Chapter I · Scope of the tax

Article 2 Taxpayers

Artigo 2.º · Sujeitos passivos

Código do Imposto sobre o Rendimento das Pessoas Coletivas · republished by Law No. 2/2014 · consolidated text checked 26 October 2026

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1. The following are taxpayers for IRC purposes:

1 - São sujeitos passivos do IRC:

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a) Commercial companies or civil-law companies in commercial form, cooperatives, public enterprises and other legal persons governed by public or private law, having their registered office or place of effective management in Portuguese territory;

a) As sociedades comerciais ou civis sob forma comercial, as cooperativas, as empresas públicas e as demais pessoas coletivas de direito público ou privado, com sede ou direção efetiva em território português;

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b) Entities without legal personality, having their registered office or place of effective management in Portuguese territory, whose income is not taxable under personal income tax (IRS) or IRC directly in the hands of individuals or legal persons;

b) As entidades desprovidas de personalidade jurídica, com sede ou direção efetiva em território português, cujos rendimentos não sejam tributáveis em imposto sobre o rendimento das pessoas singulares (IRS) ou em IRC diretamente na titularidade de pessoas singulares ou coletivas;

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c) Entities, with or without legal personality, that have neither their registered office nor their place of effective management in Portuguese territory and whose income obtained in that territory is not subject to IRS.

c) As entidades, com ou sem personalidade jurídica, que não tenham sede nem direção efetiva em território português e cujos rendimentos nele obtidos não estejam sujeitos a IRS.

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2. Point (b) of paragraph 1 includes, in particular, estates in abeyance, legal persons in respect of which invalidity has been declared, associations and civil-law companies without legal personality, and commercial companies or civil-law companies in commercial form prior to their definitive registration.

2 - Consideram-se incluídas na alínea b) do n.º 1, designadamente, as heranças jacentes, as pessoas coletivas em relação às quais seja declarada a invalidade, as associações e sociedades civis sem personalidade jurídica e as sociedades comerciais ou civis sob forma comercial, anteriormente ao registo definitivo.

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3. For the purposes of this Code, legal persons and other entities having their registered office or place of effective management in Portuguese territory are considered residents.

3 - Para efeitos deste Código, consideram-se residentes as pessoas coletivas e outras entidades que tenham sede ou direção efetiva em território português.

What we checked in this article

The three categories of taxpayer, the residence test (registered office or place of effective management) and the examples of entities without legal personality in paragraph 2 are retained.

Does Article 2 affect your company’s tax bill?

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Unofficial English translation prepared by BCA Portugal for reference. Only the Portuguese text published in the Diário da República has legal force. Editorial notes are ours and are not part of the statute.

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