Anyone can register a company. Registering the right one — correct legal form, sensible share structure, a tax setup that matches how you actually make money — is where most first attempts quietly go wrong.
Most non-EU founders need an Lda. Some do not. The difference is worth establishing before incorporation rather than after.
The default for SMEs, startups and holding activity. Liability limited to the capital contributed, one or more partners, and the only form that can be incorporated same-day through Empresa na Hora.
For larger operations, multiple shareholders or venture funding. Shares rather than quotas make the cap table cleaner, at the cost of a board structure and a statutory auditor.
The Portuguese sole trader. Fast and inexpensive, but personal liability is unlimited: your own assets answer for the debts of the activity. Rarely the right call once there is real exposure.
An extension of your existing foreign company rather than a separate legal person. No separate capital, but the parent carries full responsibility for everything the branch does. We model the tax difference against a subsidiary before you decide.
Not an enquiry form that replies in three days. A working model of how Portuguese company law applies to your situation — answer what you know, leave the rest on the default.
The delay is almost never the registration. It is the apostilles, translations and powers of attorney that have to exist before anyone can file. Tick what you already have.
A Portuguese NIF for every founder and director. Where owners sit outside the EU, we settle fiscal representation or the electronic notifications route at this point rather than later.
A certificate of admissibility from the RNPC for your own name, or a pre-approved name so the company can be formed the same day.
Articles of association, share structure and signing — through Empresa na Hora or a notary, depending on how complex the ownership is.
Commercial registry, declaration of start of activity at Finanças, Social Security, and the beneficial ownership register.
Corporate account, VAT and VIES registration for intra-EU trade, certified accountant appointed and invoicing ready from day one. This is the step that takes the longest and depends least on us.
Identical for residents and foreign founders. Our fee is scoped separately and fixed before any work begins. State charges are not refundable once paid, which is why we always show them on their own line.
A dormant company still files Modelo 22 and IES. The realistic floor for a first year, all in, is €1,500–3,400.
The details that decide whether your entity is an asset or an administrative problem.
Yes. There is no nationality requirement for owning or managing an Lda or an S.A., and non-EU founders can own the company outright. What needs attention is not ownership but the machinery around it: a tax number for every shareholder, fiscal representation where required, and enough substance that the company is treated as genuinely Portuguese.
Usually not. Most of the process runs remotely on a Portuguese tax number and a power of attorney. Banks are the exception: several still prefer to meet beneficial owners before opening an account. We tell you upfront when a two-day trip will save three weeks.
Days for the company, weeks for everything that makes it usable. A clean Lda with a pre-approved name incorporates almost immediately. Add foreign shareholders, apostilles, bank due diligence or licensing and you are realistically at several weeks. Registration is never the bottleneck.
Legally, yes — one euro per quota-holder. Practically, banks, landlords and counterparties read share capital as a signal of substance. We advise a figure that keeps incorporation cheap without making the company look like it was set up over a weekend.
Registration is the starting line. From that day the company owes a certified accountant, monthly and annual filings, and social security on any remunerated manager — whether or not it trades. We hand over a clear calendar and can carry the work through corporate and tax support.
Only if you intend to employ people there. The island regime brings corporate tax to 5%, but it is paid for in one to six jobs on Madeira and €75,000 of fixed assets where fewer than six are created — and new licences must be granted by 31 December 2026. The conditions are set out on the Madeira page.
We recommend the legal form, model the tax setup and give you a fixed scope. If the answer is that you do not need a Portuguese company at all, we say that instead.