Choosing form of incorporation

There are several ways you can invest or start a business in Portugal.

In summary we have the following:

• Self Employed worker or Individual Business consisting of a person who affects his or her own patrimony to the economic activity, and the personal responsability is unlimited;
• Individual Limited Liability Business (EIRL) consisting of a single individual with limited liability to a portion of his assets;
• Individual Limited Liability Company (most common option) sole proprietorship constituted with a single partner with limited liability to the value of the subscribed capital, wich can be of any value from 1.00 €;
• Private Limited Liability Company (LDA) (most common option) consisting of more than one partner with limited liability to the value of the subscribed share capital, which may be of any value from 1.00 € each;
• Joint-stock Company (SA) formed with a minimum of 5 partners, the minimum share capital being 50,000 €, with the shares having a nominal value of at least 1,00 €. The liability of the partners is limited to the value of the subscribed shares;
• Limited partnership consisting of a minimum of 2 limited partners who have limited liability to their contributions and the general partners have a liability for the debts of the partnership in the same terms as the partnership on a collective basis. They can be simple or by shares, and have a minimum mandatory capital of 50,000 €;
• Professional societies or fiscal transparency, constituted exclusively by professionals accredited in some specific activities (lawyers, accountants, auditors, etc.);
• Cooperative wich is a collective, nonprofit association of free constitution, variable capital and composition. Minimum capital of 2,500 €. In the case of a first-degree cooperative, the minimum number of members is five. In higher-level cooperatives (where cooperators are associations) the minimum is two members.
• Association
• Foundation
• Foreign Company Branch
• Foreign company without permanent establishment in Portugal