Tax Advisory

In nowadays constantly changing tax environment the Company offers an extensive suite of tax advisory services, including:

Grant Thornton tax advisory services include all aspects of corporate (as well as individual) tax strategy development and tax planning, tax issues arising from formation or acquisition of a company, providing an overview of local and international perspectives, cross-border transactions, bilateral and multilateral tax and customs treaties.  We are adept at giving advice in the field of structured finance, strategy on tax litigation, real estate transactions and tax structuring on mergers and acquisitions.

Our tax services help you gain trust and stay ahead, enabling you to manage your tax transparently and ethically.

Our tax experts will willingly assist you in meeting your tax compliance obligations aimed at avoiding any penalties and minimizing the risk of a costly tax examination, providing the clients with the regular tax legislation updates, and tax optimization schemes.

Tax Advisory

Domestic tax advisory

Tax implications, tax liabilities and tax risks are always essential concerns for both local and foreign enterprises, not only before commencement of an investment project, but also during its operation as well as planning for an exit from the business in Armenia.

Grant Thornton Armenia has designed services that enable enterprises to comply with tax laws in Armenia, and optimizes tax opportunities under the local regulations and treaties which Armenia has entered into. Additionally, we coordinate with our Grant Thornton global tax team providing comprehensive tax advisory support for countries involved in the business model and transactions

International tax advisory

It’s an undisputed fact that globalization has led the change in trends and diversity of options while doing business. At Grant Thornton Armenia, we understand those trends as well as the potential impacts and risks of international taxation while expanding your business globally. Having said that, our International Tax practices are developed, which aims to establish the most efficient international tax strategies among multi-national entities.

We strive to maximize your tax benefits while minimizing any tax risks associated with your business on a global scale and assist you in planning your legal structure, repatriation planning, and exit strategies. Our expertise comes from not only our extensive local knowledge but also leveraging the available resources from our network of member firms around the world. Ultimately, we plan the route for your global growth, as precise as possible.

Tax health check

The tax regulations in Armenia have changed continuously in recent years. Therefore, there is a lot of potential tax risks associated with an enterprise’s business operation. As a result of in-depth experience dealing with business regulations and having a thorough knowledge of accounting and tax laws, we know that with good preparation in-advance these possible risks can be mitigated.

Grant Thornton Armenia will tailor our professional Tax Health Check services to assist our Clients in mitigating the above-associated tax risks. The outcome of the Tax Health Check services will comprise of:

• Indicating and Quantifying possible, risks and hidden tax exposures;
• Providing recommendations to mitigate the tax risks;
• Forming a good picture towards the tax authority with respect to the Clients' tax compliance status.

Tax Compliance

Optimizing your tax position by complying with fast-changing tax provisions and in rigorous enforcement by the Tax Authorities, especially with constraint of experienced staff, is a challenge for enterprises.

We have designed services to assist enterprises in complying with the tax law with potential outcomes as follows:

• Ensure compliance with tax regulations even when they change frequently;
• Enhance the Company’s tax benefits; and
• Create a good image towards the Tax Authority and other relevant Authorities with regard to the Company’s tax compliance profile.

Global mobility services

Our tax experts offer a comprehensive blend of tax advisory, tax litigation, regulatory and compliance services, helping you navigate through complex secondment arrangements.

In this era of rapid globalisation, global mobility is increasingly becoming a way of life which is evident in increased deputations and secondments. Requirement to have the right employee with the appropriate skill set at the right location to fulfil organisational requirements demands speed of deployment. This has resulted in a substantial increase in the size and complexity of the global workforce. As a result, organisations are looking for best ways to manage employee compensation and address immigration, social security, tax and other mobility-related issues.

With the objective of helping our clients manage a mobile workforce; we, along with our other member firms across the globe, provide a holistic service offering covering:

• International employee assignment management for both inbound and outbound population
• Provide immigration/visa compliance and related advisory services
• Draft cost-effective, tax-compliant and easy to administer compensation structure
• Social security compliance and advisory services
• Employee incentives (including equity incentive/share plan)
• Payroll tax and social security diagnostics review for companies.

Transfer Pricing

Transfer pricing is a pervasive tax issue among multinational companies. In Armenia, the tax authorities require special documentation to report related party transactions.

At Grant Thornton Armenia, we assist our clients in an expanded scope of services, from meeting the Armenian compliance requirements to proactively planning your business, aiming to achieve both operational and tax supply chain efficiencies. Compliance with transfer pricing regulations is an important aspect of doing business effectively in Armenia as failure to do so may result in significant penalties.

Preparing documents for Transfer Pricing purposes will help to mitigate the risks of pricing adjustments, double taxation, inefficient tax planning and penalties.

Our team can help you with:

• Transfer Pricing study - margin review for budgeting, new transaction, and cost sharing review for inter-company transactions.
• Documentation - prepare country-specific documentation to meet local tax requirements.
• Risk assessment - evaluate the existing transfer pricing practice, identify potential risks, and formulate appropriate action plan to mitigate such risks.
• Benchmarking analysis - use analysis to measure prices or profit level indicators for specific transactions to determine appropriate arm’s length range, including those for royalty payment and loan interest.
• Dispute resolution - apply sophisticated economic arguments, research and databases to help defend transfer pricing policies before the tax authorities.
• International network - assure you with strong Transfer Pricing specialist supports by Grant Thornton offices across the global network.

Transaction Tax

Mergers & Acquisitions (”M&A”) takes place for many strategic business reasons, but commonly for any business combination are economic reasons at their core. Successful deals are direct results of a good strategy. Identifying all possible tax exposures associated with the deals is crucial, especially for the cross-border deals where different tax and corporate regulation systems are maintained. M&A process can be intimidating for both buyer and seller. Thus, there are many advantages to have experienced external resources and advisors involved in the whole process which increases your odds of a successful M&A deal.

Grant Thornton Armenia understand that the Corporate Buyer and the Private Equity Buyer have different goals for M&A deal, e.g. Corporate Buyer’s long-term plans for entering new markets, diversifying products to realize synergies compared with Private Equity Buyer’s strategy of “buy, improve and sell” within a specific period.

Accordingly, we have designed services following a few concrete steps for clients of both buyers and sellers to identify tax risks as well as to optimize tax efficiency throughout the whole process of the M&A deal.

Grant Thornton’s solution:

• Pre-investment advisory service;
• Tax Due Diligence;
• Advisory on deal structuring from tax perspective;
• Review on tax terms in the Share Purchase Agreement.
• Assistance in implementation to mitigate tax risks (from our Due Diligence report);
• Tax audit assistance (if any);
• Advisory on strategy for the deal.