What does a business website in Portugal legally need?

This is general information, not legal advice. For anything specific to your business, ask a lawyer or your accountant.

The essentials

Company identification (Decreto-Lei 7/2004). The site must show the business name, geographic address, contact details including email, the commercial registration and the tax number (NIF or NIPC), plus professional details for regulated professions.

Livro de Reclamações Eletrónico. Businesses that sell goods or services to consumers and have a website must give access to the electronic complaints book in a visible, prominent place. The Direção-Geral do Consumidor provides official icons; the usual solution is one in the footer linking to the platform.

Dispute resolution (Lei 144/2015). Consumer-facing businesses must inform customers about the Entidade RAL, the alternative dispute resolution centre, they can use, on the website and in their terms of sale.

Privacy and cookies (RGPD and Lei 41/2004). A privacy policy that matches what the site does, and consent before analytics or marketing cookies are set. The CNPD is the supervisory authority.

Depending on the business

• Accessibility (Decreto-Lei 82/2022). The Portuguese transposition of the European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025 to online shops and booking services for consumers, with an exemption for micro-enterprises providing services.
• Online shops also need clear pre-contract information: total prices, delivery costs, payment methods and the right of withdrawal.

Language

Portuguese customers expect European Portuguese. Copy written in Brazilian Portuguese, or machine translated and left unchecked, reads as foreign and undermines trust, even when every legal element is present.