Cancelling, suspending or losing an AL registration

How to close an Alojamento Local properly, when a registration can be suspended by the council or cancelled by Turismo de Portugal, and what a temporary pause in operation actually requires.

Owners ask about closing an AL for three very different reasons: selling, pausing for renovation, or getting out of the business. The paperwork is different in each case, and doing nothing is the worst option.

Closing voluntarily (cessação)

If you stop operating, communicate the cessation of activity through Balcão Único do Turismo and close the corresponding activity at Finanças. Until you do:

you remain the registered operator with all the obligations attached;
insurance must stay in force;
monthly filings (tourist tax, INE WebInq) may still be expected, even if zero.

A zero-activity month is still a month you should file, not skip. Councils treat silence as non-compliance.

Pausing temporarily

There is no general "freeze" button. If the property will be out of use for renovation, the safe approach is to keep the registration active and compliant — insurance, plate, complaints book — and file nil returns for the months with no guests. Prolonged non-operation is one of the grounds on which a registration can be cancelled.

Cancellation by the authorities

A registration can be cancelled or suspended when:

the mandatory insurance is not in force or was never filed;
the establishment does not meet the safety and equipment requirements;
there is a valid condominium opposition based on documented repeated disturbance;
the operator provided false information at registration;
the property is used in breach of the municipal regulation.

Cancellation is usually preceded by notification and a period to remedy. Ignoring that letter is how recoverable problems become terminal ones.

Selling instead of closing

If the property is being sold, do not cancel — use the transfer procedure. In a containment parish, cancelling a registration that could have been transferred can wipe out a significant part of the sale value, because a new one cannot be issued.

Closing checklist

1. Communicate cessation on Balcão Único.

2. Close or amend the activity at Finanças.

3. File the final tourist tax declaration and the final INE WebInq period.

4. Submit any outstanding SIBA bulletins.

5. Deactivate the complaints book entry.

6. Cancel the insurance only after the registration is closed.

7. Keep all records for the statutory retention period.