To open your own business, it is crucial, these days, to develop creative and innovative ideas that meet the needs of customers.
According to the European Commission, as European citizens we are entitled to start their own company in any EU country. To facilitate this process, it is recommended to go to the National One-Stop Shop (existing in all EU countries (https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/services/services-directive/in-practice/contact_en) which are managed by the EUGO network. Through this portal you can:
- Explore new business opportunities or expand the services to another EU country;
• Create a company; - Enquire about the necessary rules, legislation and information;
- Carry out the necessary administrative procedures;
- Enquire Information about licenses, notifications or authorizations necessary to create a company;
- Requirements to provide services on a temporary basis;
- Recognition of professional qualifications and regulated professions;
- Labor and social legislation;
- Rules applicable to public tenders.
Types of Companies:
If the investment in Portugal is made through integration in a Portuguese company, the first step to be taken is the decision on the type of company to be created
The most used structures are the following:
• Public Limited company (S.A): Company in which the share capital is divided into shares to be traded freely. It consists of a for-profit company and works as a capital company divided into shares, with the difference that, it provides profits that are distributed by the shareholders. The partners of these companies, therefore the shareholders, have limited responsability to the price of the acquired shares. To form this partnership it is necessary to have at least five partners.
- Private Limited Company: company held by a single person (natural or legal), who owns all of its capital, and is subject to the rules applicable to private limited companies. In terms of liability, this format determines that the person holding the company’s share capital responds in a limited way to the respective amount (freely fixed by the company) for the debts incurred in the exercise of its activity before its creditors.
- Limited Company: limited liability corporate form, consisting of two or more partners, whose share capital of the company is divided by shares. A limited company can also be sole proprietorship, when it is constituted by only one partner, holding all the share capital. The main difference between a Private Limited Company and a limited company lies precisely in the number of partners. In practical terms, the first consists of an individual company model and the second a collective model.
Documents to be provided:
Individual:
Taxpayer Card; Identification document – Citizen Card, Identity Card, Passport, Driving License or Residence Permit.
Note: The Driving License and Residence Permit are only accepted when the entity’s capital does not exceed € 15,000.00.
Legal person:
- Company Card or access code; or Corporate Person Card or the access code;
- Updated Commercial Registration Certificate;
- Minutes of the General Assembly that grants powers for the constitution of the company.
Registration fees:
The cost of starting a business will depend on the legal form and the number of partners who will be part of the company, but also on the movable and immovable property associated with it. The main costs of starting a business are:
- Cost of registration through the “Empresa na Hora”: 360 euros;
- Certificate of Admissibility for the creation of the company: 70 euros, normal order or 150 euros for urgent orders;
- In companies with real estate entries or shareholdings that have to be registered: 50 euros per property or quota;
- Companies with movable goods: 30 euros for each asset;
- If its associated: mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles or quads with cylinder sizes up to 50 cm3 with a limit of 30 thousand euros: 20 euros per vehicle.
For more info:
· Gabinete de Apoio ao Empreendedor Migrante
