Portugal free zones in 2024

free zone company registration in Portugal
Since 2003, Healy Consultants Group has been efficiently and effectively assisting our Clients with i) company registration in Portugal Free Trade Zones (FTZs) ii) tax and accounting obligations in FTZs and iii) permits and licenses to operate in FTZs.

  1. The Portuguese government operates two non-offshore FTZs and they are the Madeira International Business Centre and the Santa Maria Island FTZ.
  2. These FTZs offer advantages including i) corporate tax rate of 5% on non-Portugal entities’ profits ii) exemption of property transfer tax iii) exemption of tax on capital gains and dividends remitted to a company that’s based in the EU/EEA or a country with a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) treaty with Portugal and iv) 50% reduction of taxable income for qualifying companies.
  3. To qualify for these tax deductions, companies must obtain a license by either i) investing at least €75,000 in a two year period which results in creating one job or ii) creating at least six jobs in Madeira.
  4. Because of delays in approving the renewal of these tax benefits in Madeira FTZ (due to Covid and a political crisis in Portugal), any company registered after 31 December 2021 in the FTZ will not be eligible for the tax breaks. It is, however, possible that approval will be granted with the approval of the Portuguese budget (expected in June 2022).
Free zone comparison Madeira IBC Santa Maria FTZ
FTZs used mostly by which industry? Holding & trading companies Holding & trading companies
Average annual Industrial space rent per 1000 sq. m. €12,500 €10,000
VAT standard rate 22% 18%
Corporate tax standard rate 5% 5%
How long to set the company up? 6 weeks 6 weeks
How long to open company bank account? 3 weeks 3 weeks
Quality of utilities Good Average
Allowed to sign sales contracts with Portugal Clients? Yes Yes
Allowed to invoice Portugal Clients? Yes Yes
Corporate tax payable in Portugal Yes Yes
Corporate bank account Yes Yes
Physical office space required Yes Yes
Allowed to import raw materials? Yes Yes
Allowed to export goods? Yes Yes
Can be wholly foreign owned Yes Yes
Can the entity hire expatriate staff in Portugal? Yes Yes
Minimum number of directors 1 1
Minimum number of shareholders 1 1
Tax registration certificate required Yes Yes
Individual shareholders allowed Yes Yes
Corporate shareholders allowed Yes Yes
Corporate director(s) allowed Yes Yes
LLC company allowed? Yes Yes
Annual audited financial statements Yes Yes

Frequently asked questions

Contact us

For additional information on our free zones services in Portugal, please contact our in-house country expert, Mr. Simon Guidecoq, directly:
client relationship officer - Simon
portugal global bportugal visit portugal ministry of economy government website