Register a Portuguese company without flying anywhere
A registered Lda with its own tax number, beneficial ownership filed, activity codes that match what you actually sell, and a certified accountant in place from day one. We do the whole sequence, in the order that works, and we show you the state fees at cost.
Not a certificate in an envelope. A company that can trade
A great many formation offers end at the registration certificate, which is the point at which the real work starts. These are the things that have to exist before a Portuguese company is of any use to you, and all of them are in scope.
The company itself
An Lda or Unipessoal Lda incorporated and entered in the Conservatória do Registo Comercial, with its own corporate tax number, the NIPC, and a permanent certificate you can give to anyone who asks.
- Articles drafted for your ownership, not a template
- How the company is bound, and by whom, set deliberately
- Share capital structured for the owners you will have, not only the ones you have now
Tax numbers for every owner
Each shareholder needs a Portuguese NIF before the company can exist. For residents outside the EU that runs through a fiscal representative, and for some of them the representation can then be removed.
- NIF for each shareholder, started in parallel on day one
- Registered at your real address abroad, as non-resident
- Electronic notifications switched on where that removes the ongoing representation
Beneficial ownership and tax registration
The RCBE filed, the activity declaration lodged with the Autoridade Tributária, CAE codes chosen against what you will invoice, and registration with Segurança Social where there will be payroll.
- RCBE at incorporation on the online route, or immediately after on the counter route
- VAT position decided before the first invoice, not after it
- Activity codes that will survive a bank reading them
An accountant, from the first day
Mandatory in Portugal whether or not the company trades. We put a certified accountant in place at incorporation and hand over a written calendar of who files what.
- Certified accountant engaged before you need one
- Registered address that receives official post
- Every statutory deadline assigned in writing
Empresa na Hora or Empresa Online. They are not interchangeable
Portugal offers two simplified incorporation regimes and most guides treat them as the same thing at different prices. They are not. One is faster and more rigid, the other is cheaper and more flexible, and since the 2024 reform the online route does something the counter route does not.
The line that matters most is the second from the bottom. Under the reform introduced by Decreto-Lei n.º 28/2024, the online route registers the beneficial owner at the moment of incorporation. On the counter route the RCBE is a separate filing afterwards — and a company whose RCBE is not yet filed is a company whose bank file does not move. We have watched that single gap cost people three weeks.
Our default is the online route unless there is a reason to be at a counter: a shareholder who already has a Portuguese digital signature and wants it done this afternoon, a structure that needs the registrar to look at it in person, or a name that has to be settled live. We will tell you which applies to you before you pay anything.
Lda, Unipessoal or SA. Pick it once, properly
Converting later is a registered act with a cost and a delay attached, so the five minutes spent here are worth more than they look.
A private limited company with a single owner. Same tax treatment, same limited liability, same obligations as an Lda. The only real question is whether you will stay alone: taking on a partner means converting, and converting costs more than starting correctly.
The standard choice and what nine out of ten of our clients incorporate. If there is any realistic prospect of a partner, an investor or a second family member on the register, start here even if the second holding is nominal.
Freely transferable shares, a board, higher minimum capital and a heavier governance load. Worth it where shares will genuinely change hands, where an investor requires it, or at a scale that justifies the running cost. Below that it is expense without benefit.
Not a separate legal person but a registered presence of your existing company. Occasionally the right answer for a group that wants no new entity — and frequently the wrong one, because the parent is directly exposed and the accounting is not simpler.
Six steps, and the one everyone gets wrong
The registry is almost never the bottleneck. Delays come from doing things in the wrong order — and specifically from leaving the shareholders’ tax numbers until the articles are being drafted.
Ownership, residence of each owner, what the business does, when you need to be trading. We come back with the route, the fee, the state charges itemised and the realistic date. If Portugal is the wrong answer, this is where you hear it.
Every shareholder needs a Portuguese NIF before the company can be incorporated. Non-EU residents obtain one through a fiscal representative, and documents issued abroad need an apostille and a certified translation. Four owners in four countries is four parallel processes on four foreign timetables. Nothing downstream can start until these exist — which is why they are step two and not step five.
A name certificate from the RNPC if you want a name of your own, which is worth the €75 when the company name appears on anything a customer sees. Articles drafted for your ownership: who binds the company, what a manager can do alone, what needs both signatures.
Articles executed, capital subscribed, the company entered in the commercial register. On the online route the beneficial owner is registered in the same act. The company now has its NIPC and a permanent certificate.
Declaration of commencement of activity with the tax authority, CAE codes set against what you will invoice, VAT position decided, Social Security registration where there will be payroll, and the certified accountant engaged. On the counter route, the RCBE is filed here and not a day later.
The full pack assembled before anyone is approached, then two institutions at once. Meanwhile a payment institution so you can invoice and be paid while the bank file runs. Capital paid in once the account exists.
What you need to have, per owner
Gather these first. Every one of them has been the reason somebody’s incorporation slipped by a fortnight.
- Passport, valid, with a clear scan of the photo page
- Proof of address at home, dated within three months and in their own name
- Tax number in their country of residence
- A power of attorney, if they will not sign electronically or attend
- Apostille and certified translation for anything issued abroad
- What it actually does, in two or three plain sentences
- Where the customers are, and whether they are businesses or consumers
- Expected turnover in the first year, honestly rather than optimistically
- Whether anyone will be employed in Portugal in year one
- If a company will be a shareholder: its own certificate, articles and ownership chain to natural persons
If a corporate shareholder sits above the Portuguese company, the apostille and translation burden multiplies and so does the bank’s diligence. It is entirely doable and we do it regularly — but it is a different timetable and a different quote, and we would rather say so now than discover it halfway.
Our fee, and the state’s, side by side
State charges are published and identical for everyone. We pass them through at cost and show them separately, because bundling them into one figure is precisely how a cheap-looking quote hides what you are paying for.
- NIF for up to two shareholders
- Name certificate handled
- Articles drafted for your structure
- Incorporation and commercial registration
- RCBE and activity codes
- Accounting
- Bank introductions
- Everything in Formation only
- Certified accountant for twelve months
- Registered address receiving official post
- Every statutory filing for the year
- Bank file prepared, two introductions made
- Payment institution set up so you can invoice immediately
- Payments on account forecast before they arrive
- Corporate shareholders or a group above
- More than four owners
- Trusts or funds in the chain
- Regulated or licensed activity
- Madeira free zone licensing
- Branch of an existing foreign company
Fees are for a straightforward structure with up to two individual shareholders resident outside the European Union. Apostilles, certified translations and foreign notarial costs are incurred in your own country, vary widely by jurisdiction and are not included in any quote — ours or anyone else’s.
The obligations that begin the day the company exists
Not when you start trading. From incorporation. This is the part that turns a cheap formation into an expensive year, and it is why we quote the first year rather than the first day.
A dormant company files all of this and reports zeroes. There is no sleeping mode. If the plan is to register now and start later, that is a decision with a running cost attached, and we will price it honestly rather than pretend otherwise.
The law this runs on, so you can check us
- Código das Sociedades Comerciais, approved by Decreto-Lei n.º 262/86, de 2 de setembro — the law governing the sociedade por quotas, its capital, its management and how it binds itself.
- Decreto-Lei n.º 111/2005, de 8 de julho — creates the Empresa na Hora regime of immediate incorporation, for companies by quotas and public limited companies, handled at commercial registry offices and business formality centres.
- Decreto-Lei n.º 125/2006, de 29 de junho, as amended by Decreto-Lei n.º 209/2012 and reformed by Decreto-Lei n.º 28/2024, de 3 de abril — the online incorporation regime, now Empresa Online 2.0, with procedural detail set by Portaria n.º 155/2024/1.
- Lei n.º 89/2017, de 21 de agosto — the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership regime, managed by the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado.
- Código do IRC — corporate income tax, including the 19% standard rate for 2026 and the 15% band on the first €50,000 for SMEs.
Position at October 2026. Registry fees are the published amounts and are fixed; professional fees are ours and are quoted in writing before any work begins. Nothing on this page is advice on your particular structure, and we would rather give you that properly than imply it here.
Questions we answer every week
Can I register a Portuguese company without coming to Portugal?
Yes. Either we act under a power of attorney and attend the registry for you, or we use the online route, where each shareholder signs the articles electronically. The power of attorney has to be signed abroad, apostilled and translated by a translator recognised in Portugal, which is the part that takes time rather than the incorporation itself.
What is the difference between Empresa na Hora and Empresa Online?
Empresa na Hora, created by Decreto-Lei n.º 111/2005, is a same-day counter service: you choose a pre-approved name and pre-approved articles, sign in person, and leave with a registered company. Empresa Online, reformed in 2024 into what is called Empresa Online 2.0, runs through the RNPC with electronic signatures, allows articles of your own drafting, costs less, and now registers the beneficial owner at the moment of incorporation rather than afterwards.
How much share capital do I need?
One euro per share, so a two-shareholder Lda can be incorporated with a share capital of two euros. It is not a fee and it stays your money. It also does not need to be sitting in a Portuguese bank account before the company exists: the shareholders declare that the capital is held by the company and pay it in by the end of the first financial year. This is why we incorporate first and approach the bank second.
Which legal form should I choose, Lda or Unipessoal Lda?
A Unipessoal Lda has exactly one shareholder, a Lda has two or more. There is no tax difference and no difference in liability. If there is any realistic chance of taking on a partner or an investor, start as an Lda with two shareholders, because converting later is a registered act with a cost attached. An SA is worth considering only above a certain scale or where share transferability genuinely matters.
Do I need a Portuguese accountant from day one?
Yes, and this is the item most often left out of a competitor quote. A Portuguese company with organised accounts must have a certified accountant signing for it from incorporation, whether or not it trades. A dormant company still files Modelo 22 and the IES. Our first-year package includes twelve months of certified accounting for this reason.
What activity codes should my company have?
The CAE codes describe what the company does and they matter more than people expect. The tax authority compares them against your invoices, banks compare them against your business description, and a mismatch is a reliable way to stall a bank file or attract a review. We set them against what you will actually invoice, not against the nearest approximation.
How long until the company can issue its first invoice?
Legally, as soon as it is registered, has activity codes and certified invoicing software. Practically, the constraint is being paid: that needs an account. Allow three to six weeks to a registered company and two to eight more for a Portuguese bank account, which is why we usually put a payment institution in place so you can invoice while the bank file runs.
Send us the structure. You get a plan, a date and a price
Who the owners are, where they live, what the business does and when you need to be trading. Within one working day you get the route we would take, the fee, the state charges at cost, the realistic date and the parts that are cheaper done yourself. If your case needs something we do not do, we will say so and point you somewhere sensible.