored by the RA Ministry of High-Tech Industry.