Portugal Relocation
French SASU director: preparing a move to Portugal
You run a French SASU and are considering living or working in Portugal. Prepare separate files for your personal circumstances and the organisation of the existing French company.
Let’s discuss your project
A few details to understand your business and the next step.
Bertrand Jayol receives your enquiry for an initial assessment. Referral to the partner is considered with your agreement. Privacy
Describe how management will change
Identify who will make decisions, where projects will be delivered and which resources will remain in France. Assemble the articles, latest available accounts, major contracts and director remuneration information. Your move alone does not explain what happens to every contract or asset. If you are considering a Portuguese company, describe its practical role: new customers, a new team, a separate activity or an arrangement that still needs to be examined.
Review dealings between the businesses
Draw a map of services, licences or resources that might move between the two entities. Each arrow should represent a real operation to examine, with a contract, price and responsible person. Keep personal income separate from SASU income. Service Public notes that residence criteria and treaties must be considered; incorporation in Portugal does not replace that analysis. Neither a transfer nor closure of the French SASU is assumed in this preparation.
Prepare the Portuguese formation file
If the project leads to a new company, assemble shareholder identification, proposed ownership, management roles, the actual activity and intended address. Portugal’s online incorporation service requires shareholders to have a Portuguese NIF, among other conditions. Documents and signing options depend on the file, so check them before committing a date to customers. For a commercial company, also organise accounting and the start of activity with a contabilista certificado. Keep evidence of decisions available to the people preparing those steps.
Build a practical timeline
Set out the known dates and the dates that remain conditional: any relocation, contract expiry or renewal, intended formation and the first service delivery. For every action, record the responsible person, the document needed and the condition that allows the next step to proceed. Ask each adviser to specify their scope. The formation request becomes more useful when the business purpose, existing activity and timing constraints are described together, with cross-border questions raised at the start and ownership of each follow-up clearly assigned.
- Sample contracts and invoices without unnecessary customer data.
- Residence, working location and customer countries recorded separately.
- The main question to resolve before the first invoice is issued.
Portugal
Before you incorporate
Registering as self-employed and incorporating a company are different routes. The choice depends on how your business actually operates. A Portuguese company alone does not determine your tax residence or the treatment of every source of income.
Information to gather
- Your country of residence and where you actually work.
- A description of the services or products you sell.
- Whether your customers are businesses or individuals, and their countries.
- Any shareholders, existing business structure and your planned timing.
Sources and references
Content reviewed on