Starting a business in Portugal

In Portugal, anyone who wants to work for themselves can do so as an individual, registered with the tax authority as a self-employed worker (commonly called recibos verdes, “green receipts”), or through a company, incorporated at the Registry. This guide describes what the official pages ask for on each route, with the amounts and deadlines they give. It does not recommend one form: the tax consequences depend on each case, and that decision should go through a certified accountant (contabilista certificado).

As an individual: start of activity

The tax authority says that anyone who independently and habitually carries on production, trade or service activities is subject to IRS (personal income tax) and VAT and must submit the start-of-activity declaration before starting to practise.

It is submitted on the Tax Portal (ATividade > Submeter declarações), at a tax office or at a Loja do Cidadão. Have these to hand beforehand:

• the activity code(s) (CAE);
• the estimated turnover up to the end of the year;
• the IBAN of an account in your name, to link to the activity.

On the basis of the declaration, you are placed in one of the IRS regimes (simplified or organised accounting) and in one of the VAT regimes that the page lists: normal, article 9 exemption, the special exemption regime of article 53, small retailers and the flat-rate regime for agricultural producers. Anyone who is required to keep organised accounting, or chooses to, must have the declaration submitted through a certified accountant.

VAT: the article 53 regime

According to the tax authority, the special exemption regime of article 53 is open to a taxable person with a seat or domicile in Portugal who does not carry out exports or related activities and who did not reach, in the previous calendar year, an annual turnover in national territory above €15,000. Circular Letter no. 25062 of 26 March 2025, which accompanied the new wording of the regime, adds the essentials:

• at the start of activity, you declare an estimate of the turnover for the current year, with no annualisation;
• those exempt must issue invoices with the wording «IVA - Regime de isenção» and cannot deduct VAT;
• if in one year turnover exceeds €15,000, the normal regime applies from the following year, and the change declaration is submitted within 15 working days from the last day of the year;
• if the limit is exceeded by more than 25% during the year (€18,750), the exemption ends at that moment, with a change declaration within 15 working days.

Check with the tax authority or your accountant for the current limits, because this regime changed in 2025.

Social Security

The Social Security Practical Guide of January 2026 describes the self-employed workers’ regime. The tax authority notifies Social Security of the start of activity, which registers and places the worker in the regime. The first placement only takes effect on the first day of the 12th month after the month activity began, but you can ask to bring it forward in the quarterly declaration. The quarterly declaration is submitted by the last day of January, April, July and October. Under the quarterly-declaration regime, relevant income is worked out from 70% of the value of services provided and 20% of income from producing and selling goods (with its own rules for other situations), and the rate the guide gives for self-employed workers and their spouses is 21.4%, with different rates for other categories. Payment is monthly, between the 10th and the 20th of the following month. There are exemption cases, which the guide details. The guide to NISS and Social Security summarises the same rules, and the Taxes and IRS guide covers the tax side for individuals.

As a company

Empresa na Hora and Empresa Online allow you to set up a single-member private limited company (sociedade unipessoal por quotas), a private limited company (sociedade por quotas) and a public limited company (sociedade anónima). In both:

1. Choose the name. You can pick a pre-approved name from the Bolsa de firmas e denominações, or present an admissibility certificate approved by the National Register of Legal Persons.
2. Set the articles of association. At Empresa na Hora you can choose a pre-approved template. Online, you state the legal nature and type of company, partners and managers, activity (CAE), corporate purpose, share capital, registered office, contacts and beneficial owner.
3. Pay. Costs depend on the channel (see below).
4. Deposit the share capital. After incorporation, you have 5 working days to deposit it in the company’s account. The obligation does not apply if the deposit was already made or if the partners declare delivery of the amount to the company’s coffers by the end of the first financial year.
5. Declare the beneficial owner, if not already done, within 30 days.

Empresa na Hora. It is done at any Empresa na Hora counter, with all partners present, wherever the registered office will be. Partners who are individuals present an identity document (Cartão de Cidadão, identity card, passport or residence permit) and their NIF. For accounting, you either name a certified accountant from the list provided or submit the start-of-activity declaration at any tax office, up to 15 days after incorporation. The page gives €360 for the normal request; there are additional amounts for an associated trade mark and for capital paid in assets other than money. At the end you receive the articles of association, the access code for the permanent commercial certificate, the access code for the company card and the company’s Social Security number.

Empresa Online. It is open to anyone with a Cartão de Cidadão with digital signature or a Chave Móvel Digital; foreign citizens can use the Chave Móvel Digital linked to their passport or European (eIDAS) authentication. All partners must have authentication and digital signature active and a Portuguese NIF. The page excludes cases with a partner under 18, a merger or demerger and capital in kind. It costs €220 with pre-approved articles and €360 with articles drawn up by the partners (€440 and €720 if urgent). Payment is due within 48 hours, and the name is reserved for 24 hours until payment. gov.pt says the registry registers the company in 5 days for pre-approved articles and in 10 days for articles drawn up by the partners; if there are non-conformities, you have 5 days to correct them, at an additional cost of €30.

Administrators and managers automatically receive, at no cost, the business attribute that lets them sign certain electronic documents for the company with the Cartão de Cidadão or the Chave Móvel Digital.

After incorporation

• Tax authority. For entities subject to commercial registration, the tax authority says the start-of-activity declaration is submitted within 15 days at most after the registration request, whether through Empresa na Hora or Empresa Online, even if the activity starts later, but always before it starts. Anyone required to keep organised accounting has the declaration submitted through a certified accountant, who must be the one named in the commercial register or notified to the tax authority.
• Social Security. The company’s Social Security number is assigned on incorporation. Managers and administrators are members of statutory bodies. The May 2026 Practical Guide gives 20.3% payable by the entity and 9.3% by the member for members with protection in sickness, parenthood, occupational diseases, disability, old age and death, and 23.75% and 11% for those who perform management or administration with unemployment protection. The guide also lists the exclusion cases.
• Account and bookkeeping. The capital is deposited in the company’s account (above), and the rest of the bookkeeping is a matter for the certified accountant.

If you are not a Portuguese citizen

The Justice Registry requires a NIF (for all partners, in the online service), valid identification and, at Empresa na Hora, the partners’ physical presence. The official page does not mention that a foreigner needs a particular residence title to be a partner or manager. What determines whether you can work is your title: for independent activity with a residence visa (article 89(1)), AIMA lists documents such as proof of start of activity with the tax authority and Social Security and the services contract, the company’s permanent certificate or the latest receipts. AIMA shows the article 89(2) route, without a visa, as repealed from 4 June 2024. See Visas, the Working guide, the NIF guide and the AIMA guide before changing model, and Service points for in-person counters.