Portugal Relocation
Self-employed in Portugal: preparing a possible move to a company
Your activity is already registered in Portugal and you are considering a company. Start with the practical change you want: a shareholder, team, product launch or different contract organisation.
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
Compare two complete operating models
Prepare revenue by activity, actual spending, commitments and administrative time. Add future plans that change operations, such as hiring, funding a product or working with a shareholder. A useful comparison covers a full year and your personal remuneration needs. No single turnover figure is enough to decide. Ask about the additional obligations and accounting work involved in the proposed company, alongside the arrangements you already use for your independent activity.
Organise existing contracts and transactions
Identify customers, deposits received, unpaid invoices and tools held in your own name. Prepare the seller or account-holder changes that must be examined for each contract. A new company needs an identifiable documentary trail; keep its future sales distinct from the history of your personal activity. Ask in what sequence existing transactions and formalities should be handled. Set a changeover date only once those details and the people responsible for them are clear.
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
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