The “Empresa Online 2.0” aims to reduce bureaucracy and simplify the process of setting up companies. The new platform takes around 10 minutes to set up a company.
This is a project funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), under the Economic Justice and Business Environment component, which aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy.
In addition to single partner limited companies and private limited companies, the platform also allows the creation of limited liability companies, a possibility that had been suspended since 2017 and is now available again.
The service is available at https://justiça.gov.pt/empresa, for any citizen or group of citizens, with access through a citizen’s card with an activated digital signature, and for qualified professionals such as lawyers, notaries, and solicitors.
“Empresa Online 2.0”, which replaces “Empresa Online”, created in 2006, not only allows a new company to be set up but also allows the memorandum and articles of the company to be digitally signed and allows the payment to be made using the most convenient method (including MBWay).
Through “Empresa Online 2.0”, the managing partner indicates who the other partners are and if they agree to be a part of the company; all they will need to do is to authorize the use of the information that will be pre-filled in from the available databases. Links with SIBS and CTT are also available, and interoperability with other public administration entities, such as the Tax Authority and Social Security, is under development.
To set up a company, you must indicate on the platform the legal nature and type of company, the partners and managers, the economic activity (CAE) and share capital, the head office, the company name and contact details, as well as attaching the application documents.
When the process has been finalized, it will be made available:
- the memorandum and articles of association;
- the access code to the permanent commercial certificate;
- the access code for the Company/Collective Person Card;
- the company’s social security number.
Once the company has been registered, within five working days you must deposit the amount of the share capital in the company’s bank account. This obligation does not apply if you have already made the deposit at the time of incorporation or if the shareholders have declared that the amount will be paid into the company’s coffers by the end of the first financial year (usually the end of the year).
From the date the company is registered, the company has 30 days to complete the beneficial owner declaration.
As for the costs of the “Empresa Online” service, creating a company with a pre-approved model memorandum of association costs €220; creating a company with a memorandum of association drawn up by the company’s creators costs €360; creating a company with a brand associated with a class of products or services costs €100; for each additional class it costs €44.
By Dr Eduardo Serra Jorge
|| features@algarveresident.com
Dr Eduardo Serra Jorge is founding member, senior partner and CEO of lawyers firm Eduardo Serra Jorge & Maria José Garcia – Sociedade de Advogados, R.L., created in 1987.
In his column, he addresses legal issues affecting foreign residents in Portugal.
Faro office at Gaveto das Ruas Pedro Nunes e José de Matos, 5 R/C
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