The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a toll on businesses across the world. Governments are pouring in money, setting up credit lines and other forms of state aid to support businesses.
Start-Ups, especially those breaking-even or already profitable are also facing cuts on their investment while facing the same responsibilities, compliance and deadlines as full grown-up companies. Because despite the support offered by governments, the taxes and taxes systems have not been adapted to the demand of the current and following-up crisis.
The businesses that will thrive are those who have introduced the option of online shopping or those who can even remotely provide and deliver their services. There is no question that the trends that small and medium international services providers are setting will surely influence the way many businesses will seek to operate once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
How the post-pandemic economy will recover, and whether Europe will come up with a Marshall Plan is all still a mystery. In a world of uncertainties, companies need, more than ever, to have access to a stable ecosystem where they can recover and relaunch their operations and where operational costs are minimal.
That is why Portugal, and more specifically, its Autonomous Region of Madeira, offers one of the most important types of support to a company’s economic growth to recovery: a stable low taxation tax regime.
Since the 1980s that the Autonomous Region of Madeira has provided a stable business friendly ecosystem that allows small and medium international enterprises to expand their international business.
Madeira Island, is located 1h 30min by plane from Lisbon, offers a 5% corporate rate on all income derived from profit with non-Portuguese companies, full exemption from withholding tax on dividend remittances from the Madeira, among other tax benefits.
The MIBC – Madeira International Business Centre is a state aid scheme granted under the Portuguese Tax Benefits Statute and duly approved by the European Commission.
Since the MIBC is governed by Portuguese and European Law, it offers the required legal certainty to its investors. All companies duly licensed to operate within the MIBC comply with all legal requirements to operate in Portugal, and therefore in the EU.
In addition, in Madeira, there is easy access to a skilled workforce, speedy internet infrastructure and access to mainland Europe.
Furthermore, all e-commerce directives have been duly transposed into Portuguese law, including those relating to electronic billing, digital signatures and data protection.
Such facts make it clear that, in addition to being a completely transparent tax incentive, the MIBC also allows for an effective tax saving that can be used in the internationalization of the licensed company.
Apart from the above, employees of startup companies and other technology companies might also be entitled to a 20% flat rate on their salary for a period of 10-years and a 0% tax rate on the foreign income they earn. These incentives not only allow you to easily bring your team to live in one of the world’s most beautiful islands but also to attract the best of the best worldwide.
We know that bureaucracy and costs can slow down your vision and hinder your will to relocate to another jurisdiction, but we at MCS believe that Madeira Island, Portugal, holds the key to its growth.
Our team at MCS, with more than 20 years of experience in the sector, is able to assist you in setting up and managing a company within the MIBC or Portugal. For more information click here.
Miguel Pinto-Correia holds a Master Degree in International Economics and European Studies from ISEG – Lisbon School of Economics & Management and a Bachelor Degree in Economics from Nova School of Business and Economics. He is a permanent member of the Order of the Economists (Ordem dos Economistas)… Read more
