Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Europe |
| ISO 3166-1 | PT / PRT |
| Registry | IRN |
| Last updated | 2026-05-06 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Portugal and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | NIPC | AT (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | NIPC | AT (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) |
Sector regulators
Banco de Portugal · CMVM · ASF · AT
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sociedade por Quotas | Lda. | Most common SME vehicle; quota-based limited-liability company; min €1 capital (since 2011); managed by one or more gerentes. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| Sociedade Unipessoal por Quotas | Unipessoal Lda. | Single-quotaholder variant of the Lda.; identical limited-liability regime; corporate name must include “Unipessoal”. Equivalent to a US single-member LLC (SMLLC). |
| Sociedade Anónima | S.A. | Joint-stock company with separate legal personality; min €50,000 capital; shares freely transferable; may list on public markets. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Sociedade em Nome Coletivo | S.N.C. | General partnership; all partners bear unlimited joint and several liability for company debts. Closest US equivalent: General Partnership (GP). |
| Sociedade em Comandita Simples | S.C.S. | Limited partnership; one or more general partners with unlimited liability and one or more limited partners whose liability is capped at their contribution. Closest US equivalent: Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Sociedade em Comandita por Ações | S.C.A. | Limited partnership with share capital; limited partners hold freely transferable shares while general partners bear unlimited liability; one of the five statutory forms under the Código das Sociedades Comerciais, though rarely used in practice. Closest US equivalent: Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Empresário em Nome Individual | ENI | Sole trader operating under personal name; not a separate legal entity; no minimum capital; owner bears unlimited personal liability. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Cooperativa | — | Member-owned cooperative governed by the Código Cooperativo; capital and governance rights tied to membership rather than transferable shares; active in agriculture, housing, credit, and retail sectors. Closest US equivalent: Cooperative. |
| Sucursal | — | Registered branch of a foreign company operating in Portugal; no separate legal personality — liabilities remain with the parent entity. Closest US equivalent: Branch/Rep Office. |
How documents combine
For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.| Evidence area | Documents needed |
|---|---|
| Legal Registration | Certidão Permanente do Registo Comercial |
| Constitutive Documents | Any one of: Contrato de Sociedade · Escritura de Constituição · Estatutos |
| Tax Registration | Any one of: Certidão de Situação Tributária · Cartão NIPC |
| Operating Permit | Alvará de Autorização de Utilização |
| Ownership Records | Certidão Permanente |
| Governance Records | Certidão Permanente |
| Signing Authority | Any one of: Deliberação social · Procuração notarial |
| Address | Any one of: Contrato de arrendamento · Fatura de serviços · Extrato Bancário |
Documents to collect
The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.| Document | Proves |
|---|---|
| Certidão Permanente do Registo Comercial | Legal Registration |
| Contrato de Sociedade (Lda.) | Constitutive Documents |
| Escritura de Constituição | Constitutive Documents |
| Estatutos (S.A.) | Constitutive Documents |
| Certidão de Situação Tributária (AT tax standing certificate) | Tax Registration |
| Cartão NIPC (corporate taxpayer identification card) | Tax Registration |
| Alvará de Autorização de Utilização (Câmara Municipal) | Operating Permit |
| Certidão Permanente (sócios section) | Ownership Records, Governance Records |
| Deliberação social (acta de assembleia / decisão do sócio único) | Signing Authority |
| Procuração notarial | Signing Authority |
| Contrato de arrendamento | Address |
| Fatura de serviços (≤90 dias) | Address |
| Extrato Bancário (≤90 dias) | Address |
| Sector-Specific License | Banco de Portugal authorisation, CMVM registration, ASF licence |
Collection notes
- Legal Registration: Accessed online via registo.justica.gov.pt using the 12-digit access code; available in PT or EN; includes entity status, capital, and management.
- Constitutive Documents: Notarised at incorporation; filed with and retrievable from Registo Comercial. Certidão Permanente includes latest bylaws (estatutos actualizados).
- Tax Registration: NIPC = 9-digit tax and VAT ID; AT issues a compliance certificate (situação tributária regularizada) confirming no tax arrears.
- Operating Permit: Issued by the local municipal council; confirms premises authorised for the stated activity. Not required for purely online or home-office operations.
- Sector-Specific License: Banco de Portugal (credit institutions, payment institutions, e-money); CMVM (investment firms, fund managers); ASF (insurance undertakings).
- Ownership Records: Certidão Permanente lists Lda. quotaholders and S.A. shareholders of record.
- Governance Records: Lists current gerentes (Lda.) or Conselho de Administração members (S.A.) with appointment date and signing scope.
- Signing Authority: Board/shareholders’ resolution for routine authority; notarised power of attorney (procuração) for external representatives. Deliberação social covers routine/internal authority; procuração notarial is needed for external representatives or non-routine transactions.
- Address: Conduit universal policy: lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement, with utility/bank dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
Person roles
When you submit a person on the application body, set theirrole to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.
| Local role | Canonical API role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Gerente (Lda.) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Appointed manager of Lda.; day-to-day operational authority; registered in Certidão Permanente. |
| Administrador / Membro do Conselho de Administração (S.A.) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Executive director on the Board of Administration; day-to-day management. |
| Presidente do Conselho de Administração (S.A.) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Chair of the Board of Administration; governance role. |
| Membro do Conselho Geral e de Supervisão (S.A.) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Member of the General and Supervisory Board under the dualist governance model. |
| Procurador | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Holder of a notarised procuração; authorised to legally bind the company within stated scope. |
Notes
- NIPC and VAT ID are the same number. The NIPC is issued once by AT and doubles as the corporate tax ID and the VAT registration number (prefixed “PT” for EU purposes). Collecting one document satisfies both Tax Registration and entity identification.
- RCBE access now requires demonstrated legitimate interest. D.L. 115/2025 (in force 27-10-2025) restricts RCBE consultation to persons with legitimate interest (obliged entities, competent authorities, journalists, etc.); all accesses logged for 5 years. Conduit as an AML-obliged entity qualifies but must formally invoke the purpose per query at rcbe.justica.gov.pt. AMLR (Reg. (EU) 2024/1624) directly applicable from 2027-07-10 will supersede national provisions.
- Annual RCBE renewal deadline is 31 December. Entities must confirm (or update) RCBE data every year. A certificate that has not been renewed post-31 December of the prior year is non-compliant; verify the confirmation date, not just the registration date.
- S.A. governance model varies. Portuguese S.A.s may adopt a monist model (Conselho de Administração + Fiscal Único / Conselho Fiscal) or dualist model (Conselho de Administração Executivo + Conselho Geral e de Supervisão). The Certidão Permanente will show which model is in use; map roles accordingly.