12 steps to incorporating in Madeira in 2024

Forming a company in Madeira can be completed in three weeks, without our Client travelling to Portugal. Our Client will issue a Power of Attorney (PoA) to Healy Consultants Group’s Portuguese team, who will complete all procedures on their behalf, including i) tax registration and ii) business bank account opening. Typical procedures are as follow:

• Pre-incorporation planning

  1. Consultation: Our Client i) settles Healy Consultants Group’s engagement fees ii) signs our Client Engagement letter and iii) provides us the requested due diligence documents.
  2. Corporate structure: Our Client and Healy Consultants Group agree on the optimal corporate structure for the company, including shareholders and directors and preferred company names.
  3. Project plan: Healy Consultants Group drafts a detailed project plan mapping out each step to engagement completion, optimising transparency and setting our Client’s expectations.
  4. Power of Attorney (PoA): Healy Consultants Group drafts a PoA in Portuguese and English and sends to our Client for review, signatures, and attestation by a Public Notary and the Portuguese Embassy in their home country. Our Client may additionally need to translate the PoA in their own language before notarisation and embassy attestation. The legalised document is to be couriered to our affiliate office in Lisbon.

  * Name reservation (optional): if required, Healy Consultants Group can verify the availability of the preferred company name and reserve the same with the Portuguese Trade Registrar before incorporation.

• Incorporation procedure

  1. Personal tax numbers: Healy Consultants Group will secure personal tax numbers (NIF) for every foreign director and shareholder.
  2. Company pre-approval: Upon receipt of a personal tax number, Healy Consultants Group submits a company incorporation application in Portuguese to the National Registry of Collective Entities and obtains a pre-approval letter.
  3. Company incorporation: The pre-approval letter is submitted to the International Business Center (IBC) of Madeira to obtain a Certificate of Incorporation.
  4. Tax number: During the incorporation process, Healy Consultants Group also applies for a Corporate Tax Identification Number (NIPC) for the company.

• Post-incorporation procedure

  1. Employee appointment and investment assistance: To avail Madeira IBC tax benefits after company formation, if required, Healy Consultants Group may assist our Client with i) hiring local employees over the following six months and ii) identify a suitable investment in Madeira or the Portugal mainland within the first two years.
  2. Bank account: Healy Consultants Group’s local attorney will schedule an appointment with a top-tier Portuguese bank and assist our Client to open a multi-currency corporate account. Our Client will e-sign the bank forms or hand sign and courier back the same to our Lisbon office within 15 days. The bank proceeds to activate the account and emails or couriers bank correspondence directly to our Client.
  3. Tax declaration: If required, our Client can appoint Healy Consultants Group’s Madeira accountants to complete bookkeeping, discharge monthly payroll and social security contributions.
  4. Engagement completion: Healy Consultants Group couriers a company kit folder to our Client’s preferred international address, containing the original corporate registration documents.