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Income tax exemption related to income from activities conducted in Special Economic Zones under the permit is considered to be regional aid granted under the Act on SEZs. Amount of admissible state aid The admissible amount of aid cannot exceed the maximum intensity of aid for a given region of Poland, as stipulated in the state aid regulations. The intensity indicates the allowable share of regional aid in costs (investment expenditure) which qualify to be covered by such aid. In general, the intensity of aid allowed on the majority of Poland’s territory is 50%, except for: * Kraków (a part of the Kraków SEZ located in Kraków), Wrocław and the Gdańsk-Sopot-Gdynia agglomeration – 40% * Warsaw and Poznań – 30% The intensity of 50% means that when investing in the zones, entrepreneurs may obtain aid in an amount not exceeding 50 % of the qualifying costs (investment expenditure). For small and medium enterprises[1] as defined by the Business Activity Law, the index is increased by 15 percentage points (to 65% and 55% respectively). Forms of regional aid SEZ-based enterprises can take advantage of the following forms of regional aid: * regional aid to support new investment projects (hereinafter: regional aid for investment projects) * regional aid for creating new jobs (hereinafter: regional aid for employment) Regional aid for investment projects The amount of regional aid for new investment projects depends on the amount, nature and structure of the investment expenditure of a given enterprise. To determine the amount of regional aid for investment projects it is necessary to establish qualifying costs on the basis of the investment expenditure of a given enterprise. The qualifying costs include the following types of expenditure: * purchase of land * expenditure on buildings and structures * expenditure on equipment of facilities with tangible assets (machinery and devices, tools and instruments, equipment for office work, technical infrastructure) The qualifying costs may also include expenditure on the purchase of intangible assets within the limits stipulated in respective regulations. Example: Entrepreneur plans to set up an enterprise in a SEZ with an intensity index of 50% and will obtain the permit in 2004. The total cost of the investment project will be USD 1,000,000 comprising expenditure on: * purchase of land: USD 20,000 * building and structures: USD 300,000 * fixtures and fittings for new facilities: USD 680,000 The total amount of investment expenditure of USD 1,000,000 will be included in the qualifying costs and will constitute the basis for assessing the available state aid (tax exemption). Taking into consideration that the entrepreneur will locate the investment project in area with the intensity index of 50%, he will be eligible for regional aid up to the amount of USD 500,000 (50% x USD 1,000,000) in the form of tax exemption. The amount of tax-exempt income is calculated as the amount of aid divided by the CIT rate. In this case the amount of tax-exempt income will be about USD 2,631,579 (USD 500,000 / 19%). [1] Small enterprise – employing less than 50 people, net revenue in the preceding financial year did not exceed EURO 7 million or the total balance sheet assets did not exceed EURO 5 billion. Medium-size enterprise – employing between 50 and 250 people, net revenue in the preceding financial year did not exceed EURO 40 million or the total balance sheet assets did not exceed EURO 27 billion. Regional aid for employment. The amount of regional aid allocated to job creation is calculated on the basis of two-years’ costs of labour of newly employed staff borne by the entrepreneur, which consist of gross payroll costs and all mandatory charges relating to the employment. Example: Entrepreneur plans to set up an enterprise in a SEZ with the aid intensity index of 50%, in which he plans to hire 100 employees. The entrepreneur will obtain a permit to conduct business activities in the SEZ in 2004. The cost of labour of the newly employed people over 2 years will amount to USD 1,000,000 (100 x USD 10,000). In this case the entrepreneur will benefit from regional aid of maximum USD 500,000 (50% x USD 1,000,000) and the amount of tax exempt income will total about USD 2,631,579 (USD 500,000 / 19%). Text source: Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ)