After a long journey through the desert, it's time to deconflict people and businesses. The government's deconfinement plan is already underway, but is your business ready to reopen its doors?

To help you overcome this challenge, we've prepared a Deconfinement Manual that covers three fundamental points: Deconfinement Plan, Health and safety measures e Economic support.

Manual de Desconfinamento para Empresas e Negócios

Phased deconfinement

The deconfinement plan is organised into 4 phases, which can be reviewed every 15 days according to epidemiological developments.

Thus, the 1st phase (15 March) is scheduled to take place:

  • Commercial establishments open until 9pm on weekdays and until 1pm on weekends and public holidays, for home delivery, making goods available at the door or collecting products purchased via remote means of communication (click and collect);
  • Food shops open until 9pm on weekdays and until 7pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays;
  • Takeaway drinks are allowed in restaurants and the like, but the sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited between 8pm and 6am;
  • Hotel bars and restaurants are allowed to operate for the purposes of delivery to guests' rooms (room-service) or to provide packaged meals or products at the hotel door (take-away).

After the ban on traffic between municipalities, which will be in force from 26 March to 5 April (the Monday after Easter), comes the 2nd phase of deconfinement which, among other things, will bring customers back to the terraces. So, in this 2nd phase we have

  • Opening of museums, monuments, palaces, art galleries and the like;
  • Opening of shops of up to 200 m2 with a door to the street;
  • Non-food fairs and markets permitted by municipal decision;
  • Opening of terraces (groups of 4 people maximum allowed);

On 19 April (phase 3), it will be the turn of cinemas, shopping centre shops and restaurants and cafés to be able to receive people inside their spaces:

  • Opening cinemas, theatres, auditoriums, concert halls.
  • Opening of citizens' shops (by appointment) and all shops and shopping centres.
  • Restaurants, cafés and pastry shops (indoors, maximum four people per group; on terraces, maximum six people per group) until 10pm during the week and 1pm at the weekend and on public holidays.
  • Outdoor events with reduced capacity.
  • Weddings and baptisms with a capacity of 25 %.

For 3 May (phase 4), as far as businesses are concerned, the capacity inside and on the terraces of restaurants and cafés will be increased and the restrictions on opening hours will disappear.

  • Restaurants, cafés and pastry shops (indoors, maximum of six people per group; on terraces, maximum of ten people per group) with no time limit.
  • Large outdoor events and indoor events with reduced capacity.
  • Weddings and baptisms with a capacity of 50%.

Health and safety measures

Although the DGS (Directorate-General for Health) has not yet issued a manual of procedures that specifically addresses the deconfinement plan created by the government, the vast majority of hygiene and safety measures will remain unchanged and others that, after a year of the pandemic, have shown their effectiveness and were quickly internalised by consumers, such as the issue of contactless payments.

So, to reopen the doors of your business, you'll have to:

  • Businesses must draw up/update their own Covid-19 contingency plans in line with the deconfinement plan;
  • In the case of catering establishments, they must favour "the use of spaces for customers in outdoor areas, such as terraces (where possible) and take-away services";
  • Promotion and encouragement of prior booking of places by establishments from 19 April;
  • The establishments must provide alcohol-based solution dispensers, preferably installed in the entrance areas of the establishments, as well as reinforcing the cleaning and sanitising protocols for all areas of frequent contact.
  • Establishments must ensure that all workers and customers are made aware of the rules, correct hand washing, respiratory etiquette, the mandatory use of masks and other personal and environmental hygiene measures.

In addition to complying with these general rules, which we are all familiar with, we should also, if possible, make payment methods available with contactless technology.

The greater security, speed and hygiene (contactless card and automatic payment terminal don't touch) of contactless payments has led the Bank of Portugal and the government to recommend them over cash payments.

As a result of this measure, around 30% of the turnover of Portuguese businesses (data REDUNIQ Insights) already comes from the contactless payments.

European consumers (Visa Europe) are so satisfied with this means of payment that 64% already mark contactless as their favourite payment method.

With this need for businesses to adapt to this new consumer paradigm in mind, REDUNIQ, a specialist in payment solutionshas developed a new Android payment terminal – REDUNIQ SmartThe new system, which allows payments to be accepted by contactless card, chip or MB Way, simultaneously incorporates a set of management apps that help businesses and allow them to be totally mobile and digital, such as the certified app ZS Mobile.

Despite the deconfinement, many businesses will continue to bet on the E-Commerce. For these purely digital or omnichannel businesses (confluence of physical shop and online shop), the issue of payments is one that has the greatest impact on the growth of their online sales, since the acquisition process can be strongly shaken and the purchase abandoned at the time of check-out (shopping basket abandonment due to the lack of convenience or efficiency of the online payments available).

With these businesses in mind, REDUNIQ offers a range of E-Commerce payment solutions which not only guarantee simpler and safer transactions, but also fit the profile of the 21st century Portuguese digital consumer.

New measures to support the economy

As well as knowing when and how you can reopen your business, you shouldn't ignore the new economic support measures recently put in place by the government, which exceed 7 billion euros:

Tax measures

  • Quarterly VAT: can now be paid - for the months of February and May - in three or six interest-free monthly instalments for all companies and self-employed workers, regardless of their size or drop in turnover, as well as for small and medium-sized companies with a drop in turnover of more than 25%.
  • Monthly VAT: paid in three or six interest-free instalments - for the months of January to June - for micro businesses with a turnover of 25%. Extension in February for small and medium-sized companies and all companies in the catering, accommodation and culture sectors. Extension from March to June for SMEs in other sectors.
  • IRS and IRC withholding tax: payment in three or six instalments without interest - for the months of March to June ─ for all catering, accommodation and cultural companies, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises with a drop in turnover of more than 25%.
  • IRC payment on account: delivery of the 1st and 2nd Payment on Account (PPC) in three instalments - for July and September - for all small and medium-sized companies. Micro-enterprises can limit the 2nd PPC to 50%.
  • IRC self-assessment tax: paid in four instalments between May and August for all small and medium-sized companies, with a minimum amount of 25% in the first month.

Tax Enforcement Proceedings

  • Two-month grace period for instalment plans.
  • Instalment plans already underway can now include debts relating to the period between January and March.
  • Extension of the plans, including automatic ones, made in the voluntary collection phase to other taxes (and not just PIT and CIT).

Support for Progressive Recovery

  • Extension until September 2021.
  • Additional contributory support for Tourism and Culture:
  • Break in invoicing < 75%: tax exemption.
  • Loss of turnover > 75%: 50% contribution reduction extended to large companies

Simplified Lay-off

  • Extension to managing partners.
  • Extension to companies affected by the interruption of supply chains, suspension or cancellation of orders and situations in which more than half of the turnover in the previous year was made up of activities currently subject to the closure duty.

New Incentive for Standardisation

  • For each worker covered by the lay-off or recovery support, employers receive two minimum wages for applications up to May or one minimum wage for applications between June and August.
  • Reduction of 50% social contributions for two months.

Simplified support for micro-enterprises

  • An additional minimum wage per job in the third quarter of 2021.

Hiring support

  • ATIVAR.PT: new notice open until 30 June.
  • Sustainable Employment Commitment (PRR) for permanent contracts. Direct lump-sum support with a bonus for hiring young people, people with disabilities and under-represented genders. Reduction of 50% social contributions.

Expansion of the APOIAR Programme

  • Extended until the end of March. Reopening of applications for one week.
  • Inclusion of more sectors, such as bakery, patisserie and the manufacture of pyrotechnic articles.
  • Increase in support ceilings by 50% for companies with a drop in turnover of more than 50%, with retroactive effect.

Credit lines

  • Existing credit lines: extension of the grace periods for credit lines with state guarantees by nine months.
  • Credit line for tourism worth 300 million euros for medium and large companies with turnover losses of more than 25%. Up to 20% of the amount financed can be converted into a non-refundable grant, subject to job retention criteria.