Option 1 - Empresa Online

Choose a pre‑approved name
Sign the incorporation
Receive NIPC and access codes
Register automatically with AT and Social Security

Option 2 - Traditional method (rare today)

Option 3 - Empresa na Hora (fastest, most common)
Same as 1, but everything is done in one appointment.

NEW: Carteira Digital da Empresa
The new Carteira Digital da Empresa (Digital Company Wallet) in the gov.pt mobile app introduces several practical changes for anyone starting or managing a business in Portugal. This gov.pt website outlines the first phase of this system, and it’s quite a meaningful shift in how companies interact with public administration.

Essential company documents are now stored in one place
New businesses no longer need to collect documents from multiple portals. The Digital Wallet centralises official documents such as:

Company Electronic Card
Social Security contributory status
Tax Authority status
Central Register of Beneficial Owners (CRBO)

These documents have official legal value and can be shared digitally whenever needed.

Faster and simpler administrative processes
Starting a business often requires repeatedly submitting the same documents to banks, suppliers, public entities, or licensing authorities. With the Digital Wallet:

Documents can be shared instantly from the app
Paper copies and repeated downloads are no longer necessary
Entrepreneurs save time and avoid bureaucratic duplication

Free access to most documents
The wallet itself is free, and the documents included in this first phase are also free. Only documents that already had a cost - the Permanent Commercial Certificate - remain paid.

Easier management for entrepreneurs with multiple businesses
The app allows users to manage several companies or establishments with no limit on the number of entities. This is particularly useful for:

Entrepreneurs with multiple ventures
Accountants or managers with representation powers

Future features will further simplify starting a business
The Digital Wallet will soon integrate:

Permanent Commercial Certificate
SME certifications
Electronic signature
Tax and Social Security notifications

These additions will make it even easier to:

Register a company
Apply for incentives
Sign contracts
Prove compliance

Those who do not yet have the mobile application can gov.pt download it from the App Store for iOS, the Google Play Store for Android or the AppGallery for Huawei.

You must have a Digital Mobile Key (Chave Móvel Digital)
To access the Digital Company Wallet, the legal representative of the company must authenticate using Chave Móvel Digital (CMD). Foreign nationals can obtain CMD if they have:

A Portuguese NIF (tax number)
A valid identification document (passport or EU ID)
Registration at a Portuguese consulate or a Portuguese public service desk

Once CMD is activated, the entrepreneur can log into the gov.pt mobile app and access the wallet.

The wallet becomes available as soon as the company is legally created
After the company is registered (via Empresa na Hora, Empresa Online, or through a lawyer/solicitor), the legal representative gains access to the Digital Wallet. From that moment, the app automatically displays the company’s official documents

EMPRESA ONLINE

The Empresa Online 2.0 service reduces bureaucracy and streamlines processes.

Create a company online through Empresa online 2.0
In the Empresa Online 2.0 you can create commercial companies and civil companies in commercial form, such as:

single-person limited liability company (sociedade unipessoal por quotas)
limited liability company (sociedade por quotas)
anonymous society (sociedade anónima).

Other business types can create a company online here OR if you want to set it up in the traditional way OR through Empresa na Hora quick registration, find more information further down in this bulletin.

Information you need to know to create your company online

type of company (legal nature of the company)
how to choose a company name
economic activity (CAE)
what is the social object
what is the amount of share capital
what is the social pact
documents and requirements
obligation to have organised accounting
how much does it cost

click on the Criar nova empresa (Create new company) button and then on Start online service
fill in the form with the above-mentioned information
pay the fees by bank reference, credit card or MBWay

The billing document is sent to email and can also be consulted in the reserved area.

Your request will be analyzed and if there are no non-conformities in the declared data, company registration will be completed.

If non-conformities are detected in the order, you will be notified and you have 5 days to make corrections.

But a company can only be created online with:

the Digital Mobile Key (CMD - Chave Móvel Digital) or Portuguese Citizen Card (CC - Cartão Cidadão)
the Digital Certificate (CD - Certificado Digital), of the respective professional order by a lawyer, notary or solicitor
the European authentication to perform authentication, if you are a foreign citizen.

To create an online company, it is also necessary that all partners of the company to be created have an active digital signature.

Access the online service on the Justice Portal and authenticate yourself (you can change the language into English on the 2nd page in the right upper corner).

Reserved Area

After authenticating, you will enter your Reserved Area, where you can create a new company.

In the Reserved Area you can also:

register company name (this service is available on the Gov.pt portal, see below)
access your tasks and processes
consult your companies' files.

When the process is complete, the following will be available:

the social pact
the access code to the permanent commercial certificate
the access code for the Company/Collective Person Card
the company's Social Security number.

After company registration

Deposit of the share capital value into the company's bank account

The deposit of capital into the company's bank account, if this obligation has been declared in the order form, must be made within 5 days.

Declaration of Start of Activity

The declaration of commencement of activity must be presented on the Finance portal within 15 days. The declaration must be presented by a certified accountant.

Register of Beneficial Owner (RCBE)

Registration of the beneficial owner must be done within 30 days.

PLANNING THE BUSINESS

What steps need to be taken to achieve the objectives is one of the questions that business planning can help answer, reducing risks and uncertainties to a minimum.
At this stage, the future entrepreneur should seek to know in detail the market to be explored, the products or services to be marketed, the competition, the prices charged and the business strategies in order to transform their ideas into a sustainable and profitable business.

IAPMEI – The Portuguese Institute for Support to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Innovation (Instituto de Apoio Às Pequenas e Médias Empresas e ao Investimento) can help you with your business model and business plan:
https://www.iapmei.pt/SOBRE-O-IAPMEI/English-version.aspx

You can find the contact details here:
https://www.iapmei.pt/Contacts.aspx

Linha Azul: 808 201 201 (working days between 9h30 - 17h30)
Email: info@iapmei.pt

More information you can find in English HERE

Investment/Financing

The Funding Portal of IAPMEI allows companies to find, aggregated in a single place, several financing solutions with public support, for the various phases of their activity and investment: Portal do Financiamento

Startup Vouchers

Another incentive was introduced in Portaria 49/2025/1 from the 21^st of February 2025 for three types of fixed-value vouchers of 60,000, 30,000 and 10,000 euros to encourage the emergence of new companies whose founders come from Higher Education Institutions, supporting the start-up phase of activity and encouraging a greater number of startups to emerge in the academic environment.

Support is granted in three modalities and is the subject of competitions that are advertised on the websites of ANI – National Innovation Agency, where the conditions for granting funding are defined, namely the nature, amount and form of support.

To access this support, companies must be legally constituted; have a regularised tax and contribution situation; have organised accounting whenever required by law; cannot be in difficulties and must present a positive net situation; in addition to presenting proof of SME status.

For these and other kinds of support, it might be preferable to consult an accountant or IAPMEI for assistance and information.

Legal form of a company/Business types

Opening the company alone or as partnership? The entrepreneur must first of all know the characteristics and implications of each of the legal forms:

Empresas singulares (owned by one individual)

Empresário em Nome Individual (Sole Trader)
Estabelecimento Individual de Responsabilidade Limitada (Single-Member Limited Company)
Sociedade Unipessoal por Quotas (Individual Limited Liability Establishment)

Empresas coletivas (owned by more than one person)

Sociedade em Nome Coletivo (Partnership)
Sociedade por Quotas (Private Limited Company)
Sociedade Anónima (Public Limited Company)
Sociedade em Comandita (Limited Liability partnership)
Cooperativa (Cooperative)
Associação (Association)

Sociedade Europeia (setting up a European Company (SE))

More information about the different business types and how to choose them you can find on the following website (Portuguese and English) HERE

The first step will be to acquire the company Certificate (Certificado de Admissibilidade de firma ou Denominação de Pessoa Colectiva); This is only the registration of the company name. This request costs can vary between 70 and 150 euros (depending on if you need a reply in 10 days or next day) and is valid for 180 days until the celebration of the deeds.

Name of the company

If you want to choose a name for your Company it can take long, but if you are ok with a name from the list of Company names already approved you can do the Company in the same day.

You can choose a pre-approved name or create a name and request approval through the Admissibility Certificate Request Service.

The simplest option is to choose a pre-approved name . When setting up the company, you must indicate the name you have chosen and confirm that it is still available.
You can also choose a name that is not on the pre-approved list. In this case, you will need to have a Certificate of Admissibility of Firm or Denomination issued with the name already approved
If you set up your company at the Registo Nacional de Pessoas Colectivas (National Registry of Legal Entities), you can obtain name approval at the time of company creation.

You can check if the Company name already exists HERE

Artificial intelligence will help choose the name of the company

The names available to those who create a company through the Empresa na Hora service will now be created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm.

This Simplex measure will allow the AI algorithm to suggest names relevant to the business activity of the new company.

The system creates a name, based on some requirements, such as the Classification of Economic Activities (CAE). The IRN team verifies that the name is adequate and not confusing before validating it. Once these requirements are met, the generated name is entered into the name exchange.

To choose a Brand/Tradmark name, you can check HERE and to register the Brand/Trademark name with INPI you need to click HERE:

INPI is the Institute responsible for registering trademarks and patents in Portugal.

Registration of the Company

Once you have the name approved the second step, is the registration of the Company This can be done online.

2. SETTING UP THE COMPANY IN A TRADITIONAL WAY

Request Certificado de Admissibilidade (only if using a custom name) to formally identify your Portuguese company name. This is possible through the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN)
Prepare articles of association
Sign deed or private document
Register at Registo Comercial
Declare start of activity at AT
Open bank account and deposit capital

3. QUICK REGISTRATION - Empresa na Hora

The “On-the-Spot Company” (Empresa na Hora) method allows single-member limited companies, private limited companies and public limited companies to be set up in under an hour. All the procedures are carried out in one place, and provided that the members have all the necessary documents, the company can be set up immediately at one of the “On-the-Spot Company” offices located around the country.

The cost for “Empresa na Hora“ is from 360 euros.

You can find the list of Conservatórias where you can do this HERE

For more information you can call: 211 950 500.

Choose the memorandum and articles

What Are the Memorandum and Articles of Association?

They are the company’s founding contract. They define:

The company’s name and registered office
The business activity (object)
The share capital and how it is divided
The partners/shareholders
The management structure
How the company is bound (who can sign on behalf of the company)
Rules for decision‑making, profit distribution, transfers of shares, etc.

In Portugal, these documents are called:

Pacto Social (for Lda.)
Estatutos (for S.A.

How to Decide Which Template to Use

Ask yourself:

How many founders are there?
- 1 → Unipessoal Lda.
- 2+ → Lda. or S.A.
Do you need a simple structure?
- Yes → Lda. or Unipessoal Lda.
- No, you need a board and formal governance → S.A.
Do you expect to raise venture capital soon?
- Yes → S.A. is often preferred by investors
- No → Lda. is usually enough
Do you want low administrative burden?
- Lda. is the simplest
- S.A. has more legal obligations

For the registration you will need to bring:
If all the partners of the future company are private individuals, they’ll have to have:

The passport or residência card and they must indicate their Fiscal number (Cartão de Contribuinte/NIF);

If all the partners of the future company are legal persons/corporations, they’ll need to show:

Updated documentation from the Commercial Registry about the incorporation of the company.
The Minutes of the General Meeting granting powers for company incorporation.
Identification of the person who is granted power to sign the incorporation of the new company (Citizen Card, Identity Card, passport or residence permit))
The Memorandum and Articles of Association.

* Translation and authentication of documents may be requested upon review of originals

Attend your appointment and register your company
All members of the future company have to go to the Empresa na Hora desk to start the incorporation process. If they can't all be present, they have to sign the procuration form that gives powers to a third party. There you’ll be provided with an individual TIN (which is the Tax Identification Number, called NIF in Portuguese), one for each of you and one for your company. You have to be present to be granted your TIN. You’ll also sign the Memorandum and Articles and the registration office will promote the registry and publish the partnership agreement at the publication’s website (there is an English version). The service desk provides an access code to the company’s e-card - meanwhile the physical card is sent to the company’s registered head office - and an access code to the commercial registry’s permanent certificate, valid for 3 months. This will have a cost of 360€ and can be paid by cash or with debit card.

Starting activity at Finanças

At that very same day, the declaration of beginning of activity (starting business) can be done. This requires a specific form, from the Tax Department (Finanças) that can be printed online, validated by a registered accountant, it requires photocopies of the public Deeds, identification and fiscal numbers of the partners and accountant. This action must take place within 15 days from the date of the Deed that will generate a “Certificate of Incorporation of the Company” valid for three months.

If you have been told by a professional that the self-employed simplified regime applies to you,

the Finance Portal provides a new way of declaring the start of a simplified activity for individual taxpayers and without organised accounting.

ATatividade is a new platform from the Portuguese Tax Authority designed to make it easier for individuals and companies to manage their business activity. It centralises all tools, information, and support in one place.

Intuitive Access

Everything related to your business activity-functions, information and documents - gathered in a single, easy-to-navigate location.

Transparency

The platform uses a step‑by‑step question‑and‑answer format, adapted to each taxpayer’s profile, making the process clearer and easier to understand.

Guided Help

Support is available throughout the process, both inside the questionnaire and through additional explanations.

What the Platform Allows You to Do

ATatividade introduces a new way to manage business activity and submit declarations for:

Starting or resuming activity
Modifying activity
Ending activity

The new system is already available for:

Individuals starting or resuming activity
Undivided inheritances resuming activity (as long as they do not have, and are not required to have, organized accounting)

How It Works

Interactive Questionnaire (instead of traditional forms)
You answer guided questions with multiple‑choice options, making the process simpler and more conversational.

Smart Inferences
The system uses information the Tax Authority already knows about you to reduce the amount of data you need to enter.

Enhanced Support
Help is available at every step to guide you toward the correct answers for your situation.

The interactive form also allows the search for CAE/CIRS codes and the calculation of the turnover.

After submitting the declaration, the platform identifies the main tax obligations of the taxpayer.

Other services on this platform include:

Finanças platform options picture

Since 1^st of July 2025, if you perform a single transaction worth more than €25,000, you no longer need to submit a Declaration for the start of a simplified activity.

What do you need to do?

1 - Issue the Invoice and Receipt for a Single Transaction (Recibo de Ato Isolado) on the Finance Portal > Serviços > Faturas e Recibos. Don't forget:

On the invoice or invoice-receipt, you must pay VAT (IVA) at the applicable rate (unless it is an activity exempt under Article 9 of the IVA Code);
When issuing the invoice-receipt or receipt, you must make a withholding tax deduction if the buyer is an entity with organised accounting and the amount of the isolated act exceeds 15,000 euros. The rate to be applied is that corresponding to the activity that generated the income (Article 101 of the CIRS);

2 - Pay the VAT (IVA) due by the end of the following month, using the payment slip obtained following the issuance of the invoice or invoice-receipt;

3 - Declare the value of the isolated transaction in Annex B of the IRS declaration, to be submitted between 1^st of April and 30^th of June of the following year. Except if the isolated transaction is less than 4 times the value of the IAS (see our IRS bulletin T01) and there is no other income to be declared in the household, in which case you are exempt from submitting the IRS declaration.

New CAE Validation
New version of the Portuguese Classification of Economic Activities (CAE - Rev.4)

On the 12^th of February 2025, Decree-Law No. 9/2025 was published, introducing the new version of the Portuguese Classification of Economic Activities (CAE - Rev.4), with effect from the 1^st of January 2025.

The Tax and Customs Authority (AT) automatically updated taxpayers' data based on this new table, using three conversion methods:

Direct conversion: Automatic reclassification without taxpayer intervention.
Conversion based on the Survey for Reclassification of Economic Activities (Inquérito para Reclassificação das Atividades Económicas - IRCAE): Taxpayer responses to the 2024 survey were used for reclassification.
Probabilistic conversion: For taxpayers who did not respond to IRCAE, reclassification was performed using statistical methods.

Taxpayers with activity must check on the Tax Authority Portal, under A Minha Área > Situação Fiscal Integrada > Informação Cadastral (My Area > Integrated Tax Status > Registration Information), whether the activity code is correctly classified. If they identify any discrepancy, they must submit a declaration of changes in activity, indicating the correct CAE codes and removing the incorrect ones.

Register with Segurança Social
The Tax Authority (AT) communicates the start of activity to Segurança Social automatically.

The company does not need to file a separate registration unless it hires employees.

Foreigners who are about to start working on a contract, as self-employed or as domestic staff and don’t have a NISS (Social security number), can register now through NISS NA HORA. You can make an appointment by calling 210 548 888 / 300 088 888 or through the online NISS request. More information you can find HERE .

To register a Cooperative, you can find information HERE

Quick registration of the Cooperative, please see this LINK

To register an Association, you can find information HERE

For quick registration you will find answers in the FAQ’s HERE

Franchising

Franchising is a business model that works in partnership. It allows a company with an experienced business format to assign to third parties, in exchange for financial compensation, the right to exploit its products or services, to use its trademark and also to implement its management methods.

Learn about business opportunities and franchisee experiences in Associação Portuguesa de Franchising (Portuguese Franchising Association).

Licences

Applications for business licences and other electronic services you can find on this PORTAL. In Highlighted Topics you will find information and the most popular services in Companies and Businesses. In Business Areas you can find the economic activities identified with CAE (Portuguese Classification of Economic Activities):

Proof of professional activity may be requested by self-employed entrepreneurs, partners/managers or company workers to present them to competent authorities or companies in European Union countries.

For more information or if you need help with business registrations, you should contact the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN):

Website - https://irn.justica.gov.pt/
Email - geral@irn.mj.pt
Tel – 211 950 500
Contacts per district: https://irn.justica.gov.pt/Contactos/Lista

More information on the government website.

Useful contacts: https://inpi.justica.gov.pt/contactos/outros-contactos-uteis

Before starting a business in Portugal, it’s advisable to speak to an English-speaking lawyer or accountant, knowledgeable in Portuguese business laws. Obtaining legal advice will help you identify any tax breaks available and will help you navigate your way through the process of opening your business in Portugal.

EMPRESA ONLINE

PLANNING THE BUSINESS

2. SETTING UP THE COMPANY IN A TRADITIONAL WAY

G07E - Starting a business

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