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Your new business.
Made easy.

Create your company, get a business account, debit card and accountant. All in one place.

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Built by a team of fintech entrepreneurs

The stress-free way to
start your new business

Starting a business is a daunting process. Whether you try and figure it out yourself
or go through endless back-and-forth with lawyers. Rauva’s super-app brings
everything under one roof. Fast, easy, stress-free.

Faster

Choose your company name and submit the relevant
documents in 30-60 mins. Not weeks.

Easier

No endless Googling, jargon, confusion or visits to lawyers.
Rauva handles everything for you.

Supercharged

Get a business account, debit card and an accountant (if you need one)
in one powerful super-app.

Create the cost effective
business you need

Included

Company creator

Start your new business on your
phone with Rauva’s step-by-step
business incorporation tool.

Included

Online business account

Your business account opened
online in 5 mins.

one month free
(€7.99 + VAT /mo after)

Included

Free business card

Delivered to your door.
Accepted everywhere
in Portugal.

€999 + VAT

Add-on

Rauva accountant. Bringing all your business needs under one roof.

one month free (€199 + VAT /mo after)

Your questions.
Answered.

What does it mean to be a freelancer/self-employed (legally)?

A freelancer (or “Trabalhador Independente”) has no fixed relationship with an employer. Only provides services to one or more clients and cannot sell products.

What are my legal obligations as an Independent Worker
(Trabalhador Independente)?

Lower tax liability: you can opt for the simplified IRS taxation regime up to 200,000 euros of annual income;

- VAT exemption for overall amounts of income earned below 12,500 euros per year, so it is not necessary to charge VAT to the companies to which you provide services;

- Regardless of the amount invoiced, several professionals are exempt from paying VAT, such as doctors, psychologists, artists, service providers linked to security and social assistance, among several others;

- Exemption from the payment of Social Security payments in the first year of activity; and also if you are a pensioner, if you have no income in the previous year or if your income results in a contribution rate per month of less than 20 euros; you may also be entitled to exemption if you are also a salaried employee;

- Social support, such as unemployment benefit (for workers where 50% or more of their income comes from a single employer);

What does it mean to have a Single-Member Private Limited Company
(Sociedade Unipessoal por quotas)?

Having a single partner with liability limited to the value of the quota subscribed. It is also compulsory for your company to have in its name the expression "Sociedade Unipessoal", or just Unipessoal before the word limited (or its abbreviation Lda.). Although they can only be established with minimum share capital and the tax advantages are non-existent, single-member limited companies allow the owner to maintain total control over the business. In this type of company, personal assets remain separate from the company and therefore will not be liable for the debts incurred by the company.

What are the legal obligations of having a Single-Member Private
Limited Company?

- In a sole proprietorship company, share capital is compulsory and is freely established (subscription starting at 1 euro and paid up by the end of the first financial year).

- Organized accounting regime, being mandatory the existence of at least one bank account exclusively dedicated to the activity.- Separation between personal and business assets and the possibility of incorporating a company on the spot.

- No tax benefits.

-IRC at the rate of 21% on profits or 17% up to the limit of 15 thousand euros in the case of SMEs

- VAT at the rate of 6, 13 or 23%, depending on the services rendered or goods sold

- TSU at the rate of 23.75% on the salary of each worker;

- Municipal Surcharge at the maximum rate of 1.5% applied on the company's profits and in favour of the municipality where the company has its head office;

- In case of property transfers in the company, you may have to pay IMT;

- If the business has profits greater than 1.5 million euros, it will be subject to state surcharge at the maximum rate of 9%.

- Accountant (TOC Technical Official Accountant) is mandatory.

What’s the difference between a freelancer and a Single-Member Private
Limited Company?

A freelancer is a legal person who exercises professional activity without being subject to a legal employment contract, or undertakes to provide the result of her activity to others, and is not covered by the general social security scheme for employees in this activity. As explained before, a single member private limited company is a legal entity and operates as a legal entity with limited liability.

The legal and tax obligations of these two legal forms are different as well.

What does it mean to have a Limited Liability Company by quota with more than
one owner (Sociedade Unipessoal por quotas)?

- It has two or more partners;

- The amount of share capital is freely established in the articles of association, corresponding to the sum of the quotas subscribed by the partners;

- The name of these companies may consist of the full or abbreviated name of all, some or one of the partners, an expression relating to the branch of business or a combination of both of the above, followed by the mandatory addition of the full or abbreviated wording "Limitada" or the abbreviation "Lda";

- The liability of the members is limited to the share capital. Only the assets of the company are liable to creditors for the company's debts;

- The memorandum of association may establish that one or more members, in addition to being liable to the company, are also liable to the company's creditors up to a certain amount.

What are the legal obligations of having a Limited Liability Company?

- In a sole proprietorship company, share capital is compulsory and is freely established (subscription starting at 1 euro and paid up by the end of the first financial year).

- Organized accounting regime, being mandatory the existence of at least one bank account exclusively dedicated to the activity.

- Separation between personal and business assets and the possibility of incorporating a company on the spot.

- No tax benefits.

- IRC at the rate of 21% on profits or 17% up to the limit of 15 thousand euros in the case of SMEs

- VAT at the rate of 6, 13 or 23%, depending on the services rendered or goods sold

- TSU at the rate of 23.75% on the salary of each worker;

- Municipal Surcharge at the maximum rate of 1.5% applied on the company's profits and in favour of the municipality where the company has its head office;

- In case of property transfers in the company, you may have to pay IMT;

- If the business has profits greater than 1.5 million euros, it will be subject to state surcharge at the maximum rate of 9%.- Accountant (TOC Technical Official Accountant) is mandatory.

How long does it take to incorporate my private limited company?

To set-up a company, Rauva will submit the incorporation file in 48 hours. After that, it will be depend on the processing time on the Commercial Registry Office (Conservatória de Registo Comercial)

Which legal form do I need?

The two legal forms of private limited liability companies are similar. The major difference is the number of shareholders. If you have only 1 shareholder, i.e. you own 100% of the company, you can register your company as a Single-Member Private Limited Company/Unipessoal Por Quota. If you have more than 1 shareholder (2 or more), you will need to register your company as a Limited Liability Company by quota. Each of the shareholders will own a certain quota of the company.

What documents will I need to complete the incorporation process?

To complete the incorporation process, you need to provide the following documents:
‍
- Certified personal identification document (passport, citizen card (EU citizens) from each shareholder and director (certification from local notary, lawyer or state apostille);

- Permanent address proof. (can be utilities bills from the last 3 months from each shareholder and director;

- Portuguese fiscal number proof (NIF) from each shareholder and director.

- Signed and certified Power of Attorney (POA). You will be asked to download, sign and certify a POA template filled with your personal information from our platform.

Certification can be done by your local notary, lawyer or with a state apostille. We suggest that you go to your notary/lawyer/state office after downloading the POA template to do the certification for the personal ID and the POA.

If you are a Portuguese citizen, you can also sign your POA with your citizen e-signature without the certification.

Why do the ID and the POA need to be certified?

Usually the incorporation is done with the presence of the company owner. The Commercial Registry Office can easily confirm the validity of the required documents, such as personal ID matching with the owner herself. If the company owner can not be present, she can assign a lawyer to act on her behalf with a power of attorney. In Rauva’s case, it’s our lawyer partner acting on your behalf as our client. Hence, to prove the validity of the documents (personal ID and POA) without the presence of the owner, the Commercial Registry Office requires a 3rd party to certify the validity of the documents.

How long will the authorities take to approve my new business?

The average approval time from the authorities is between 2 and 15 working days, depending on the approval process, the allocated government agent and the validity of the documents. The incorporation requests are allocated randomly to processing agents around the country and it’s highly dependent on the efficiency of the allocated agents.

What’s included in the standard incorporation package we offer?

Our standard incorporation includes the fee we charge for the legal service, the business registry fee and the company name registration fee payable to the Commercial Registry Office.

As we are offering standard services, there won’t be customisation in the incorporation process. So by the end of the process, we will be delivering:

        - Standard Articles of Association
        - Standard Scope of Activities
        - Standard Registration and Declaration of the Ultimate Beneficiary/ies.

Why do I need a virtual address for my company?

To register your company, it requires a Portuguese address. If you don’t have a physical address yet in Portugal, we can help you register your company in the address of our lawyer partner. All your company correspondents will be taken care of by our lawyer partner and forward to you by scan or in courier.
The cost for the virtual address service is 750€/year. You will subscribe to the service on a yearly basis.

Why do I need tax representation for myself or my business partner?

If you are not yet registered in the Portuguese tax system, the first step for you is to obtain a Portuguese fiscal number. You don’t need a Portuguese tax representative if you are based in Portugal. If you are not from or based in Portugal, the tax authority requires you to have a representative from Portugal to act on your behalf in order to deal with any tax related matters. This tax representative will be registered in the tax system together with your information. Our lawyer partner provides the tax representation service and you can hire this service through us.

The cost for the tax representation service is 600€/year. You will subscribe to the service on a yearly basis.

Still confused?

Drop us an email at

[email protected]

We’re here to help.

Rauva's
Promise

No jargon or confusing forms. No surprise fees.
No visits to a bank branch, lawyers office, or any physical location.
No back-and-forth calls and emails.
No stress.
‍
Just smart tech and dedicated support from entrepreneurs just like you.
Innovation unlocked. On your phone. In one easy-to-use app.
Your business. Supercharged.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Built by a team of fintech entrepreneurs

The stress-free way to
start your new business

Faster

Easier

Supercharged

Create the cost effective
business you need

Company creator

Online business account

Free business card

€999 + VAT

Your questions.
Answered.

Still confused?

Rauva's
Promise

Soon available on

[email protected]

Privacy policy

Your new business.Made easy.

Built by a team of fintech entrepreneurs

The stress-free way to start your new business

Faster

Easier

Supercharged

Create the cost effectivebusiness you need

Company creator

Online business account

Free business card

€999 + VAT

Your questions.Answered.

Still confused?

Rauva'sPromise

Soon available on

[email protected]

Privacy policy

Your new business.
Made easy.

The stress-free way to
start your new business

Create the cost effective
business you need

Your questions.
Answered.

Rauva's
Promise