Frequently asked questions on setting up and establishing a business in Portugal

Yes. No Portuguese law requires you to reside in Portugal to set up a Lda or a Unipessoal Lda, nor to be a tax resident there. An EU national, such as a French citizen, obtains their NIF remotely and doesn't need to be resident to set up. However, signing the articles and opening the bank account are done in person in Portugal: plan a visit. The real question isn't whether you're allowed to set up, but where you will actually run the business, that's what determines where your company will be taxed.

The process combines remote steps and one on-site visit. Remotely: obtaining the partners' NIF, choosing the name and business object, framing the project by video call. In person in Portugal: signing the articles (then the Certidão Permanente is issued within 24 to 48 hours, and our partner lawyer files the RCBE) and opening the business bank account. At Business Portugal, Audrey carries out the incorporation herself and supports you on site; plan, as a rule, for one trip to Lisbon, which we prepare so it is single.

You need a NIF for each partner and manager, an approved company name, a business object (main and secondary activities), share capital and the identity of the partners. The company is then incorporated by signing the articles in person in Portugal, after which you receive the Certidão Permanente, the RCBE (filed by our partner lawyer) and the articles of association; the bank account is opened on site, during the same visit. It's a sequence of formalities that looks simple on paper, but where a setup error can prove costly later, which is why it pays to be supported from the start.

Empresa na Hora is an official scheme that lets you incorporate a Portuguese company in a single session, using template articles of association and a pre-approved name. It's fast, but it means being present on site and accepting standardised articles, which doesn't suit every situation (partners abroad, bespoke business object, multi-partner structures). Speed isn't always an advantage: a shell set up too quickly, without proper configuration or real substance, can cause problems down the line.

For the NIF, you'll generally be asked for an ID document or passport and a recent proof of address. For company formation, you need information about the business (address, share capital, main object and secondary activities) and the identity of the partners and managers. For the bank, you use the documents of the incorporated company (Certidão Permanente, RCBE, articles), the manager's tax number in their home country and the bank's own supporting documents.

The cost is made up of the administrative registration fees, obtaining the NIF, and, depending on your case, domiciliation and monthly accounting. Business Portugal doesn't publish a fixed price list because every project is different: the fee is given by quote, after a free first conversation, with administrative fees included in the package. Be wary of very low headline prices shown by some platforms: they often exclude the NIF, the bank or the accounting, and hide the real budget.

Allow on average around three weeks for a complete file, once all the elements are gathered (NIF, partners' identity, business object, supporting documents). After registration, the Certidão Permanente is available within 24 to 48 hours. This timeline depends on how quickly the client provides their documents and on the banks for the compliance part: no serious firm can guarantee an absolute date, as it partly depends on the administrations.

The legal minimum share capital of a Lda or a Unipessoal Lda is €1 per partner. This is a point regularly stated wrongly in French-language content, which still quotes €5,000: that figure is incorrect. In practice, Audrey often recommends planning a more realistic capital, in the region of €1,000, to give the file consistency, particularly with banks. An SA (Sociedade Anónima), on the other hand, does require €50,000 of capital.

In Portugal, a company must have a certified accountant (Contabilista Certificado), which is a recurring monthly cost. For a small structure, the budget is generally around €200 to €250 per month, varying with the volume of transactions and the complexity of the file. Business Portugal does not do the accounting itself: Audrey connects you with trusted accounting partners (Raly Conseils, Joongle).

The NIF (an individual's tax identification number) is obtained remotely, through a tax representative in Portugal, on presentation of an ID document and a proof of address. It's the first building block of any project: without a NIF, you can't set up a company, open an account or sign a lease. Business Portugal handles this step for you without you having to travel; the NIF is the only fully remote step, as signing the articles and opening the account are then done in person in Portugal.

The NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal) identifies a natural person with the Portuguese tax authority. The NIPC (Número de Identificação de Pessoa Coletiva) identifies a legal person, i.e. a company. In practice, each partner and manager has their NIF, and the company, once created, receives its NIPC; both numbers then serve for all tax and banking procedures.

For a resident of the European Union or the EEA, such as a French citizen, a fiscal representative is in principle no longer mandatory since the rules were relaxed: you can obtain a NIF without a representative. The fiscal-representative requirement mainly concerns people residing outside the EU/EEA. This is a point that often causes confusion; it's best to check your specific case during the conversation, as the situation differs depending on your country of residence.

The NISS (Número de Identificação de Segurança Social) is the Portuguese social security number, separate from the NIF. It becomes necessary as soon as you carry out an activity subject to contributions (self-employed, paid manager, employee) or take on staff. The procedure is done with the Segurança Social and is one of the steps Business Portugal can coordinate depending on your situation, together with the partner accountant.

The choice depends on your activity, your turnover and your need to protect your personal assets. The ENI (Empresário em Nome Individual) and the Trabalhador Independente status suit a solo, low-volume start, but with no separation between personal and business assets. The Unipessoal Lda (single-member limited-liability company) protects your assets and is accessible with a single partner; the Lda is its multi-partner version. The right call is made on a case-by-case basis, during the first conversation.

Both are limited-liability companies that protect the partner's personal assets. The difference lies in the number of partners: the Unipessoal Lda has a single partner, whereas the Lda has at least two. The minimum capital is €1 per partner in both cases, and the accounting obligations are equivalent. You choose one or the other depending on whether you launch your activity alone or with others.

There is no perfect equivalence, and it's better to reason with the Portuguese forms than with French acronyms. The Unipessoal Lda is the closest analogue to the EURL (single-member limited-liability company), and the Lda to the SARL (several partners). Be careful: describing Portugal in terms of "SARL", "EURL" or "auto-entrepreneur" maintains legal and tax confusion, the Portuguese rules are not modelled on the French ones.

There's no universal threshold: it all depends on your margin, your need for asset protection and your overall taxation. In practice, moving from an individual status (ENI / Trabalhador Independente) to a company (Unipessoal Lda) becomes relevant when the activity grows, income rises or you want to clearly separate personal and business assets. This is typically a decision to model with an accountant; Business Portugal points you to the right person for the simulation.

In 2026, the general IRC (corporate income tax) rate is 19%. SMEs benefit from a reduced rate of 15% on the first €50,000 of taxable profit, with the excess taxed at 19%. On top of this come a municipal derrama (up to 1.5% depending on the municipality) and, only above €1.5M of profit, a state derrama that does not concern most SMEs. (2026 rates, subject to change with the finance act.)

IRS is the income tax on natural persons (employees, self-employed, retirees). IRC is the tax on companies' profit. IVA is Portuguese VAT, whose standard rate is 23%. These three taxes follow different logics and returns; your company's certified accountant handles IRC and IVA, while IRS falls under your personal situation.

The IFICI (Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação) is the tax regime that replaced the former NHR; "NHR 2.0" is only a marketing nickname, not its legal name (art. 58-A of the Código dos Benefícios Fiscais, Portaria 352/2024). It grants a 20% IRS rate on eligible activity income (categories A and B) for 10 non-renewable years, provided you haven't been a tax resident in Portugal in the previous 5 years. It targets active, qualified profiles (academic researchers, highly qualified professions in exporting companies, certified startups, R&D). Audrey flags eligibility and connects you with the right tax adviser; she does not carry out the analysis herself.

No. This is the major change from the former NHR: the IFICI completely excludes foreign retirement pensions, and there is no longer a flat-rate advantage for retirees. A French private pension becomes taxable in Portugal under the progressive IRS scale (category H), while a public civil-service pension remains taxable in France under the tax treaty of 14 January 1971. Only those registered for the NHR before the end of 2023 keep their former advantages until the end of their 10 years.

The application is filed on the Portal das Finanças, until 15 January of the year following the one in which you become a tax resident in Portugal (for example: tax residence in 2026 → application before 15 January 2027). This deadline is strict: a late application only takes effect from the year it is filed and makes you lose one or more of the 10 years of benefit. For profiles whose entity or project must be recognised beforehand, you need to start well in advance; this is a point the partner tax adviser secures with you.

IVA (Portuguese VAT) at the standard rate of 23% applies to most sales and services. Small structures can benefit from an exemption (isenção) as long as their previous-year turnover stays below the threshold of around €15,000, which exempts them from charging IVA. For intra-EU e-commerce, specific rules apply (€10,000 threshold and OSS one-stop shop). The exact scope depends on your activity; your certified accountant frames it precisely.

Opening a business account is done after the company is set up, with the Certidão Permanente, the RCBE, the articles, the manager's NIF and the supporting documents requested by the bank. It's often the trickiest step, because of compliance (anti-money-laundering checks), especially for non-resident or non-European profiles. This is precisely a Business Portugal speciality: Audrey carries out the banking support herself, with Millennium as a partner, where many entrepreneurs end up stuck on their own.

For everyday transactions, these accounts can help out, but they don't replace a local Portuguese bank account. A foreign IBAN (for example Lithuanian for Revolut Business) is often unsuitable for paying the Portuguese state, IVA, IRC, Segurança Social contributions, which expects direct debits from a domestic account. A local account therefore remains, in practice, indispensable for a company genuinely operating in Portugal.

Yes, it's possible, and common: you need a registered address in Portugal and, most often, to be able to show part of the activity takes place locally. The point to watch, too often left unsaid, is effective management. If you actually run your company from France, that's where decisions are made and where you work, with no substance in Portugal, the French authorities may consider that the place of effective management is in France and tax the company in France, or even see an undeclared permanent establishment. The danger isn't setting up the company, which is simple, but its later tax reclassification. Audrey flags this point and points you to a tax adviser; she does not carry out the tax structuring herself.

No, that's a myth: no Portuguese law requires the manager of a Lda or a Unipessoal Lda to reside in Portugal or spend a minimum number of days there. However, the absence of a Portuguese obligation does not remove the tax risk on the French side: if the company is genuinely run from France, it may be attached there for tax purposes. In other words, it's not a legal box to tick, but a question of the real substance of the activity, where it's run, where it has its resources.

No, it's one of the most misleading shortcuts of expatriation. Spending fewer than 183 days in France is not enough to become a non-resident: the French authorities also look at your home (where your family lives), your centre of vital interests and your main professional activity, which are alternative criteria. You can therefore remain a French tax resident despite fewer than 183 days on the territory. Tax residence is determined by a body of evidence, not by a simple day counter, a point to validate with a tax adviser.

Because setting up the company is only part of the journey: you also need to obtain the NIF, unlock the bank, choose the right status, find a certified accountant and avoid the tax pitfalls on the French side, all in Portuguese and with several contacts. Business Portugal gives you a single French-speaking point of contact: Audrey carries out the formation and banking support herself, and connects you with the right experts (accounting, tax, legal, recruitment) instead of leaving you to juggle alone in a foreign language. It's the model of an establishment conductor, rather than ten providers for you to coordinate yourself.

A few simple markers help you judge: an identified, reachable human contact, transparency about what's included or not, and the use of a Contabilista Certificado listed on the OCC public register (the Portuguese order of accountants), a certified accountant being mandatory for any company. Business Portugal relies on concrete evidence: around 75 entrepreneurs supported since 2025, named partners (Millennium for banking, Raly Conseils and Joongle for accounting) and a free first conversation so you can judge without commitment. Conversely, run from promises like "guaranteed zero tax" or "a company in 2 hours with no checks": on taxation, honesty beats superlatives.