Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Economy Profile
Portugal

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Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Economy Profile of Portugal

Doing Business 2020 Indicators
(in order of appearance in the document)

Starting a business Procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital to start a limited liability company

Dealing with construction permits Procedures, time and cost to complete all formalities to build a warehouse and the quality control and safety
mechanisms in the construction permitting system

Getting electricity Procedures, time and cost to get connected to the electrical grid, and the reliability of the electricity supply and
the transparency of tariffs

Registering property Procedures, time and cost to transfer a property and the quality of the land administration system

Getting credit Movable collateral laws and credit information systems

Protecting minority investors Minority shareholders’ rights in related-party transactions and in corporate governance

Paying taxes Payments, time, total tax and contribution rate for a firm to comply with all tax regulations as well as postfiling
processes

Trading across borders Time and cost to export the product of comparative advantage and import auto parts

Enforcing contracts Time and cost to resolve a commercial dispute and the quality of judicial processes

Resolving insolvency Time, cost, outcome and recovery rate for a commercial insolvency and the strength of the legal framework for
insolvency

Employing workers Flexibility in employment regulation and redundancy cost

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

About Doing Business

The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and
regional level.

The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life
cycle.

Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local firms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for
starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across
borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of employing workers. Although Doing Business does not present rankings
of economies on the employing workers indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does
present the data for these indicators.

By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages
economies to compete towards more efficient regulation; offers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector
researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy.

In addition, Doing Business offers detailed subnational studies, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in different cities and regions within a nation.
These studies provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected
cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked.

The first Doing Business study, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s study covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most
indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013
(Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business also collected data
for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has benefited from
feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the
regulatory environment for business around the world.

To learn more about Doing Business please visit [Link]

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Ease of Doing Business in DB RANK DB SCORE

Region OECD high income

Portugal
Income Category High income
39
Population 10,281,762 76.5

City Covered Lisbon

Rankings on Doing Business topics - Portugal

1
15

35 38
43
52
63 60 61

119

Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving
a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency
Business Construction Investors Borders
Permits

Topic Scores

90.9 73.2 83.3 78.4 45.0 62.0 83.7 100.0 67.9 80.2

Starting a Business (rank) 63 Getting Credit (rank) 119 Trading across Borders (rank) 1
Score of starting a business (0-100) 90.9 Score of getting credit (0-100) 45.0 Score of trading across borders (0-100) 100
Procedures (number) 6 Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 2 Time to export
Time (days) 6.5 Depth of credit information index (0-8) 7 Documentary compliance (hours) 1
Cost (number) 1.9 Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 100.0 Border compliance (hours) 0
Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita) 0.0 Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) 7.9 Cost to export
Documentary compliance (USD) 0
Dealing with Construction Permits (rank) 60 Protecting Minority Investors (rank) 61 Border compliance (USD) 0
Score of dealing with construction permits (0-100) 73.2 Score of protecting minority investors (0-100) 62.0 Time to export
Procedures (number) 14 Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 6.0 Documentary compliance (hours) 1
Time (days) 160 Extent of director liability index (0-10) 5.0 Border compliance (hours) 0
Cost (% of warehouse value) 1.2 Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 7.0 Cost to export
Building quality control index (0-15) 11.0 Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6) 3.0 Documentary compliance (USD) 0
Extent of ownership and control index (0-7) 4.0 Border compliance (USD) 0
Getting Electricity (rank) 52 Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7) 6.0
Score of getting electricity (0-100) 83.3 Enforcing Contracts (rank) 38
Procedures (number) 5 Paying Taxes (rank) 43 Score of enforcing contracts (0-100) 67.9
Time (days) 65 Score of paying taxes (0-100) 83.7 Time (days) 755
Cost (% of income per capita) 33.6 Payments (number per year) 8 Cost (% of claim value) 17.2
Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8) 7 Time (hours per year) 243 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 13.5
Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) 39.8
Registering Property (rank) 35 Postfiling index (0-100) 92.7 Resolving Insolvency (rank) 15
Score of registering property (0-100) 78.4 Score of resolving insolvency (0-100) 80.2
Procedures (number) 1 Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 64.8
Time (days) 10 Time (years) 3.0
Cost (% of property value) 7.3 Cost (% of estate) 9.0
Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 20.0 Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going 1
concern)
Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 14.5

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Starting a Business

This topic measures the number of procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital requirement for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and
formally operate in each economy’s largest business city.

To make the data comparable across 190 economies, Doing Business uses a standardized business that is 100% domestically owned, has start-up capital equivalent to
10 times the income per capita, engages in general industrial or commercial activities and employs between 10 and 50 people one month after the commencement of
operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. Starting a Business considers two types of local limited liability companies that are identical in all aspects, except that one
company is owned by 5 married women and the other by 5 married men. The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their
scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.

The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.

What the indicators measure Case study assumptions

Procedures to legally start and formally operate a company To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the
(number) procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the
entrepreneur will pay no bribes.
• Preregistration (for example, name verification or reservation,
notarization)
The business:
• Registration in the economy’s largest business city -Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than one type of limited
• Postregistration (for example, social security registration, liability company in the economy, the limited liability form most common among domestic firms is
company seal) chosen. Information on the most common form is obtained from incorporation lawyers or the
statistical office.
• Obtaining approval from spouse to start a business or to leave -Operates in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for
the home to register the company
the second largest business city.
• Obtaining any gender specific document for company -Performs general industrial or commercial activities such as the production or sale to the public of
registration and operation or national identification card goods or services. The business does not perform foreign trade activities and does not handle
products subject to a special tax regime, for example, liquor or tobacco. It is not using heavily
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days) polluting production processes.
• Does not include time spent gathering information -Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special benefits.
-Is 100% domestically owned.
• Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 procedures cannot -Has five business owners, none of whom is a legal entity. One business owner holds 30% of the
start on the same day)
company shares, two owners have 20% of shares each, and two owners have 15% of shares
• Procedures fully completed online are recorded as ½ day each.
-Is managed by one local director.
• Procedure is considered completed once final document is -Has between 10 and 50 employees one month after the commencement of operations, all of them
received
domestic nationals.
• No prior contact with officials -Has start-up capital of 10 times income per capita.
-Has an estimated turnover of at least 100 times income per capita.
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per -Leases the commercial plant or offices and is not a proprietor of real estate.
capita) -Has an annual lease for the office space equivalent to one income per capita.
• Official costs only, no bribes -Is in an office space of approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet).
-Has a company deed that is 10 pages long.
• No professional fees unless services required by law or
commonly used in practice The owners:

Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) -Have reached the legal age of majority and are capable of making decisions as an adult. If there
• Funds deposited in a bank or with third party before registration is no legal age of majority, they are assumed to be 30 years old.
or up to 3 months after incorporation -Are in good health and have no criminal record.
-Are married, the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities.
-Where the answer differs according to the legal system applicable to the woman or man in
question (as may be the case in economies where there is legal plurality), the answer used will be
the one that applies to the majority of the population.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Starting a Business - Portugal

Standardized Company

Legal form Sociedade por Quotas

Paid-in minimum capital requirement No minimum

City Covered Lisbon

Indicator Portugal OECD high income Best Regulatory Performance

Procedure – Men (number) 6 4.9 1 (2 Economies)

Time – Men (days) 6.5 9.2 0.5 (New Zealand)

Cost – Men (% of income per capita) 1.9 3.0 0.0 (2 Economies)

Procedure – Women (number) 6 4.9 1 (2 Economies)

Time – Women (days) 6.5 9.2 0.5 (New Zealand)

Cost – Women (% of income per capita) 1.9 3.0 0.0 (2 Economies)

Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita) 0.0 7.6 0.0 (120 Economies)

Figure – Starting a Business in Portugal – Score

70.6 94.0 99.1 100.0

Procedures Time Cost Paid-in min. capital

Figure – Starting a Business in Portugal and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

DB 2020 Starting a Business Score

0 100

94.6: United Kingdom (Rank: 18)

93.1: France (Rank: 37)

91.3: Regional Average (OECD high income)

90.9: Portugal (Rank: 63)

86.9: Spain (Rank: 97)

83.7: Germany (Rank: 125)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of
the scores for each of the component indicators.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Starting a Business in Portugal – Procedure, Time and Cost

Time (days) Cost (% of income per capita)

2
6

Cost (% of income per capita)

5 1.5
Time (days)

1
3

2
0.5

0 0
1 2 3 4 5 *6
Procedures (number)

* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.

Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website ([Link] For details on the procedures
reflected here, see the summary below.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Starting a Business in Portugal – Procedure, Time and Cost

No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs

1 Register at the one-stop shop (Empresa na Hora) 1 day EUR 360 or EUR 220
Agency : One-Stop Shop (Empresa na Hora)
There are two ways of starting a business in Portugal:

1) "On the Spot Firm" (Empresa na Hora). This is currently the most common way to register a
business. This service enables to set up a company in less than an hour at a single contact point.
As long as the partners have all of necessary documents, the company is set up immediately at
one of the desks of the On the Spot Firm offices, available throughout the country, regardless of
the location of the company’s headquarters.

The first step is to choose a name from the list of pre-approved names available online or to
submit a name of its choice and obtain a company name certificate. This certificate can be
requested online and it is valid for 3 months. If the name of the company is composed by the
name of its shareholders, it may be approved at the moment of incorporation of the company at
the one-stop shop.

Then entrepreneurs need to choose one of the pre-approved standard company deeds, available
at Empresa na Hora. The company founders need to present their identification cards.

At the service desk, it is possible to get both the articles of association and commercial
registration. Partners will receive a temporary code to access the certificate of incorporation, the
corporate identification card, the Social Security number, and the original by-laws.

2) "Online company setting up” (Empresa Online):

This service enables to set up a company through the Internet in 1 to 2 days. The access to the
service On-Line Company (‘Empresa Online’) can be made through the Business Portal
([Link]).

The costs are the following

Incorporation under "Empresa na Hora": EUR 360;
Incorporation under "Empresa on-line": (i) EUR 360 if not incorporated with pre-approved by-laws,
or (ii) EUR 220 if incorporated with pre-approved by-laws.

Since Ordinance no. 233/2018 of August 21: Regulates the Legal Regime of the Central Register
of Beneficial Ownership (Legal Regime of the RCBE) was approved by Law no. 89/2017, of
August 21, the shareholders must declare the local company's ultimate beneficial owner ("UBO")
at the time of its incorporation.

2 Open a bank account and obtain a Bank Identification Number (IBAN) 1 day no charge
Agency : Bank
Business founders must open a bank account and obtain a Bank Identification Number (IBAN).

3 File the declaration of commencement of activity with the Tax Authority and register for 1 day no charge
VAT
Agency : Tax Authority
The declaration of commencement of activity has to be submitted at the Tax Authorities’ Offices
along with evidence that the company was incorporated. Business founders must provide the Tax
Authority with their Bank Identification Number (IBAN) and their corporate identification card. VAT
registration can be done when submitting the declaration of commencement of activity.

4 Register with Social Security 2 days no charge

Agency : Social Security Agency
The employers shall communicate the admission of employees to the Portuguese Social Security
services of the area of the employee's workplace online at [Link] within (i) 24 hours
preceding the employment agreement’s entry into force; or (ii) 24 hours following the beginning of
the activity, whenever – due to exceptional and duly justified reasons in connection with the
conclusion of very short term employment agreements or due to shift work – such notice cannot
be served within the set out deadline.

The non-compliance with this obligation implies the assumption that the relevant employee started
to work for the company on the 1st working day of the sixth month prior to the occurrence of the
infringement. In case the relevant employee is receiving sickness or unemployment benefits there
is also an assumption that the employ started to work for the company on the date in which those
benefits were granted, whereby the company will be severally liable for returning the whole
amounts unduly received by the employee by the Portuguese Social Security. Moreover, the non-
compliance with the above mentioned obligation may result in a minor or a serious misdemeanor,
depending on its compliance within 24 hours after the deadline or after that, corresponding to a
fine from € 75 up to € 4,800. Pursuant to the enacted Law No. 83-C/2013, of 31 December 2013,
the above mentioned communication will now have to be made online.

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Doing Business 2020 Portugal

5 Register for the workers' accident insurance at a private insurer 1 day no charge
Agency : Private Insurer
In order to guarantee an effective compensation of damages arising from work accidents covering
employees, trainees and paid managers, the Portuguese legislator requires from the employer the
transfer of all its responsibility to insurance companies, before the entry into force of the relevant
agreements. In case not all the responsibilities are transferred by the employer to the insurance
company, the first one will be solely responsible in the extent of the non transferred
responsibilities.

Furthermore, the non-compliance with the above mentioned obligation may trigger a very serious
misdemeanor, implying the payment of a fine between € 3,264 and € 19,380.

6 Register employees with the Labor Compensation Funds (FCT and FGCT) Less than one day no charge
Agency : Labor Compensation Funds (Fundo de Compensação do Trabalho - FCT and Fundo de (online procedure)
Garantia de Compensação do Trabalho - FGCT)
According to the Portuguese labor law (Law 70 of August 30, 2013), employees shall be
registered in two Labor Compensation Funds (Fundo de Compensação do Trabalho - FCT and
Fundo de Garantia de Compensação do Trabalho - FGCT). Registration at FGCT takes place
automatically once one registers with FCT online.

The contribution to these funds is intended to enable the payment of part of the compensation
eventually due in case of termination of the employment agreement. The employer is responsible
for the monthly payment of the amount of 0.925% to FCT and of 0.075% to FGCT, both calculated
on the amount of base salary and seniority premiums due to each employee.

Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Dealing with Construction Permits

This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required notifications,
requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building
quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional
certification requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information

What the indicators measure Case study assumptions

Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number) To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction
company, the warehouse project and the utility connections are used.
• Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining all necessary
clearances, licenses, permits and certificates
The construction company (BuildCo):
• Submitting all required notifications and receiving all necessary - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the economy’s largest
inspections
business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
• Obtaining utility connections for water and sewerage - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has five owners, none of whom is a legal entity. Has a
licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both registered with the local association of architects
• Registering and selling the warehouse after its completion or engineers. BuildCo is not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days) experts, such as geological or topographical experts.
- Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its
• Does not include time spent gathering information completion.
• Each procedure starts on a separate day—though procedures
The warehouse:
that can be fully completed online are an exception to this rule
- Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or stationery.
• Procedure is considered completed once final document is
received - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of approximately 1,300.6
square meters (14,000 square feet). Each floor will be 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be
• No prior contact with officials located on a land plot of approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100%
owned by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita.
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per
- Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a licensed architect. If
capita)
preparation of the plans requires such steps as obtaining further documentation or getting prior
• Official costs only, no bribes approvals from external agencies, these are counted as procedures.
- Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative and regulatory
Building quality control index (0-15) requirements).

• Quality of building regulations (0-2) The water and sewerage connections:

• Quality control before construction (0-1) - Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer tap. If there is no water
• Quality control during construction (0-3) delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole will be dug. If there is no sewerage
infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be installed or built.
• Quality control after construction (0-3)
- Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an average wastewater flow
• Liability and insurance regimes (0-2) of 568 liters (150 gallons) a day. Will have a peak water use of 1,325 liters (350 gallons) a day and
• Professional certifications (0-4) a peak wastewater flow of 1,136 liters (300 gallons) a day.
- Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater flow throughout the year; will be 1
inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Dealing with Construction Permits - Portugal

Standardized Warehouse

Estimated value of warehouse EUR 955,240.30

City Covered Lisbon

Indicator Portugal OECD high income Best Regulatory Performance

Procedures (number) 14 12.7 None in 2018/19

Time (days) 160 152.3 None in 2018/19

Cost (% of warehouse value) 1.2 1.5 None in 2018/19

Building quality control index (0-15) 11.0 11.6 15.0 (6 Economies)

Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Portugal – Score

64.0 61.4 94.2 73.3

Procedures Time Cost Building quality control index

Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Portugal and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

DB 2020 Dealing with Construction Permits Score

0 100

80.3: United Kingdom (Rank: 23)

78.2: Germany (Rank: 30)

75.6: Regional Average (OECD high income)

74.3: France (Rank: 52)

73.2: Portugal (Rank: 60)

70.8: Spain (Rank: 79)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores
are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Portugal – Procedure, Time and Cost

Time (days) Cost (% of warehouse value)

160 0.9

140 0.8

Cost (% of warehouse value)

0.7
120

0.6
Time (days)

100
0.5
80
0.4
60
0.3

40
0.2

20 0.1

0 0
1 2 3 *4 5 6 7 *8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Procedures (number)

* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.

Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website ([Link] For details on the procedures
reflected here, see the summary below.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Portugal and comparator economies – Measure of Quality

14 13.0
11.6
12 11.0 11.0
9.5
Index score

10 9.0
8
6
4
2
0

Portugal France Germany Spain United OECD

Kingdom high
income

Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Portugal – Procedure, Time and Cost

No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs

1 Obtain approval of project designs from Municipality and other relevant entities 75 days EUR 379
Agency : Municipality
The land-use regime in the area of the site is regulated by a detail plan in force or an approved
allotment project. A building notice procedure should then be followed to obtain approval of the
building design.
BuildCo submits an application for a building permit to the municipality. The application must
comply with a statutory list of submission requirements. The architectural design and liability
declarations of the designers are among the elements that must be submitted.
The municipality verifies whether the application complies with the administrative requirements
and the architectural design complies with the detail plan or approved allotment project and
building regulations.
The municipality also assess if external public entities must be consulted. If that is the case, the
municipality forwards the application to the coordination and regional development commission
that sends it to the external public entities that have to be consulted. Their appraisals must be sent
back to the commission within 20 or 40 days, depending on nature of the external public entity.
The applicant may also choose to consult directly with the external public entities for a forehand
approval/appraisal of the design and submit their answers together with the application to the
municipality, as it is the case with BuildCo.
The municipality must decide on the application within 20 days of its submission, or 60 days if
external public entities are consulted.

The cost to obtain the approval of the building design is EUR 378.5.

The legal basis of the above is the following:

1. Decree-Law No. 555/99 with amendments (Art 4.4.c, 10.1, 10.2, 11.2. 11.3, 13-B.2, 13-B.3,
34.5, 35.4 and 35.7)
2. Ordinance No. 113/2015 (Annex I, no. 1 to 6 and 15)
3. Ordinance No. 228/2015 (August 3, 2015)
4. Regulation of Permissions, Taxes and Other Revenues of the Municipality of Oeiras, Art 191.1.
5. Table of Fees and Other Revenues of the Municipality of Oeiras (2014), Art 16.7

2 Obtain building permit and pay fee 30 days EUR 2,235

Agency : Municipality
Within one year from the date of notification of final approval of the building design, BuildCo must
request the building permit to be issued and pay the relevant taxes. The municipality issues the
building permit within 30 days of the date of the request. There are statutory requirements on how
to request the building permit certificate and also on the content of the certificate.
BuildCo posts an announcement at the construction site within 10 days after a building permit is
obtained. This announcement must follow a standardised format and content established by law
and remain visible until the end of the construction works.

The cost to obtain the building permit is EUR 388.58 for building permit issuance plus EUR 1.42
per sq. meter.

The legal basis of the above is the following:

1. Decree-Law No. 555/99 with amendments (Art 34.2, 34.3, 35.8, 35.9, 78.5 and 80.2)
2. Ordinance 228/215
3. Regulation of Permissions, Taxes and Other Revenues of the Municipality of Oeiras, Art 191.1.
[Link] of Fees and Other Revenues of the Municipality of Oeiras (2014), Art 5.

This procedure can only be actioned once the building approval has been granted. For that reason
it cannot be a simultaneous process with the previous one.

3 Inform the Municipality about the beginning of construction 1 day no charge

Agency : Municipality
Based on Article 80-A of Decree-Law No. 555/99 with amendments, BuildCo has until five days
before the start of the construction works on the site to inform the municipality of his intentions, as
well as of the identity of the technical director responsible for the works. This procedure can only
be actioned upon the start of the construction, thus it cannot be a simultaneous process with the
previous one.
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Doing Business 2020 Portugal

4 Inform the Labor Conditions Agency about the new construction site 1 day no charge
Agency : Labor Conditions Agency
According to Art 15.1, 15.2 and 15.3 of Decree-Law 273/2003, BuildCo must inform the Labor
Conditions Agency before starting construction work. This is only necessary if one of the following
conditions occur:
1. Construction work takes longer than 30 days and have more than 20 workers simultaneously on
the site at any moment; or
2. Construction work takes more than 500 man days of work.

There are statutory requirements on the content of the notice to the Labor Conditions Agency.
Since this procedure can be addressed in the Labor Conditions Agency, it can be a simultaneous
one.

5 Receive inspection from the Labor Conditions Agency 1 day no charge

Agency : Labor Conditions Agency
The Labor Conditions Agency may perform on-site inspections during construction. The Agency
has been conducting more inspections in recent years. The inspections mainly examine health
and safety conditions. The agency will also check for employment contracts and the legal status of
workers. A construction site can be inspected more than once during the term of a building permit.
Source:Activity of Labor Conditions Agency: 2015 report, pp. 133-135, Decree-law 273/2003, Art.
15, 29 October.

This procedure can only be actioned once the request to the Labor Conditions Agency has been
done. For that reason it cannot be a simultaneous process with the previous one.

6 Receive inspection from Municipality 1 day no charge

Agency : Municipality
According to Art. 93, 94, 95 and 96 of Decree-Law no. 555/99 with amendments, during
construction, other public authorities may also carry out unscheduled inspections to the site to
accomplish their supervision role. The municipality may carry out site inspections without notifying
the developer beforehand. All aspects of the construction works can be checked during
inspections, including the construction log book. Construction works are selected randomly,
except if complaints have been made. Such cases are more likely to undergo a site inspection by
municipal building inspectors. The Real Estate and Construction Institute may also carry out site
inspections.

This procedure can only be actioned once the construction has started. For that reason it cannot
be a simultaneous process with the previous one.

7 Receive inspection from Institute of Public Markets, Real Estate and Construction (IMPIC - 1 day no charge
Instituto dos Mercados Públicos, do Imobiliário e da Construção)
Agency : Institute of Public Markets, Real Estate and Construction (Instituto dos Mercados
Públicos, do Imobiliário e da Construção).
The construction site might also receive unscheduled inspections from the Institute of
Construction and Real Estate (Instituto da Construção e do Imobiliário - INCI) to check if BuildCo
has the “alvara” and the construction permit.

The legal basis is Decree Law no. 232/2015, October 13

Law no. 41/2015, June 3.

This procedure can only be actioned once the construction has finished. For that reason it cannot
be a simultaneous process with the previous one.

8 Submit application for a water and sewage connection at the Water and Sanitation 1 day no charge
Authority
Agency : Municipal Water and Sanitation Authority
This procedure can only be actioned once the occupancy permit has been granted. For that
reason it cannot be a simultaneous process with the previous one.

9 Receive inspection by Water and Sanitation Authority 1 day EUR 451

Agency : Municipal Water and Sanitation Authority
This procedure can be done once the request for these services has been submitted. For this
reason, it cannot be a simultaneous one with the previous step.

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Doing Business 2020 Portugal

10 Obtain water and sewerage connection 31 days EUR 7,571

Agency : Municipal Water and Sanitation Authority
The steps for obtaining a water and sewerage connection are as follows:
– BuildCo informs the utility until 5 working days before the beginning of the construction works on
the water and sewerage networks.
–During construction, the utility, directly or through a certified entity, can carry out site inspections
whenever deemed appropriate and without notifying the developer beforehand.
–BuildCo informs the utility when the construction works on the water and sewerage networks are
complete and asks for a final site inspection. Liability declarations of the technicians responsible
for construction of the water and sewage networks must then be submitted.
– Within 7 days the utility, or a certified entity on its behalf, carries out a final inspection of the
water and sewerage networks. Pipes must not be covered before being inspected.
–If construction was done according to the approved design and the network met the test
conditions, the utility considers the construction works on the water and sewerage networks
complete.
–BuildCo demands the permanent connection to the public water and sewerage networks. The
water connection is carried out by the water utility within 15 days. The sewerage connection is
carried out by BuildCo.
–BuildCo and the water utility celebrate a water supply contract and the water meters are installed
within 3 days.
Usually these tasks are carried out before the construction of the building is complete. A water and
sewerage connection is required to get an occupancy permit.

BuildCo must pay a total of EUR 7,570.50 to obtain water and sewerage connection. The cost
breakdown is the following:

1. Connection to the water network:

For distances until 20 m – no charge.
For distances greater than 20 m: 13.29 € / meter

2. Connection to the sewerage network: 37.18 € / meter

This procedure can only be actioned once request for these services has been donet. For that
reason it cannot be a simultaneous process with the previous one.

11 Submit application for occupancy permit 1 day no charge

Agency : Municipality
Once the building has been completed, BuildCo requests the municipality to issue an occupancy
permit for the building. There is a statutory list of submission requirements to request an
occupancy permit. If the actual construction works executed on the site differ from the approved
designs, an updated set of design documents must be presented to the municipality with the
request for the occupancy permit. The construction log book, and a liability declaration by the
construction director must be presented as well. In this declaration, the construction director states
that the construction works were carried out according to the approved design, and, where
applicable, changes comply with the relevant legal and regulatory requirements.
Within 10 days of the submission of the request the municipality informs BuildCo if the occupancy
permit will be granted on the basis of the liability declaration mentioned above. No site inspection
is required, unless the municipality has doubts about whether the construction works comply with
the approved design. If a site inspection is determined, it takes place within 15 days.

12 Obtain occupancy permit 10 days EUR 388

Agency : Municipality
Once BuildCo has been notified that the occupancy permit will be issued, it has one year to
request it from the City Hall. There are statutory requirements for applying for the occupancy
permit and for the content of the permit. The occupancy permit is granted by the City Hall within 5
days of the submission of the request. The building can start being legally used only after the
occupancy permit is issued.

According to Article 7 of Fee Schedule (2014) from Oeiras, the occupancy permit costs EUR 88.68
+ 11.49 per 50m2 per section.

Page 15
Doing Business 2020 Portugal

13 Register the building with the Tax Authority 1 day no charge

Agency : Tax Authority
Once the occupancy permit has been granted, BuildCo has 60 days to inform the tax authority.
There is an official form for this purpose. The architectural design, updated with any modification
carried out during construction, is attached to the official form. The tax authority updates the
description of the property in the tax authority registry. A site inspection is only required if there are
not enough elements to assess the taxable value of the property.

The legal basis of the above is the following:

1- Decree-Law No. 287/2003 with amendments, Art 13.1.d., 13.3, 37.1 and 37.2
2- Declaration for enrollment or updating of urban buildings in the array (Model 1)

This procedure can be done in parallel with the registration. For that reason it can be a
simultaneous process with the previous one.

14 Register the building with the Real Estate Registry 5 days EUR 60
Agency : Real Estate Registry
Once the description of the property in the tax authority has been updated, BuildCo requests the
update of the description in the Real Estate Registry. The update is done within 5-10 days. If the
request is deemed urgent, the registration takes place within 1 day.

The cost to register the building with the Real Estate Registry is EUR 60.

The legal basis is the following:

1- Decree-Law No. 224/84 with amendments, Art 75.1
2- Decree-Law No. 322-A/2001 with amendments. Art 21.3.1

This procedure can only be actioned once the water and sewage connection have been installed.
For that reason it cannot be a simultaneous process with the previous one.

Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Portugal – Measure of Quality

Answer Score

Building quality control index (0-15) 11.0

Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 2.0

How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Available online; Free 1.0
of charge.

Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly specified in the building regulations or on any List of required 1.0
accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents; Fees to
be paid; Required
preapprovals.

Quality control before construction index (0-1) 1.0

Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in compliance with existing Licensed architect; 1.0
building regulations? (0-1) Licensed engineer;
Private firm.

Quality control during construction index (0-3) 2.0

What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during construction? (0-2) Inspections by in- 1.0
house engineer;
Unscheduled
inspections.

Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0-1) Mandatory 1.0
inspections are
always done in
practice.

Quality control after construction index (0-3) 3.0

Is there a final inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in accordance with the approved Yes, in-house 2.0
plans and regulations? (0-2) engineer submits
report for final
inspection.

Do legally mandated final inspections occur in practice? (0-1) Final inspection 1.0
always occurs in
practice.

Liability and insurance regimes index (0-2) 1.0

Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural flaws or problems in the building once it is in use Architect or engineer; 1.0
(Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) Professional in
charge of the
supervision;
Construction
company.

Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover possible structural flaws or No party is required 0.0
problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability Insurance or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1) by law to obtain
insurance .

Professional certifications index (0-4) 2.0

What are the qualification requirements for the professional responsible for verifying that the architectural plans University degree in 1.0
or drawings are in compliance with existing building regulations? (0-2) architecture or
engineering; Being a
registered architect or
engineer.

What are the qualification requirements for the professional who supervises the construction on the ground? (0- University degree in 1.0
2) engineering,
construction or
construction
management; Being
a registered architect
or engineer.

Page 17
 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Getting Electricity

This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally,
the reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tariffs and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data
collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.

What the indicators measure Case study assumptions

Procedures to obtain an electricity connection (number) To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the warehouse, the
electricity connection and the monthly consumption are used.
• Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining all necessary
clearances and permits
The warehouse:
• Completing all required notifications and receiving all necessary - Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods.
inspections
- Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for
• Obtaining external installation works and possibly purchasing the second largest business city.
material for these works - Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is in an area with no
physical constraints. For example, the property is not near a railway.
• Concluding any necessary supply contract and obtaining final - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the first time.
supply
- Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days) feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 square meters (10,000 square feet).

• Is at least 1 calendar day The electricity connection:

• Each procedure starts on a separate day - Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed capacity of 140-
• Does not include time spent gathering information kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW).
- Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or medium-voltage distribution
• Reflects the time spent in practice, with little follow-up and no network and is either overhead or underground, whichever is more common in the area where the
prior contact with officials warehouse is located and requires works that involve the crossing of a 10-meter road (such as by
excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out on public land. There is no crossing of other
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per
owners’ private property because the warehouse has access to a road.
capita)
- Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has already been
• Official costs only, no bribes completed up to and including the customer’s service panel or switchboard and the meter base.

• Value added tax excluded The monthly consumption:

The reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0-8)
- It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (8 hours
• Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3) a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity on average and that there are no electricity cuts
(assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours
• Tools to monitor power outages (0–1) (kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh.
• Tools to restore power supply (0–1) - If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the cheapest supplier.
- Tariffs effective in January of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for
• Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance (0–1)
the warehouse. Although January has 31 days, for calculation purposes only 30 days are used.
• Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1)
• Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1)
Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)*

• Price based on monthly bill for commercial warehouse in case

study

*Note: Doing Business measures the price of electricity, but it is

not included in the ease of doing business score nor in the ranking
on the ease of getting electricity.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Getting Electricity - Portugal

Standardized Connection

Name of utility EDP Distribuição - Energia, S.A.

Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) 22.2

City Covered Lisbon

Indicator Portugal OECD high income Best Regulatory Performance

Procedures (number) 5 4.4 3 (28 Economies)

Time (days) 65 74.8 18 (3 Economies)

Cost (% of income per capita) 33.6 61.0 0.0 (3 Economies)

Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8) 7 7.4 8 (26 Economies)

Figure – Getting Electricity in Portugal – Score

66.7 79.6 99.6 87.5

Reliability of supply and transparency of

Procedures Time Cost
tariff index

Figure – Getting Electricity in Portugal and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

DB 2020 Getting Electricity Score

0 100

98.8: Germany (Rank: 5)

96.9: United Kingdom (Rank: 8)

92.0: France (Rank: 17)

85.9: Regional Average (OECD high income)

83.3: Portugal (Rank: 52)

83.0: Spain (Rank: 55)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the
scores for all the component indicators except the price of electricity.

Figure – Getting Electricity in Portugal – Procedure, Time and Cost

Time (days) Cost (% of income per capita)

35
60
30
Cost (% of income per capita)

50
25
Time (days)

40
20

30
15

20
10

10 5

0 0
1 *2 3 *4 5
Procedures (number)

* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.

Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website ([Link] For details on the procedures
Page 19
 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

reflected here, see the summary below.

Figure – Getting Electricity in Portugal and comparator economies – Measure of Quality

8.2
8 8 8 8
8
7.8
Index score

7.6
7.4
7.4
7.2
7
7
6.8
6.6
6.4

Portugal France Germany Spain United OECD

Kingdom high
income

Page 20
 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Getting Electricity in Portugal – Procedure, Time and Cost

No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs

1 Submit application to EDP and await estimate 18 calendar days EUR 6,329.23
Agency : EDP ​Distribuição
The customer must submit to the utility an application for a new connection ('pedido de ligação à
rede'). The location map of the warehouse needs to be attached to the application, along with
information on the requested capacity.

An application fee must also be paid. The utility then reviews the application and presents a cost
estimate to the client.

2 Receive a site visit by EDP for preparation of the cost estimate 1 calendar day EUR 0
Agency : EDP ​Distribuição
A representative from the utility visits the site of the warehouse to determine the location of the
external connection works and to verify if the client's connection point is ready.

The client's engineer or technician is normally present to discuss any necessary items with the
utility.

3 Receive external works from EDP 45 calendar days EUR 0

Agency : EDP ​Distribuição
In Lisbon the external connection works are usually carried out by the utility, but they can also be
done by the client's contractor. Costs charged by the utility are regulated by ERSE, the national
energy regulator, but costs can be negotiated if works are done by a private contractor. If works
are carried out by the utility, the excavation permit for works crossing a road will be obtained by
the utility without the client's involvement.

4 Obtain internal inspection and certificate from certifying entity 12 calendar days EUR 99.4
Agency : Private Inspection Entity
Once the internal wiring is completed, the client must hire a private certifying entity to carry out an
inspection of the warehouse. Upon a successful inspection, the entity will issue a certificate stating
that the internal wiring is ready to be used ('certificado de exploração da instalação elétrica').

The certificate is required to apply for the meter installation and final connection. The list of entities
providing inspections includes the Instituto Eletrotécnico Português (IEP), Laboratório Industrial
da Qualidade (LIQ) and Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade (ISQ).

5 Conclude supply contract and receive meter installation by EDP 2 calendar days EUR 0
Agency : EDP ​Comercial
The customer must choose an electricity supplier and sign a supply contract before the meter
installation. The client must present the supply contract and the internal wiring certificate to
request the meter installation and final connection.

Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Getting Electricity in Portugal – Measure of Quality

Answer

Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8) 7

Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 3

System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) 0.5

System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) 0.6

What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI 3.0

Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 1

Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? Yes

Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 1

Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? Yes

Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 1

Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on reliability of supply? Yes

Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 1

Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face fines by the regulator (or both) if outages exceed a certain cap? Yes

Communication of tariffs and tariff changes (0-1) 0

Are effective tariffs available online? Yes

Link to the website, if available online [Link]

Are customers notified of a change in tariff ahead of the billing cycle? No

Note:

If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index.

If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index.

If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index.

Page 22
 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Registering Property

This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a
building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality
of land administration index has five dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access
to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.

What the indicators measure Case study assumptions

Procedures to legally transfer title on immovable property To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the parties to the
(number) transaction, the property and the procedures are used.

• Preregistration procedures (for example, checking for liens, The parties (buyer and seller):
notarizing sales agreement, paying property transfer taxes)
- Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent).
• Registration procedures in the economy's largest business city. - Are located in the periurban (that is, on the outskirts of the city but still within its official limits)
• Postregistration procedures (for example, filling title with area of the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the
municipality) second largest business city.
- Are 100% domestically and privately owned.
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days) - Perform general commercial activities.

• Does not include time spent gathering information The property (fully owned by the seller):
• Each procedure starts on a separate day - though procedures - Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price.
that can be fully completed online are an exception to this rule
- Is fully owned by the seller.
• Procedure is considered completed once final document is - Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for the past 10 years.
received - Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title disputes.
• No prior contact with officials - Is located in a periurban commercial zone (that is, on the outskirts of the city but still within its
official limits), and no rezoning is required.
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of property - Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters (6,000 square feet). A two-
value) story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is located on the land. The warehouse
is 10 years old, is in good condition, has no heating system and complies with all safety standards,
• Official costs only (such as administrative fees, duties and building codes and legal requirements. The property, consisting of land and building, will be
taxes).
transferred in its entirety.
• Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit payments are - Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the purchase.
excluded - Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical monuments of any kind.
- Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for residential use,
Quality of land administration index (0-30) industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural activities, are required.
- Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it.
• Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8)
• Transparency of information index (0–6)
• Geographic coverage index (0–8)
• Land dispute resolution index (0–8)
• Equal access to property rights index (-2–0)

Page 23
 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Registering Property - Portugal

Indicator Portugal OECD high income Best Regulatory Performance

Procedures (number) 1 4.7 1 (5 Economies)

Time (days) 10 23.6 1 (2 Economies)

Cost (% of property value) 7.3 4.2 0.0 (Saudi Arabia)

Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 20.0 23.2 None in 2018/19

Figure – Registering Property in Portugal – Score

100.0 95.7 51.2 66.7

Procedures Time Cost

Quality of the land administration index

Figure – Registering Property in Portugal and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

DB 2020 Registering Property Score

0 100

78.4: Portugal (Rank: 35)

77.0: Regional Average (OECD high income)

75.7: United Kingdom (Rank: 41)

71.7: Spain (Rank: 59)

66.6: Germany (Rank: 76)

63.3: France (Rank: 99)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of
the scores for each of the component indicators.

Page 24
 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Registering Property in Portugal – Procedure, Time and Cost

Time (days) Cost (% of property value)

10 8

Cost (% of property value)

8
6
Time (days)

5
6

4
3

2
2
1

0 0
1
Procedures (number)

* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.

Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website ([Link] For details on the procedures
reflected here, see the summary below.

Page 25
 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Registering Property in Portugal and comparator economies – Measure of Quality

30
26.0
25 24.0 23.0 23.2
22.5
20.0
Index score

20

15

10

Portugal France Germany Spain United OECD

Kingdom high
income

Details – Registering Property in Portugal – Procedure, Time and Cost

No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs

1 Register the property at the Real Property Registry 10 days EUR 69,982.54; (6.5% of
Agency : Land Registry (Registo Predial) the property’s fiscal value
It is possible to register a property transfer in Portugal at any of the locations of the one-stop shop or sale price, whichever is
“On the spot house” (Casa pronta, [Link]) in person. In April 2019, there were 5
higher + 0.8% stamp duty
locations in Lisboa and 334 locations in all of Portugal. Banks can request that a public employee
and 250 EUR as a Land
comes with a laptop with secured access to the database to complete the property transfer at the
bank (for free) without going to a Casa pronta location. Also, real estate agents can request that a Registration Fee)
public employee comes with a laptop with secured access to the database to complete the
property transfer in their office. At the one-stop shop, the public employee will verify the following
aspects: • Identity of parties • Powers of attorney (stating that the individuals are legal
representatives of the firms) • Verify the legality of the transaction (that all laws are fulfilled) • Verify
the ownership and the encumbrances (with access to the “predial” database) • Verify that all taxes
have been paid (with access to the Tax administration’s database). Once all the checks are
completed, if there are any outstanding taxes, those can be paid at Casa pronta, though a specific
agreement between the Tax Authorities and Casa pronta. A receipt is issued to show that the
taxes have been paid. The deed is prepared and submitted, and the transaction is completed.

Property registration is mandatory in Portugal, and the one-stop shop process is available since
July 2008, and its use is gradually increasing.

As an alternative to using the Casa pronta, it is possible to use the services of a notary or a lawyer
(lawyers can do so only since 2008) to prepare and authenticate the deed and verify tax
payments. The authenticated deed can be submitted to the Predial (land registry,
[Link]). Only an authenticated deed can be submitted to the Predial. Predial has
334 property registries (in each municipality) all connected to a central database. Casa pronta is
an interface with the buyers and sellers that is connected to the central database managed by the
“Registo Predial” (land registry). Preemption rights exist in Portugal but are not mandatory, unless
the property is located in special areas (old town, cultural, or close to the airport or near railways).
In many commercial areas there is no need for such a waiver.

In addition to «On the spot house» (that works as described above), land registry requests can be
performed online. When people prefer to perform a public deed, instead of the simplified
procedure, they can apply for the registry sending the deed through a web site
([Link] In this case, the applicant needs to be authenticated
with a qualified digital certificate, like the one every Portuguese citizen as in his/her citizens card.
The online procedure, however, may take up to a week to be processed.

Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Registering Property in Portugal – Measure of Quality

Answer Score

Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 20.0

Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 6.0

Type of land registration system in the economy: Title Registration

System

What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? Any Registo Predial
in Portugal

In what format are past and newly issued land records kept at the immovable property registry of the largest Computer/Fully digital 2.0
business city of the economy —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)?

Is there a comprehensive and functional electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, Yes 1.0
restrictions and the like)?

Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: Autoridade Tributaria

In what format are past and newly issued cadastral plans kept at the mapping agency of the largest business Computer/Fully digital 2.0
city of the economy—in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)?

Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing cadastral information Yes 1.0
(geographic information system)?

Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the cadastral or mapping agency Separate databases 0.0
kept in a single database, in different but linked databases or in separate databases?

Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use the same identification No 0.0
number for properties?

Transparency of information index (0–6) 4.5

Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of immovable property registration Freely accessible by 1.0
in the largest business city? anyone

Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction made publicly available– Yes, online 0.5
and if so, how?

Link for online access: [Link]

[Link]

Is the applicable fee schedule for any type of property transaction at the agency in charge of immovable Yes, online 0.5
property registration in the largest business city made publicly available–and if so, how?

Link for online access: [Link]

N/sections/irn/legislac
ao/docs-
legislacao/regulament
o-emolumentar/

Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration agency formally commit to deliver a legally Yes, online 0.5
binding document that proves property ownership within a specific timeframe –and if so, how does it
communicate the service standard?

Link for online access: [Link]

[Link]

Is there a specific and independent mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that occurred at the agency Yes 1.0
in charge of immovable property registration?

Contact information: [Link]

t/inserirRESPasso1.d
o?tipo=r

Are there publicly available official statistics tracking the number of transactions at the immovable property Yes 0.5
registration agency?

Number of property transfers in the largest business city in 2018: 46898.0

Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city? Anyone who pays the 0.5
official fee

Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available—and if so, how? Yes, in person 0.0

Link for online access:

Page 27
Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Does the cadastral/mapping agency formally specifies the timeframe to deliver an updated cadastral plan—and No 0.0
if so, how does it communicate the service standard?

Link for online access:

Is there a specific and independent mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that occurred at the No 0.0
cadastral or mapping agency?

Contact information:

Geographic coverage index (0–8) 4.0

Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city formally registered at the immovable property Yes 2.0
registry?

Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable property registry? No 0.0

Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city mapped? Yes 2.0

Are all privately held land plots in the economy mapped? No 0.0

Land dispute resolution index (0–8) 5.5

Does the law require that all property sale transactions be registered at the immovable property registry to make Yes 1.5
them opposable to third parties?

Legal basis: Article 5.º of Land

Registry Code
(Código do Registo
Predial)

Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private guarantee? Yes 0.5

Type of guarantee: State guarantee

Legal basis: Article 7.º of Land

Registry Code
(Código do Registo
Predial)

Is there a is a specific, out-of-court compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who Yes 0.5
engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certified by the immovable
property registry?

Legal basis: Articles 7.º, 17.º no. 2

and 122.º of the Land
Registry Code
(Código do Registo
Predial)

Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a property transaction (e.g., Yes 0.5
checking the compliance of contracts with requirements of the law)?

If yes, who is responsible for checking the legality of the documents? Registrar; Notary;
Lawyer;

Does the legal system require verification of the identity of the parties to a property transaction? Yes 0.5

If yes, who is responsible for verifying the identity of the parties? Registrar; Notary;
Lawyer;

Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of government issued identity documents? Yes 1.0

What is the Court of first instance in charge of a case involving a standard land dispute between two local The Judicial Court of
businesses over tenure rights for a property worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located Lisbon (Tribunal
in the largest business city? Judicial da Comarca
de Lisboa - Instância
Central)

How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the first-instance court for such a case (without Between 2 and 3 1.0
appeal)? years

Are there publicly available statistics on the number of land disputes at the economy level in the first instance No 0.0
court?

Number of land disputes in the economy in 2018:

Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) 0.0

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Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes

Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Getting Credit

This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the effectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most
recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.

What the indicators measure Case study assumptions

Strength of legal rights index (0–12) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and
lenders with respect to secured transactions through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit
• Rights of borrowers and lenders through collateral laws (0-10) information index measures rules and practices affecting the coverage, scope and accessibility of
• Protection of secured creditors’ rights through bankruptcy laws credit information available through a credit registry or a credit bureau. The strength of legal rights
(0-2) index measures the degree to which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers
and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first determined whether a unitary
Depth of credit information index (0–8) secured transactions system exists. Then two case scenarios, case A and case B, are used to
• Scope and accessibility of credit information distributed by determine how a nonpossessory security interest is created, publicized and enforced according to
credit bureaus and credit registries (0-8) the law. Special emphasis is given to how the collateral registry operates (if registration of security
interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a secured borrower, company ABC, and a
Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) secured lender, BizBank.

• Number of individuals and firms listed in largest credit bureau In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow only case A or case B
as a percentage of adult population (not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set of legal provisions relating to the use of
movable collateral.
Credit registry coverage (% of adults)

• Number of individuals and firms listed in credit registry as a Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) are used:
percentage of adult population - ABC is a domestic limited liability company (or its legal equivalent).
- ABC has up to 50 employees.
- ABC has its headquarters and only base of operations in the economy’s largest business city. For
11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
- Both ABC and BizBank are 100% domestically owned.

The case scenarios also involve assumptions. In case A, as collateral for the loan, ABC grants
BizBank a nonpossessory security interest in one category of movable assets, for example, its
machinery or its inventory. ABC wants to keep both possession and ownership of the collateral. In
economies where the law does not allow nonpossessory security interests in movable property,
ABC and BizBank use a fiduciary transfer-of-title arrangement (or a similar substitute for
nonpossessory security interests).

In case B, ABC grants BizBank a business charge, enterprise charge, floating charge or any
charge that gives BizBank a security interest over ABC’s combined movable assets (or as much of
ABC’s movable assets as possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Getting Credit - Portugal

Indicator Portugal OECD high income Best Regulatory Performance

Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 2 6.1 12 (5 Economies)

Depth of credit information index (0-8) 7 6.8 8 (53 Economies)

Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 100.0 24.4 100.0 (2 Economies)

Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) 7.9 66.7 100.0 (14 Economies)

Figure – Getting Credit in Portugal – Score

45.0

Score - Getting Credit

Figure – Getting Credit in Portugal and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

DB 2020 Getting Credit Score

0 100

75.0: United Kingdom (Rank: 37)

70.0: Germany (Rank: 48)

64.3: Regional Average (OECD high income)

60.0: Spain (Rank: 80)

50.0: France (Rank: 104)

45.0: Portugal (Rank: 119)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting credit is determined by sorting their scores for getting credit. These scores are the sum of the scores for the
strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit information index.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Legal Rights in Portugal and comparator economies

8
7
7
6 6.1
6
Index Score

5
5
4
4
3
2
2
1
0

Portugal France Germany Spain United OECD

Kingdom high
income

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Legal Rights in Portugal

Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 2

Does an integrated or unified legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and enforcement of functional equivalents No
to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy?

Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without requiring a specific description No
of collateral?

Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring a specific description of No
collateral?

May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and does it extend automatically to the products, proceeds and replacements of the No
original assets?

Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and obligations be secured between parties; Yes
and can the collateral agreement include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered?

Is a collateral registry in operation for both incorporated and non-incorporated entities, that is unified geographically and by asset type, with an No
electronic database indexed by debtor's name?

Does a notice-based collateral registry exist in which all functional equivalents can be registered? No

Does a modern collateral registry exist in which registrations, amendments, cancellations and searches can be performed online by any interested third No
party?

Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency procedure? No

Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is liquidated? No

Are secured creditors subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised reorganization procedure? Does the law No
protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and sets a time limit for it?

Does the law allow parties to agree on out of court enforcement at the time a security interest is created? Does the law allow the secured creditor to sell Yes
the collateral through public auction or private tender, as well as, for the secured creditor to keep the asset in satisfaction of the debt?

Figure – Credit Information in Portugal and comparator economies

9
8 8
8
7 7 6.8
7
6
Index Score

6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Portugal France Germany Spain United OECD

Kingdom high
income

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Credit Information in Portugal

Depth of credit information index (0-8) Credit bureau Credit registry Score

Are data on both firms and individuals distributed? Yes Yes 1

Are both positive and negative credit data distributed? Yes Yes 1

Are data from retailers or utility companies - in addition to data from banks and No No 0
financial institutions - distributed?

Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries Yes No 1
that distribute more than 10 years of negative data or erase data on defaults as
soon as they are repaid obtain a score of 0 for this component.)

Are data on loan amounts below 1% of income per capita distributed? Yes Yes 1

By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or Yes Yes 1
credit registry?

Can banks and financial institutions access borrowers’ credit information online Yes Yes 1
(for example, through an online platform, a system-to-system connection or
both)?

Are bureau or registry credit scores offered as a value-added service to help Yes No 1
banks and financial institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers?

Total Score ("yes" to either public bureau or private registry) 7

Note: An economy receives a score of 1 if there is a "yes" to either bureau or registry. If the credit bureau or registry is not operational or covers less than 5% of the adult
population, the total score on the depth of credit information index is 0.

Coverage Credit bureau Credit registry

Number of individuals 508,736 7,841,730

Number of firms 16,664 483,521

Total 525,400 8,325,251

Percentage of adult population 7.9 100.0

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Protecting Minority Investors

This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights,
governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed
in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.

What the indicators measure Case study assumptions

• Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Disclosure, review, and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several assumptions about
approval requirements for related-party transactions the business and the transaction.
• Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability of minority
shareholders to sue and hold interested directors liable for The business (Buyer):
prejudicial related-party transactions; Available legal - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important stock exchange.
remedies (damages, disgorgement of profits, disqualification - Has a board of directors and a chief executive officer (CEO) who may legally act on behalf of
from managerial position(s) for one year or more, rescission of Buyer where permitted, even if this is not specifically required by law.
the transaction) - Has a supervisory board in economies with a two-tier board system on which Mr. James
appointed 60% of the shareholder-elected members.
• Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10): Access to internal
- Has not adopted bylaws or articles of association that go beyond the minimum requirements.
corporate documents; Evidence obtainable during trial and
allocation of legal expenses Does not follow codes, principles, recommendations or guidelines that are not mandatory.
- Is a manufacturing company with its own distribution network.
• Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0-30): Sum of
the extent of disclosure, extent of director liability and ease of The transaction involves the following details:
shareholder suits indices - Mr. James owns 60% of Buyer, sits on Buyer’s board of directors and elected two directors to
• Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6): Shareholders’ rights Buyer’s five-member board.
and role in major corporate decisions - Mr. James also owns 90% of Seller, a company that operates a chain of retail hardware stores.
Seller recently closed a large number of its stores.
• Extent of ownership and control index (0-7): Governance - Mr. James proposes that Buyer purchase Seller’s unused fleet of trucks to expand Buyer’s
safeguards protecting shareholders from undue board control
distribution of its food products, a proposal to which Buyer agrees. The price is equal to 10% of
and entrenchment
Buyer’s assets and is higher than the market value.
• Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7): Corporate - The proposed transaction is part of the company’s principal activity and is not outside the
transparency on ownership stakes, compensation, audits and authority of the company.
financial prospects - Buyer enters into the transaction. All required approvals are obtained, and all required disclosures
made—that is, the transaction was not entered into fraudulently.
• Extent of shareholder governance index (0–20): Sum of the - The transaction causes damages to Buyer. Shareholders sue Mr. James and the executives and
extent of shareholders rights, extent of ownership and control
directors that approved the transaction.
and extent of corporate transparency indices

• Strength of minority investor protection index (0–50): Sum

of the extent of conflict of interest regulation and extent of
shareholder governance indices

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Protecting Minority Investors - Portugal

Stock exchange information

Stock exchange Euronext Lisbon

Stock exchange URL [Link]

Listed firms with equity securities 58

City Covered Lisbon

Indicator Portugal OECD high income Best Regulatory Performance

Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 6.0 6.5 10 (13 Economies)

Extent of director liability index (0-10) 5.0 5.3 10 (3 Economies)

Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 7.0 7.3 10 (Djibouti)

Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6) 3.0 4.7 6 (19 Economies)

Extent of ownership and control index (0-7) 4.0 4.5 7 (9 Economies)

Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7) 6.0 5.7 7 (13 Economies)

Figure – Protecting Minority in Portugal – Score

62.0

Score - Protecting Minority Investors

Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Portugal and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

DB 2020 Protecting Minority Investors Score

0 100

84.0: United Kingdom (Rank: 7)

72.0: Spain (Rank: 28)

68.2: Regional Average (OECD high income)

68.0: France (Rank: 45)

62.0: Germany (Rank: 61)

62.0: Portugal (Rank: 61)

Note: The ranking of economies on the strength of minority investor protections is determined by sorting their scores for protecting minority investors. These scores are
the simple average of the scores for the extent of conflict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Portugal and comparator economies – Measure of Quality

Portugal 6 5 6 4 3 7

France 7 3 8 6 4 6

Germany 6 5 5 5 5 5

Spain 6 6 7 5 6 6

United Kingdom 6 7 10 5 6 8

OECD high income 5.6 5.6 6.6 4.3 4.5 7.4

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Sub-Indicator Score

Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7) Extent of director liability index (0-10) Extent of disclosure index (0-10) Extent of ownership and control index (0-7)
Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6) Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10)

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Portugal – Measure of Quality

Answer Score

Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0-30)

Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 6.0

Whose decision is sufficient to approve the Buyer-Seller transaction? (0-3) Board of directors 2.0
excluding interested
members

Must an external body review the terms of the transaction before it takes place? (0-1) No 0.0

Must Mr. James disclose his conflict of interest to the board of directors? (0-2) Existence of a conflict 1.0
without any specifics

Must Buyer disclose the transaction in periodic filings (e.g. annual reports)? (0-2) Disclosure on the 2.0
transaction and on
the conflict of interest

Must Buyer immediately disclose the transaction to the public? (0-2) Disclosure on the 1.0
transaction only

Extent of director liability index (0-10) 5.0

Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital sue for the damage the transaction caused to Yes 1.0
Buyer? (0-1)

Can shareholders hold Mr. James liable for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-2) Liable if negligent 1.0

Can shareholders hold the other directors liable for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-2) Liable if negligent 1.0

Must Mr. James pay damages for the harm caused to Buyer upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1) Yes 1.0

Must Mr. James repay profits made from the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1) No 0.0

Is Mr. James disqualified upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1) Yes 1.0

Can a court void the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-2) Only in case of fraud 0.0
or bad faith

Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 7.0

Before suing, can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the transaction documents? Yes 1.0
(0-1)

Can the plaintiff obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Any relevant 3.0
document

Can the plaintiff request categories of documents from the defendant without identifying specific ones? (0-1) No 0.0

Can the plaintiff directly question the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-2) Preapproved 1.0
questions only

Is the level of proof required for civil suits lower than that of criminal cases? (0-1) Yes 1.0

Can shareholder plaintiffs recover their legal expenses from the company? (0-2) Yes if successful 1.0

Extent of shareholder governance index (0-20)

Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6) 3.0

Does the sale of 51% of Buyer's assets require shareholder approval? No 0.0

Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital call for a meeting of shareholders? Yes 1.0

Must Buyer obtain its shareholders’ approval every time it issues new shares? No 0.0

Do shareholders automatically receive preemption rights every time Buyer issues new shares? No 0.0

Do shareholders elect and dismiss the external auditor? Yes 1.0

Are changes to the rights of a class of shares only possible if the holders of the affected shares approve? Yes 1.0

Extent of ownership and control index (0-7) 4.0

Is it forbidden to appoint the same individual as CEO and chairperson of the board of directors? No 0.0
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Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Must the board of directors include independent and nonexecutive board members? No 0.0

Can shareholders remove members of the board of directors without cause before the end of their term? Yes 1.0

Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising board members? No 0.0

Must a potential acquirer make a tender offer to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Buyer? Yes 1.0

Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? Yes 1.0

Is a subsidiary prohibited from acquiring shares issued by its parent company? Yes 1.0

Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7) 6.0

Must Buyer disclose direct and indirect beneficial ownership stakes representing 5%? Yes 1.0

Must Buyer disclose information about board members’ primary employment and directorships in other No 0.0
companies?

Must Buyer disclose the compensation of individual managers? Yes 1.0

Must a detailed notice of general meeting be sent 21 days before the meeting? Yes 1.0

Can shareholders representing 5% of Buyer’s share capital put items on the general meeting agenda? Yes 1.0

Must Buyer's annual financial statements be audited by an external auditor? Yes 1.0

Must Buyer disclose its audit reports to the public? Yes 1.0

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Paying Taxes

This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as the administrative burden of
paying taxes and contributions and complying with postfiling procedures (VAT refund and tax audit). The most recent round of data collection for the project was
completed in May 2019 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2018 (January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018). See the methodology for more information.

What the indicators measure Case study assumptions

Tax payments for a manufacturing company in 2018 (number Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory contributions a medium size
per year adjusted for electronic and joint filing and payment) company must pay in a year, and measures the administrative burden of paying taxes,
contributions and dealing with postfiling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of
• Total number of taxes and contributions paid or withheld, filing and payments, time taken to comply with tax laws, time taken to comply with the
including consumption taxes (value added tax, sales tax or
requirements of postfiling processes and time waiting.
goods and service tax)

• Method and frequency of filing and payment To make data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used:
- TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that started operations on January 1, 2017. It produces
Time required to comply with 3 major taxes (hours per year) ceramic flowerpots and sells them at retail. All taxes and contributions recorded are paid in the
second year of operation (calendar year 2018). Taxes and mandatory contributions are measured
• Collecting information, computing tax payable
at all levels of government.
• Preparing separate tax accounting books, if required
• Completing tax return, filing with agencies The VAT refund process:
- In June 2018, TaxpayerCo. makes a large capital purchase: the value of the machine is 65 times
• Arranging payment or withholding income per capita of the economy. Sales are equally spread per month (1,050 times income per
capita divided by 12) and cost of goods sold are equally expensed per month (875 times income
Total tax and contribution rate (% of commercial profits)
per capita divided by 12). The machinery seller is registered for VAT and excess input VAT incurred
• Profit or corporate income tax in June will be fully recovered after four consecutive months if the VAT rate is the same for inputs,
sales and the machine and the tax reporting period is every month. Input VAT will exceed Output
• Social contributions, labor taxes paid by employer VAT in June 2018.
• Property and property transfer taxes
The corporate income tax audit process:
• Dividend, capital gains, financial transactions taxes - An error in calculation of income tax liability (for example, use of incorrect tax depreciation rates,
• Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes or incorrectly treating an expense as tax deductible) leads to an incorrect income tax return and a
corporate income tax underpayment. TaxpayerCo. discovered the error and voluntarily notified the
Postfiling Index tax authority. The value of the underpaid income tax liability is 5% of the corporate income tax
• Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) liability due. TaxpayerCo. submits corrected information after the deadline for submitting the annual
tax return, but within the tax assessment period.
• Time to obtain VAT refund (weeks)
• Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours)
• Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks)

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Paying Taxes - Portugal

Indicator Portugal OECD high income Best Regulatory Performance

Payments (number per year) 8 10.3 3 (2 Economies)

Time (hours per year) 243 158.8 49 (3 Economies)

Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) 39.8 39.9 26.1 (33 Economies)

Postfiling index (0-100) 92.7 86.7 None in 2018/19

Figure – Paying Taxes in Portugal – Score

91.7 70.0 80.6 92.7

Payments Time Total tax and contribution rate Postfiling index

Figure – Paying Taxes in Portugal and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

DB 2020 Paying Taxes Score

0 100

86.2: United Kingdom (Rank: 27)

84.7: Spain (Rank: 35)

84.3: Regional Average (OECD high income)

83.7: Portugal (Rank: 43)

82.2: Germany (Rank: 46)

79.2: France (Rank: 61)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their scores for paying taxes. These scores are the simple average of the scores for
each of the component indicators, with a threshold and a nonlinear transformation applied to one of the component indicators, the total tax and contribution rate. The
threshold is defined as the total tax and contribution rate at the 15th percentile of the overall distribution for all years included in the analysis up to and including Doing
Business 2015, which is 26.1%. All economies with a total tax and contribution rate below this threshold receive the same score as the economy at the threshold.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Paying Taxes in Portugal and comparator economies – Measure of Quality

120
97.7 93.6
100 92.7 92.4
86.7
Index score

80 71.0
60

40

20

Portugal France Germany Spain United OECD

Kingdom high
income

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Paying Taxes in Portugal

Tax or Payments Notes on Time (hours) Statutory tax Tax base Total tax and Notes on TTCR
mandatory (number) Payments rate contribution
contribution rate (% of
profit)

Social security 1.0 online 90.0 23.75% gross salaries 26.79

contributions

Corporate 1.0 online 63.0 17% for first taxable profit 11.58
income tax EUR15,000 and
21% thereafter

Municipal 0.0 jointly 1.5% taxable income 0.88

business tax

Interest tax 1.0 online 25% interest income 0.64 included in other
(withholding tax) taxes

Property tax 1.0 0.8% property value 0.44

Vehicle tax 1.0 fixed fee 0.07

depending on
type of vehicle

Withheld 0.0 11% gross salaries 0.00 withheld

contributions

Fuel tax 1.0 28 cents fuel consumption 0.00

in liters

Value added tax 1.0 online 90.0 23% value added 0.00 not included
(VAT)

Tax on check 1.0 online EUR 0.05 per check 0.00

transactions

Totals 8 243 39.8

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Paying Taxes in Portugal – Tax by Type

Taxes by type Answer

Profit tax (% of profit) 12.5

Labor tax and contributions (% of profit) 26.8

Other taxes (% of profit) 0.5

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Paying Taxes in Portugal – Measure of Quality

Answer Score

Postfiling index (0-100) 92.7

VAT refunds

Does VAT exist? Yes

Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study? Yes

Restrictions on VAT refund process none

Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%) 0% - 24%

Is there a mandatory carry forward period? No

Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) 4.0 92.0

Time to obtain VAT refund (weeks) 14.0 78.8

Corporate income tax audits

Does corporate income tax exist? Yes

Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%) 0% - 24%

Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours) 1.0 100

Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks) No tax audit per case 100
study scenario

Notes: Names of taxes have been standardized. For instance income tax, profit tax, tax on company's income are all named corporate income tax in this table.
The hours for VAT include all the VAT and sales taxes applicable.
The hours for Social Security include all the hours for labor taxes and mandatory contributions in general.
The postfiling index is the average of the scores on time to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain a VAT refund, time to comply with a corporate income tax correction
and time to complete a corporate income tax correction.
N/A = Not applicable.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Trading across Borders

Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business measures the time and cost (excluding
tariffs) associated with three sets of procedures—documentary compliance, border compliance and domestic transport—within the overall process of exporting or
importing a shipment of goods. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.

What the indicators measure Case study assumptions

Documentary compliance To make the data comparable across economies, a few assumptions are made about the traded
goods and the transactions:
• Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during
transport, clearance, inspections and port or border handling in Time: Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 days are recorded as
origin economy
22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 hours, the data are recorded as is. Alternatively,
• Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents required by suppose documents are submitted to a customs agency at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and
destination economy and any transit economies can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. The time for customs clearance would be recorded as
24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 hours.
• Covers all documents required by law and in practice, including
electronic submissions of information
Cost: Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are excluded from the
Border compliance costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Contributors are asked to convert local currency
into U.S. dollars based on the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire.
• Customs clearance and inspections Contributors are private sector experts in international trade logistics and are informed about
exchange rates.
• Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more than 20% of
shipments)
Assumptions of the case study:
• Handling and inspections that take place at the economy’s port - For all 190 economies covered by Doing Business, it is assumed a shipment is in a warehouse in
or border the largest business city of the exporting economy and travels to a warehouse in the largest
business city of the importing economy.
Domestic transport
- It is assumed each economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS 8708) from
• Loading or unloading of the shipment at the warehouse or its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the largest value (price times
port/border quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each economy exports the product of its comparative
advantage (defined by the largest export value) to its natural export partner—the economy that is
• Transport between warehouse and port/border the largest purchaser of this product. Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000.
• Traffic delays and road police checks while shipment is en - The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import product and
route the trading partner, as is the seaport or land border crossing.
- All electronic information submissions requested by any government agency in connection with
the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export
or import process.
- A port or border is a place (seaport or land border crossing) where merchandise can enter or
leave an economy.
- Relevant government agencies include customs, port authorities, road police, border guards,
standardization agencies, ministries or departments of agriculture or industry, national security
agencies and any other government authorities.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Trading across Borders - Portugal

Indicator Portugal OECD high income Best Regulatory Performance

Time to export: Border compliance (hours) 0 12.7 1 (19 Economies)

Cost to export: Border compliance (USD) 0 136.8 0 (19 Economies)

Time to export: Documentary compliance (hours) 1 2.3 1 (26 Economies)

Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD) 0 33.4 0 (20 Economies)

Time to import: Border compliance (hours) 0 8.5 1 (25 Economies)

Cost to import: Border compliance (USD) 0 98.1 0 (28 Economies)

Time to import: Documentary compliance (hours) 1 3.4 1 (30 Economies)

Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD) 0 23.5 0 (30 Economies)

Figure – Trading across Borders in Portugal – Score

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Time Cost Time Cost Time Cost Time Cost

to to to to to to to to
export: export: export: export: import: import: import: import:
Border Border Documentary Documentary Border Border Documentary Documentary
compliance compliance compliance compliance compliance compliance compliance compliance

Figure – Trading across Borders in Portugal and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

DB 2020 Trading Across Borders Score

0 100

94.3: Regional Average (OECD high income)

93.8: United Kingdom (Rank: 33)

91.8: Germany (Rank: 42)

100: Spain (Rank: 1)

100: France (Rank: 1)

100: Portugal (Rank: 1)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of trading across borders is determined by sorting their scores for trading across borders. These scores are the simple
average of the scores for the time and cost for documentary compliance and border compliance to export and import.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Trading across Borders in Portugal – Time and Cost

Time (hours) Cost (USD)

1.2 1.2
1 1
1 1
Time (hours)

Cost (USD)
0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0

Export Export Import Import

- - - -
Border Documentary Border Documentary
Compliance Compliance Compliance Compliance

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Trading across Borders in Portugal

Characteristics Export Import

Product HS 87 : Vehicles other than railway or tramway HS 8708: Parts and accessories of motor vehicles
rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof

Trade partner Germany Germany

Border Portugal-Spain border crossing Portugal-Spain border crossing

Distance (km) 350 350

Domestic transport time (hours) 6 6

Domestic transport cost (USD) 598 598

Details – Trading across Borders in Portugal – Components of Border Compliance

Time to Complete (hours) Associated Costs (USD)

Export: Clearance and inspections required by 0.0 0.0

customs authorities

Export: Clearance and inspections required by 0.0 0.0

agencies other than customs

Export: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0

Import: Clearance and inspections required by 0.0 0.0

customs authorities

Import: Clearance and inspections required by 0.0 0.0

agencies other than customs

Import: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Trading across Borders in Portugal – Trade Documents

Export Import

Packing list Packing list

Commercial invoice Commercial Invoice

CMR waybill CMR waybill

Intrastat Intrastat

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Enforcing Contracts

The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local first-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes
index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and efficiency in the court system. The most recent round of data
collection was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.

What the indicators measure Case study assumptions

Time required to enforce a contract through the courts The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract between two domestic
(calendar days) businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in
dispute. This distinguishes the case from simple debt enforcement.
• Time to file and serve the case
• Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data on the time and comparable across economies, several assumptions about the
case are used:
• Time to enforce the judgment - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller and Buyer), both
Cost required to enforce a contract through the courts (% of located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the
claim value) second largest business city.
- The Buyer orders custom-made furniture, then fails to pay alleging that the goods are not of
• Average attorney fees adequate quality.
- The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local currency of
• Court costs
USD 5,000, whichever is greater.
• Enforcement costs - The Seller sues the Buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases worth 200% of
income per capita or $5,000 whichever is greater.
Quality of judicial processes index (0-18)
- The Seller requests the pretrial attachment of the defendant’s movable assets to secure the
• Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) claim.
- The claim is disputed on the merits because of Buyer’s allegation that the quality of the goods
• Case management (0-6) was not adequate.
• Court automation (0-4) - The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal.
- The Seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the Buyer’s movable assets.
• Alternative dispute resolution (0-3)

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Enforcing Contracts - Portugal

Standardized Case

Claim value EUR 36,691

Court name Juízo Local Cível de Lisboa

City Covered Lisbon

Indicator Portugal OECD high income Best Regulatory Performance

Time (days) 755 589.6 120 (Singapore)

Cost (% of claim value) 17.2 21.5 0.1 (Bhutan)

Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 13.5 11.7 None in 2018/19

Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Portugal – Score

48.0 80.8 75.0

Time Cost Quality of judicial processes index

Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Portugal and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

DB 2020 Enforcing Contracts Score

0 100

74.1: Germany (Rank: 13)

73.5: France (Rank: 16)

70.9: Spain (Rank: 26)

68.7: United Kingdom (Rank: 34)

67.9: Portugal (Rank: 38)

67.8: Regional Average (OECD high income)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of
the scores for each of the component indicators.

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Portugal – Time and Cost

Time (days) Cost (% of claim value)

800 755 45.7 50

Cost (% of claim value)

700
589.6 40
600
Time (days)

499 510
500 447 437 30
400 21.5
300
17.4 17.2 17.2 20
14.4
200
10
100
0 0

France Germany OECD Portugal Spain United

high Kingdom
income

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Portugal and comparator economies – Measure of Quality

Portugal 2.5 5 2.5 3.5

France 2.5 3 2 4.5

Germany 3 1.5 3.5 4.5

Spain 3 2.5 2.5 3.5

United Kingdom 2 5 3.5 4.5

OECD high income 2.5 3.2 2.4 3.6

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Sub-Indicator Score

Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) Case management (0-6) Court automation (0-4) Court structure and proceedings (-1-5)

Details – Enforcing Contracts in Portugal

Indicator

Time (days) 755

Filing and service 30

Trial and judgment 545

Enforcement of judgment 180

Cost (% of claim value) 17.2

Attorney fees 10.7

Court fees 6

Enforcement fees 0.5

Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 13.5

Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 3.5

Case management (0-6) 5.0

Court automation (0-4) 2.5

Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Enforcing Contracts in Portugal – Measure of Quality

Answer Score

Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 13.5

Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 3.5

1. Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases? No 0.0

2. Small claims court 1.5

2.a. Is there a small claims court or a fast-track procedure for small claims? Yes

2.b. If yes, is self-representation allowed? Yes

3. Is pretrial attachment available? Yes 1.0

4. Are new cases assigned randomly to judges? Yes, automatic 1.0

5. Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's? Yes 0.0

Case management (0-6) 5.0

1. Time standards 1.0

1.a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil case? Yes

1.b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events? Yes

1.c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases? Yes

2. Adjournments 0.0

2.a. Does the law regulate the maximum number of adjournments that can be granted? No

2.b. Are adjournments limited to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances? No

2.c. If rules on adjournments exist, are they respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a.

3. Can two of the following four reports be generated about the competent court: (i) time to disposition report; (ii) Yes 1.0
clearance rate report; (iii) age of pending cases report; and (iv) single case progress report?

4. Is a pretrial conference among the case management techniques used before the competent court? Yes 1.0

5. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for use by judges? Yes 1.0

6. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for use by lawyers? Yes 1.0

Court automation (0-4) 2.5

1. Can the initial complaint be filed electronically through a dedicated platform within the competent court? Yes 1.0

2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims filed before the competent court? No 0.0

3. Can court fees be paid electronically within the competent court? Yes 1.0

4. Publication of judgments 0.5

4.a Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at all levels made available to the general public No
through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website?

4.b. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at the appellate and supreme court level made Yes
available to the general public through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet
or court website?

Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5

1. Arbitration 1.5

1.a. Is domestic commercial arbitration governed by a consolidated law or consolidated chapter or Yes
section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all its aspects?

1.b. Are there any commercial disputes—aside from those that deal with public order or public policy— No
that cannot be submitted to arbitration?

1.c. Are valid arbitration clauses or agreements usually enforced by the courts? Yes

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Doing Business 2020 Portugal

2. Mediation/Conciliation 1.0

2.a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available? Yes

2.b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or consolidated chapter or Yes
section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all their aspects (for
example, definition, aim and scope of application, desig

2.c. Are there financial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation (i.e., if mediation or No
conciliation is successful, a refund of court filing fees, income tax credits or the like)?

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Resolving Insolvency

Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate,
which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings.
To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with
data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more
information.

What the indicators measure Case study assumptions

Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several
assumptions about the business and the case are used:
• Measured in calendar years
• Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 suppliers. The hotel
experiences financial difficulties.
Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate) - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local currency of USD
200,000, whichever is greater.
• Measured as percentage of estate value - The hotel has a loan from a domestic bank, secured by a mortgage over the hotel’s real estate.
• Court fees The hotel cannot pay back the loan, but makes enough money to operate otherwise.
• Fees of insolvency administrators
In addition, Doing Business evaluates the quality of legal framework applicable to judicial
• Lawyers’ fees liquidation and reorganization proceedings and the extent to which best insolvency practices have
• Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees been implemented in each economy covered.

• Other related fees

Outcome

• Whether business continues operating as a going concern or

business assets are sold piecemeal

Recovery rate for creditors

• Measures the cents on the dollar recovered by secured

creditors

• Outcome for the business (survival or not) determines the

maximum value that can be recovered

• Official costs of the insolvency proceedings are deducted

• Depreciation of furniture is taken into account
• Present value of debt recovered
Strength of insolvency framework index (0- 16)

• Sum of the scores of four component indices:

• Commencement of proceedings index (0-3)
• Management of debtor’s assets index (0-6)
• Reorganization proceedings index (0-3)
• Creditor participation index (0-4)

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Resolving Insolvency - Portugal

Indicator Portugal OECD high income Best Regulatory Performance

Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 64.8 70.2 92.9 (Norway)

Time (years) 3.0 1.7 0.4 (Ireland)

Cost (% of estate) 9.0 9.3 1.0 (Norway)

Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going concern) 1 .. ..

Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 14.5 11.9 None in 2018/19

Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Portugal – Score

69.7 90.6

Recovery rate Strength of insolvency framework index

Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Portugal and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

DB 2020 Resolving Insolvency Score

0 100

89.8: Germany (Rank: 4)

80.3: United Kingdom (Rank: 14)

80.2: Portugal (Rank: 15)

79.2: Spain (Rank: 18)

74.9: Regional Average (OECD high income)

74.6: France (Rank: 26)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their scores for resolving insolvency. These scores are the simple average
of the scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index.

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Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Portugal – Time and Cost

Time (years) Cost (% of estate)

3.5 11.0 12
3.0
3 9.3 10

Cost (% of estate)
9.0 9.0
8.0
Time (years)

2.5
8
2 1.9
1.7 6.0
1.5 6
1.5 1.2
1.0 4
1

0.5 2

0 0

France Germany OECD Portugal Spain United

high Kingdom
income

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Portugal and comparator economies – Measure of Quality

Portugal 5.5 3 3 3

France 6 3 1 1

Germany 6 3 3 3

Spain 6 3 1 2

United Kingdom 5 3 2 1

OECD high income 5.3 2.8 2.1 1.9

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Sub-Indicator Score

Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) Creditor participation index (0-4) Reorganization proceedings index (0-3)

Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the
strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.”

Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Portugal and comparator economies – Recovery Rate

Recovery rate(cents on the dollar)

90 85.4
79.8 77.5
80 74.8
70.2
70 64.8
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Portugal France Germany Spain United Kingdom OECD high income

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Details – Resolving Insolvency in Portugal

Indicator Answer Score

Proceeding liquidation (after an As there is an interest maintaining Mirage in operation, it may opt to initiate a "Processo Especial de Revitalização"
attempt at (Special Recovery Proceeding) foreseen under articles 17.º-A to 17.º-I of the Insolvency Code. This will suspend all
reorganization) enforcement actions and force BizBank into negotiations. During the negotiation period, no decision on insolvency will
be made. Under the case assumptions, BizBank is not willing to restructure the loan. Therefore, it is expected that it
will not cooperate in the elaboration and approval of a reorganization plan. After the reorganization plan is rejected by
BizBank, which accounts for the majority of votes due to the amount of the credit, the insolvency representative will
likely ask the court to declare Mirage insolvent and commence liquidation proceedings.

Outcome going concern It is possible to keep the hotel operating during insolvency proceedings by using the cash flow, which is sufficient to
cover operating expenses. BizBank will be interested in selling the hotel as a going concern, because this will
maximize the sale value.

Time (in years) 3.0 Taking into consideration the court in which the proceedings have to be claimed and with the presumption that the
proceedings will take their natural due course and will not be subject to claim disputes, the special recovery
proceedings and insolvency proceedings, together, will take about 3 years from filing to closing.

Cost (% of estate) 9.0 Major expenses include remuneration of the administrator, attorneys' fees and fees of other professionals involved in
the insolvency proceedings, such as accountants and assessors.

Recovery rate 64.8

(cents on the dollar)

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Details – Resolving Insolvency in Portugal – Measure of Quality

Answer Score

Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 14.5

Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 3.0

What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency proceedings? (a) Debtor may file for 1.0
both liquidation and
reorganization

Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to file for insolvency of the debtor? (a) Yes, a creditor 1.0
may file for both
liquidation and
reorganization

What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the insolvency framework? (a) (c) Both (a) and (b) 1.0
Debtor is generally unable to pay its debts as they mature (b) The value of debtor's liabilities exceeds the value options are available,
of its assets but only one of them
needs to be complied
with

Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) 5.5

Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential goods and services to the Yes 1.0
debtor?

Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome contracts? Yes 1.0

Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of preferential transactions? Yes 1.0

Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of undervalued transactions? Yes 1.0

Does the insolvency framework provide for the possibility of the debtor obtaining credit after commencement of Yes 1.0
insolvency proceedings?

Does the insolvency framework assign priority to post-commencement credit? (a) Yes over all pre- 0.5
commencement
creditors, secured or
unsecured

Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) 3.0

Which creditors vote on the proposed reorganization plan? (b) Only creditors 1.0
whose rights are
affected by the
proposed plan

Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization receive at least as much as Yes 1.0
what they would obtain in a liquidation?

Are the creditors divided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization plan, does each class vote Yes 1.0
separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally?

Creditor participation index (0-4) 3.0

Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or appointment of the insolvency Yes 1.0
representative?

Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for sale of substantial assets of the debtor? Yes 1.0

Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to request information from the insolvency No 0.0
representative?

Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to object to decisions accepting or rejecting Yes 1.0
creditors' claims?

Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the
strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.”

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Employing Workers

Doing Business presents detailed data for the employing workers indicators on the Doing Business website ([Link] The study does not present
rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business.

The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.

What the indicators measure Case study assumptions

Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the worker and the
(i) whether fixed-term contracts are prohibited for permanent business are used.
tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of fixed-term contracts;
(iii) length of the maximum probationary period; (iv) minimum The worker:
wage;(v) ratio of minimum wage to the average value added per - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience.
worker. - Is a full-time employee.
- Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory.
Working hours
(i) maximum number of working days allowed per week; (ii) The business:
premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy).
(iii) whether there are restrictions on work at night, work on a - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest business city. For 11
weekly rest day and for overtime work; (iv) length of paid annual economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
leave. - Has 60 employees.
- Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover more than 50% of the
Redundancy rules food retail sector and they apply even to firms that are not party to them.
(i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating workers; (ii) - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more benefits than those
whether employer needs to notify and/or get approval from third mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective bargaining agreements.
party to terminate 1 redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant
workers; (iii) whether the law requires employer to reassign or
retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether
priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment.

Redundancy cost
(i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance
payments, and (iii) penalties due when terminating a redundant
worker. Data on the availability of unemployment protection for a
worker with one year of employment is also collected.

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Employing Workers - Portugal

Details – Employing Workers in Portugal

Answer

Hiring

Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? Yes

Maximum length of a single fixed-term contract (months) 36.0

Maximum length of fixed-term contracts, including renewals (months) 36.0

Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month) 794.4

Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 0.3

Maximum length of probationary period (months) 3.0

Working hours

Standard workday 8.0

Maximum number of working days per week 6.0

Premium for night work (% of hourly pay) 25.0

Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay) 50.0

Premium for overtime work (% of hourly pay) 31.3

Restrictions on night work? No

Restrictions on weekly holiday? Yes

Restrictions on overtime work? No

Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days) 22.0

Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days) 22.0

Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days) 22.0

Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days) 22.0

Redundancy rules

Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law? Yes

Third-party notification if one worker is dismissed? Yes

Third-party approval if one worker is dismissed? No

Third-party notification if nine workers are dismissed? Yes

Third-party approval if nine workers are dismissed? No

Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? Yes

Priority rules for redundancies? No

Priority rules for reemployment? No

Redundancy cost

Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure (weeks of salary) 4.3

Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure (weeks of salary) 8.6

Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure (weeks of salary) 10.7

Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in weeks of salary) 7.9

Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure (weeks of salary) 1.7

Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure (weeks of salary) 8.6
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Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure (weeks of salary) 17.1

Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in weeks of salary) 9.1

Unemployment protection after one year of employment? Yes

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 Doing Business 2020 Portugal

Business Reforms in Portugal

From May 2, 2018 to May 1, 2019, 115 economies implemented 294 business regulatory reforms across the 10 areas measured by Doing Business. Reforms inspired by
Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are reforms implemented since Doing Business 2008.

=Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more difficult to do business.

DB2019

Registering Property: Portugal made registering property more burdensome by reducing the number of officials that can register property transfers.

DB2017

Getting Electricity: Portugal made getting an electricity connection faster by reducing the time required to approve electrical connection requests.

Paying Taxes: Portugal made paying taxes easier and less costly by using better accounting software and enhancing the online filing system of taxes and decreasing
the corporate income tax rate.

Employing Workers: Portugal reduced the maximum duration of fixed-term contracts.

DB2016

Paying Taxes: Portugal made paying taxes less costly for companies by reducing the corporate income tax rate and increasing the allowable amount of the loss carried
forward. At the same time, Portugal slightly increased the vehicle tax.

Employing Workers: Portugal introduced priority rules for redundancy dismissals and new regulations for collective bargaining agreements.

DB2015

Paying Taxes: Portugal made paying taxes less costly for companies by reducing the corporate income tax rate and introducing a reduced corporate tax rate for a
portion of the taxable profits of qualifying small and medium-size enterprises.

Enforcing Contracts: Portugal made enforcing contracts easier by adopting a new code of civil procedure designed to reduce case backlogs, streamline court
procedures, enhance the role of judges and speed up the resolution of standard civil and commercial disputes.

Employing Workers: Portugal reduced the amount of severance pay per year of service and increased the maximum cumulative duration of fixed-term contracts.

DB2014

Starting a Business: Portugal made starting a business easier by eliminating the requirement to report to the Ministry of Labor.

Employing Workers: Portugal reduced the wage premium for weekly holiday work and abolished priority rules for redundancy dismissals.

DB2013

Dealing with Construction Permits: Portugal made obtaining construction permits easier by implementing strict time limits to process urban projects and simplifying
the associated procedures.

Trading across Borders: Portugal made trading across borders easier by implementing an electronic single window for port procedures.

Resolving Insolvency: Portugal made resolving insolvency easier by introducing a new insolvency law that expedites liquidation procedures and creates fast-track
mechanisms both in and out of court.

Employing Workers: Portugal increased the maximum duration of fixed-term contracts and reduced the severance pay applicable in cases of redundancy dismissals.

DB2012

Starting a Business: Portugal made starting a business easier by allowing company founders to choose the amount of minimum capital and make their paid-in capital
contribution up to 1 year after the company’s creation, and by eliminating the stamp tax on company’s share capital subscriptions.

Dealing with Construction Permits: Portugal made dealing with construction permits easier by streamlining its inspection system.

DB2011

Dealing with Construction Permits: Portugal made it easier dealing with construction permits by implementing the 95 day time limit for the approval of project
designs.

Registering Property: Portugal established a one-stop shop for property registration.

Paying Taxes: Portugal introduced a new social security code and lowered corporate tax rates.

Employing Workers: Portugal approved a new Labor Code.

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DB2010

Dealing with Construction Permits: Portugal made dealing with construction permits easier by introducing an improved fire safety appraisal system for new
construction projects and faster registration of new buildings.

Registering Property: Portugal speeded up property registration through computerization at the registry backed by an amendment to the registry code making the use
of notaries optional.

Trading across Borders: Portugal reduced the time required for customs clearance through staff training and improvements in customs procedures.

Enforcing Contracts: Portugal reduced the time and improved the procedures for contract enforcement by allowing electronic filing for the initiation of a suit and by
reducing the need for intervention by the judge in the enforcement of a judgment.

Employing Workers: Portugal increased both the notice period for redundancy dismissals and the maximum cumulative duration of fixed-term contracts.

DB2009

Dealing with Construction Permits: Portugal made dealing with construction permits easier by allowing online applications for building permits, assigning officers to
each application and simplifying approvals—though it also introduced stricter control of labor regulations, adding a new procedure for inspection during construction.

Enforcing Contracts: Portugal reduced procedural complexity in enforcing contracts through the courts by raising the monetary threshold for cases going through
summary proceedings.

Resolving Insolvency: Portugal made resolving insolvency easier by eliminating the formality of publishing insolvency notices in newspapers, introducing a fast-track
procedure for debtors with less than €5,000 in assets, implementing new procedures to accelerate payments to insolvency administrators and limiting appeals.

DB2008

Starting a Business: Portugal made starting a business easier by eliminating outdated formalities, simplifying requirements for company registration and
implementing an online incorporation system for use by lawyers.

Registering Property: Portugal reduced the time required to register property through continued computerization of real estate registries in Lisbon.

Protecting Minority Investors: Portugal strengthened investor protections by clarifying directors’ duties, introducing a statutory provision on the business judgment
rule and lowering the minimum shareholding threshold relating to the right of action against directors on behalf of listed companies.

Paying Taxes: Portugal made paying taxes less costly for companies by reducing the corporate income tax rate.

Enforcing Contracts: Portugal made enforcing contracts easier by simplifying the rules for small claims and improving the case management system.

Resolving Insolvency: Portugal made resolving insolvency easier through legislation creating fast-track procedures for the voluntary liquidation of commercial
enterprises.

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Doing Business 2020 Portugal

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