At the end of 2026, special economic zones will cease to operate, and the Polish Investment Zone will remain the primary, nationwide instrument for income tax exemption for new investments. The government wants to use this opportunity to restructure the elements of the system that have raised the most practical concerns. The draft amendment to the Act on Supporting New Investments provides for longer support decisions, a new method for determining exempt income for reinvestments, the participation of the National Revenue Administration in issuing decisions regarding the highest aid amounts, and electronic processing of applications.
At what stage is the work?
The Council of Ministers adopted the draft act amending the act on supporting new investments and certain other acts on September 29, 2026. On October 1, the document was submitted to the Sejm as document no. 3160. The new regulations are generally scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2027, i.e. on the first day after the zones expire.
However, it's important to remember that we're still talking about a draft. Its content may still change during parliamentary proceedings.
The end of special economic zones and the role of area managers
The Act of May 10, 2018, on Supporting New Investments in Several Locations is based on the Act on Special Economic Zones. This applies, among other things, to the concept of an area manager, which was previously defined by reference to the zone regulations. With the expiration of the zones, such a reference becomes meaningless, so the bill introduces a separate definition of this entity.
Companies that previously managed the zones will continue to serve investors and issue decisions on support under the PSI. For entrepreneurs, this means institutional continuity, as the same entity with which many companies have been cooperating for years will remain the partner in the procedure. A separate issue is the situation of taxpayers who still benefit from exemptions based on zone permits. These privileges are tied to the existence of the zones, so their expiration means that continuing tax preferences in subsequent years will require a decision on support for a new investment.
Income exempt on reinvestments
The exemption provided for in Article 17, Section 1, Item 34a of the CIT Act and Article 21, Section 1, Item 63b of the PIT Act covers income from business activities specified in the support decision, earned from a new investment carried out in the area indicated in that decision. While determining exempt income is relatively simple for greenfield investments, in the case of reinvestments, i.e., the expansion or transformation of an existing facility, the question arises as to how much of the result comes from the new investment and how much from previously existing assets.
Previous practice was based on the concept of so-called close connections. Entrepreneurs had to demonstrate functional or technological connections between the new investment and existing assets, which, in the case of complex production processes, led to the development of complex income allocation methodologies. The method of assigning revenues and costs to exempt activities was also a frequent subject of disputes with tax authorities during audits.
The bill proposes a departure from this structure. The scope of the exemption will be determined primarily by the type of activity specified in the support decision and the area in which the activity is conducted. The exemption will apply to income from a new investment specified in the decision. According to the ministry, this will simplify tax settlements and reduce the number of tax disputes.
However, this change also has a flip side. Since the scope of the exemption is to be determined primarily by the content of the decision, precisely defining the activities covered by the support and the boundaries of the investment site becomes even more important. Errors made at the application stage will be difficult to correct when using the exemption. The question also remains how the final regulations will separate income from the new investment from income from activities conducted before its commencement, if both fall within the same type of activity and in the same area.
Decision on support for a period of 15 to 20 years
Currently, a support decision can be valid for a maximum of 15 years, with the period depending on the investment location. The draft envisages that the decision will be issued for a period of 15 to a maximum of 20 years, depending on the area of the country.
The rationale for this change is to enable full utilization of the granted aid. This problem is well known in practice. The value of the exemption is limited both by the maximum amount of public aid, resulting from the aid intensity and the amount of eligible costs, and by the validity period of the decision. In the case of large projects that achieve full profitability after several years but initially generate losses or low income burdened by high depreciation charges, part of the limit often remained unused. A longer decision period does not increase the aid limit itself, but provides more time to consume it, which effectively increases the value of support for investors with a long-term return horizon.
It will also be important whether and how the new periods will cover decisions issued before 1 January 2027. This issue depends on the transitional provisions, which should be the subject of particular attention of entities already benefiting from support.
Opinion of the Head of the National Revenue Administration on major decisions regarding support
A new element of the procedure is the mandatory review of support decisions by the Head of the National Revenue Administration. This requirement will apply to decisions where the maximum value of public aid is at least PLN 40 million. The review will cover those elements of the decision that affect the amount of exempt income, and the Head of the National Revenue Administration will generally have one month to issue it. The government presents this solution as a tool that will simultaneously protect the interests of entrepreneurs and reduce the risk of misuse of the exemption.
In principle, this mechanism shifts tax audits from the ex post to the ex ante. If the tax administration issues a decision's key parameters before it is issued, the risk of challenging the scope of the exemption after several years should be reduced. However, the full value of this solution depends on the legal nature of the opinion and whether it will in any way bind the authorities conducting subsequent audits.
Electronic Platform of the Polish Investment Zone
The project also establishes a legal basis for the Electronic Platform of the Polish Investment Zone, or ePSI for short. Applications for support will be submitted and reviewed through this platform, and the act will define the platform's operating procedures and principles. Digitalization of the procedure could expedite case handling and standardize the practices of individual area managers. However, details regarding the platform's launch date and functionality are unknown at this stage. Therefore, when planning to submit an application at the turn of 2026 or 2027, it is important to consider the risk of a transition period.
What is worth doing now?
Businesses planning a new investment in the coming months should analyze whether it would be more beneficial to submit an application under the current rules or after the amendment comes into force. The answer depends on the project's location, its nature, and future transitional provisions. In the case of reinvestment, it will be particularly important to carefully define the scope of activities to be included in the decision, as this will define the limits of the exemption to a greater extent than before.
Investors whose projects may exceed the PLN 40 million threshold in maximum aid value should prepare for the tax administration's involvement in the proceedings and prepare documentation with its assessment in mind from the outset. Entities benefiting from zone permits or support decisions issued under the current rules should monitor further proceedings in the Sejm, as the transitional provisions will determine whether the new rules regarding the validity period of decisions and determining exempt income will also apply to their situation. In each of these cases, it is prudent to prepare two variants of the financial plan: one based on the current regulations and one assuming the entry into force of the amendment in its announced form.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
The law is current as of October 12, 2026.
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