How I became a licensed comedy event promoter in Lisbon Portugal

Recently I went through the process of becoming a licensed comedy event promoter here in Lisbon, Portugal. I’m going to tell you how I became an officially registered promoter of events. I’m now authorized to put on Music, Dance, Karaoke, Theatre, Cinema, and, most importantly - comedy shows!

First off, this is only going to work if you have a NIF. That is - Numero de Indentificacao Fiscal (NIF). This number is what connects you to any financial activity within the country of Portugal. So paying taxes, buying property, or conducting any general business activity. If you are a permanent resident or citizen of Portugal, you should be able to acquire a NIF. The NIF is what will allow you to unlock the first step towards promoting dope comedy shows.

You have a NIF? Awesome! Now you have to go to one of the many Serviço de Finanças (Financial Services) buildings in Lisbon. I went to Serviço de Finanças de Lisboa 3 on R. dos Correeiros 70, 1100-167 Lisboa. You go into the bottom floor, and there’s a machine that prints your queue ticket. Choose the option that says like “IRS, something, something”. It was a button with the letter B when I went. Now you have to go back outside into the door on the right. Go up to the first floor, and through the double doors. Then you wait until they call your number.

If you’re super lucky, you’ll run into Ana Paula, who speaks fantastic English and is genuinely friendly and helpful. You need to fill out a form called “Documento Comprovativo Da Declaração de Início/ Reinício de Actividade/ Início de Actividade”. I have no fucking clue what that means, but basically, this is to register you financially to perform certain activities in Portugal. As different activities carry different tax implications. You can register as a musician, Actor, or various other activity types. I registered as “Outros Artistas” which is the classifications Stand-up comedians fall under apparently. It allows you to receive money for participating in those activities through collecting green receipts (Faturas e Recibos Verdes). Essentially a receipt for performing the activity/service such as comedy, dancing, acting, or whatever activity you registered yourself as conducting. You have to keep track of all the money you earn while performing these activities to pay taxes on them at the end of the year. To fill out the form, you’ll need your NIF, an IBAN bank number, and the address of residency in Portugal. They will enter all that information into the system, print out some forms, and have you sign it.

Congratulations! You’re now a registered comedian/artist that can earn money for telling dick jokes in Portugal. Or vagina jokes. or any jokes really - they don’t have to all be about human anatomy.

Now that you’re a registered artist, you can become a registered promoter with the IGAC (Inspecção Geral Das Actividades Culturais). You’ll need to communicate any shows that you organize to them, which is not a fun process at all! If you don’t, and an auditor arrives at your show, it’s a show stopper.

To submit communications to IGAC you need to register as a promoter first. The cost to become a promoter is €215 if you register in person or €200 online. I registered in person cause I can’t read the website, but if you can, then it’s possible to do it through their site. Here’s the page with the form and the IBAN you have to send the payment to https://www.igac.gov.pt/formularios and then on the following page, you can register online. https://www.igac.gov.pt/servicos look for Registo de promotor / Promoção de espetáculos and choose Registo de promotor de espetáculos de natureza artística (mera comunicação prévia). You’ll need to make an account on their website to access the services. I may have gotten the links screwed up because, again, I absolutely cannot read anything on that page. But if it’s wrong let me know, and I’ll fix it. But here’s a direct link to the form that I filled out when I went to this link. You’ll see that you can check off a bunch of options like Music, Theatre, Karaoke. I checked off a bunch of them because why the fuck not? I love karaoke, and now I can put on karaoke comedy jam nights, so get ready for that shit!! When you buy the promoter license, you keep it for life as long as you communicate at least one event within two years of acquiring it or with two since the last communication.

Alright, so now you’re a fuckin registered artist AND promoter. How the fuck do you put on a show? A whole bunch of stuff is needed, and it’s a bit complicated, so I’m going to try and simplify it as much as I can.

You need to submit a communication of the event(s) that you will be putting on, and with that communication, you must include various kinds of information.

You must submit the communication of your event(s) to IGAC before the first show. If you supply the communication with more than eight days notice of the first event, it only costs €12.80. If you submit it with less than eight days of the first event, it costs €16. You pay per communication, and each communication can have as many events as you want to be included within it as long as they’re all for the same venue. These are the key things you need to add within the communication:

You must supply proof of insurance called “Responsabilidade civil” that covers potential injuries to patrons of the event. Every venue will have this insurance if they’re operating legally. You need to get a copy of their insurance payment, and it must also include the name or the address of the venue supplied with the communication. So that they know the insurance payment applies specifically to the venue where you will host your event.

Then here’s the most frustrating part. You’ll need to get documents signed from the artists who will perform, in which they declare that nobody else owns the material that they will be performing. Essentially every artist promoted on the event must sign that they are the copyright owners for whatever they present. The critical information required is the performer’s legal name, performer’s stage name, performer’s signature, date of the event, and name of the venue. I’ve included an example form below. Last time I went to IGAC’s office their general inspector who approves events, Ana Cruz, said this was enough information for the form to be valid. I’ve seen other people include a lot more information, but if the general inspector says this is good enough then i’m going to roll with it. I’ve included a sample document that i’m using below:

I’m sure that document could be improved, but I can’t even read it - so suggestions are welcome.

There is one caveat to this rule. If you’re running a real “Open Mic” night, where anyone can arrive and do a short performance, it’s not necessary to include these. But if you are promoting names ahead of the event, then it’s required to have everyone sign this document and include it with the communication.

Finally, you need to include the receipt for the payment that you sent to the IBAN related to communicating events. You can find the IBAN to send payment to here on their website with the forms https://www.igac.gov.pt/formularios look for “Comunicação de espetáculos de natureza artística”. You send the payment for the communication, and when the transaction completes, you’ll include the receipt with the communication.

So with the insurance, the copyright documents from performers, and the receipt for the payment, you’re set. You can now go on their website to submit the communication for your event(s). Here are some essential details about the communication. Now you can go to their website and send everything! https://www.igac.gov.pt/-/mera-comunicacao-previa-de-espetaculos-de-natureza-artistica You can include any number of shows within a single communication as long as it’s for a single venue. It’s one venue per communication, and the dates must be known ahead of time.

This blog post will be a living document. I think there are a lot more details I can include, so I’ll come back here to add them as I remember/find them. But this is the basic gist of how to become a comedy promoter in Lisbon Portugal. And I’ve been to the IGAC office several times to try and get this shit right, so it’s all accurate to the best of my knowledge. If it’s not - do let me know!