How to start an online store in Portugal and Europe

Most of the work is not the website. It is the paperwork and the money around it, and the order matters: you cannot issue a proper invoice before you are registered, and you cannot price properly before you know your fees and VAT.

1. 1

   Decide what you sell and check the margin

   Write down the cost of each product, the shipping, the payment fee and the VAT. If there is little left after that, fix the price or the product before you build anything.

2. 2

   Register the business

   As a sole trader or as a company. In Portugal that means opening activity with the Tax Authority, with a CAE code for what you sell.

3. 3

   Set up payments

   Open an account with a payment service provider for cards and wallets, and add the local methods your shoppers expect.

4. 4

   Understand your VAT

   Whether you charge it, at which rate, and what changes when you sell to consumers in other EU countries.

5. 5

   Sort out invoicing

   In Portugal invoices come from certified software and are reported to the Tax Authority.

6. 6

   Plan shipping and returns

   Pick carriers, decide on local collection, and write a returns process that respects the 14-day withdrawal right.

7. 7

   Write the legal pages

   Terms of sale, privacy, returns, contact details, and in Portugal the electronic complaints book.

8. 8

   Choose a platform

   Hosted, self-hosted or a marketplace. The table further down compares them.

9. 9

   Launch, then measure

   Place a real test order end to end, refund it, and only then tell people the shop is open.

A sole trader opens activity with the Tax Authority by submitting a declaração de início de atividade. It can be done online on the Portal das Finanças, signing in with your NIF and password, Cartão de Cidadão or Chave Móvel Digital, or in person. The form asks for the CAE code, the expected start date and your estimated annual turnover for VAT purposes (ePortugal: abrir atividade nas Finanças).

The CAE code describes your activity. CAE Rev.4 has been in force since 1 January 2025 (IAPMEI), and the old code for internet retail, 47910, did not survive the change. Online shops are now classified by what they sell, so a contabilista will pick the code for your products.

If you want a company instead, it can be created online through Empresa Online or at an Empresa na Hora counter. A company separates your personal money from the business, at the cost of more accounting.

Elsewhere in Europe the step has another name but the same idea: registering with the tax office before you sell. Start from the official sites: the Agencia Tributaria in Spain, the Agenzia delle Entrate in Italy and the guichet unique in France.

Rules change and every situation is different, so confirm your choices with a certified accountant before you register.

An online shop takes cards through a payment service provider (PSP): a company that processes the payment and pays the money into your bank account, minus a fee per transaction. As an example of what that costs, Stripe charges 1.5% + €0.25 for standard EEA cards in Portugal (Stripe pricing). Put that number into your margin calculation from step one.

Cards are only part of it. Shoppers in each country expect their own methods:

• Cards and wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, everywhere.
• Multibanco references and MB WAY in Portugal.
• Bizum in Spain.
• Other local methods and bank transfers in the rest of Europe, depending on the provider.

Standard VAT rates differ by country: 23% in Portugal, 21% in Spain, 22% in Italy and 20% in France (Your Europe: VAT rates).

In Portugal a small business can be exempt from VAT under article 53 of the CIVA if its turnover was not over €15,000 in the previous calendar year, and it does not apply to exporters (Portal das Finanças, art. 53). Ask a contabilista whether it fits your case.

Selling to consumers in other EU countries has its own rule: once your cross-border sales pass €10,000 a year across the EU, you charge the VAT rate of the customer's country, and the One-Stop Shop (OSS) lets you declare all of it in your own country (Your Europe: cross-border VAT). Our guide to EU VAT and OSS goes through it in detail.

When you are required to use a computer program for invoicing, the invoices must come from software certified by the Tax Authority (AT) (Portal das Finanças FAQ, Portaria 363/2010). Invoice details must then be communicated to the AT through e-fatura by the 5th day of the following month.

In practice that means your shop either issues invoices through certified software or hands each paid order to one. Check this before you choose a platform, because a shop that cannot connect to certified invoicing leaves you typing invoices by hand.

In Portugal CTT is the usual starting point, with private couriers alongside it. Compare prices for your real parcel sizes, and consider local collection if your customers are nearby: it costs nothing to ship and many shoppers like it.

• EU consumers have 14 days to withdraw from an online purchase without giving a reason (Your Europe: returns). Say clearly how returns work and who pays the postage.
• Businesses in Portugal must have the complaints book, and that includes the electronic version, the Livro de Reclamações. Link it from your shop.
• Publish terms of sale, a privacy policy and your company details where shoppers can find them before they pay.

There are three broad ways to sell online. None is right for everyone; it depends on how much you want to run yourself.

• Registration and a certified accountant, usually a monthly fee.
• The platform: a plan, a share of each sale, or hosting and development if you self-host.
• Payment fees on every order.
• Certified invoicing software in Portugal.
• A domain name, product photography and packaging.
• Shipping, including returns you pay for.
• Marketing: the shop does not find customers by itself.

WhizzyCommerce is a hosted platform built in Portugal for European merchants, in open beta. The Free plan costs €0 a month plus 2% of each paid sale, so you pay nothing until you sell; Pro is €49 a month plus 0.5% (pricing).

You connect your own Stripe, PayPal or Mollie account and the money goes straight to you; an ifthenpay plugin adds Multibanco and MB WAY (payments). Our own invoices are not AT-certified, so in Portugal certified invoices come from your InvoiceXpress or Moloni account through a plugin (invoices). More on selling from Portugal on ecommerce in Portugal.