New rules, higher levels of support, and easier criteria. Changes to the Program for supporting investments of significant importance to the Polish economy for 2011-2030

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The new easier criteria

The program assumes four areas of change. This is the reduction of quantitative investment criteria, modification of the qualitative criteria for investment evaluation and the simplification of the application procedure. But it is also an individual approach to each company, thanks to the possibility of lowering the number of criteria to the minimum thresholds which entitle application for support under the Program.

In connection with the amendment, support may be granted to those planning the following types of investments:

1. Strategic - an investment in production, with investment costs of at least PLN 80 million and the number of new jobs being created being at least 50;

2. Innovative - an investment in production with investment costs of at least PLN 5 million and the number of new jobs being created being at least 20, the result of which is a product or process innovation, which is at least new on a national scale, understood as:

a. a new or improved product that significantly differs from products previously manufactured in Poland and which will be made available by the entrepreneur to potential users as a result of the investment (product innovation),
b. a new or improved process which significantly differs from the processes used so far in production in Poland and which will be applied by the entrepreneur as a result of the investment (process innovation).

3. Business Services Center - an investment in the modern business services sector, under which specific processes are implemented, with investment costs of at least PLN 1 million and the number of new jobs of at least 100;

4. Research and Development Service Centers - an investment in the sector of modern business services with investment costs of at least PLN 1 million and the number of new jobs for employees with higher education being at least 10, under which, only specific processes in the provision of research and development services are implemented.

The amendment additionally introduces a reduction in the thresholds which entitle to take advantage of the Program: for micro-enterprises by 90%, small enterprises - by 80% and medium-sized companies - by 70 percent.

Importantly, the changes also provide for a new category of a developing entrepreneur, i.e. employing less than a thousand employees, whose annual turnover or balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 250 million and for which a 50% lowering of thresholds is applied. This is a special facilitation for many Polish companies which lost the status of a medium-sized company, and thus lost the possibility of applying for many public aid programs aimed at the SME sector. I would like to add that the Program favors investments in medium-sized cities losing their socio-economic functions and in communes bordering on them. These are also locations with an above-average unemployment rate, for which a 50% reduction is also applied in the quantitative criteria of the program - explains Jan Kamoji-Czapiński, Director of PAIH’s Investment Center.

Easier access
 
Lowering the quantitative criteria for assessing investment projects is to increase the availability of support, in particular for SMEs, by making the quantitative criteria for assessing investments dependent on the size of the company. This solution is modeled on the one adopted when granting income tax exemptions on the basis of the Act of May 10, 2018 on supporting new investments.

The commonly used division into micro, small, medium and large companies was extended by adding the category of a developing company. These are large companies with less than 1,000 employees and an annual turnover of up to 250 million euros, which are still too small to compete with the biggest players on the market. The solution will allow for adjusting the requirements to the capabilities of company due to the scale of their operations. This is to prevent the elimination of smaller entities from the support system.

The modification of the qualitative criteria for the evaluation of investments includes changes to the system of the qualitative criteria for investment evaluation already functioning in the program through its simplification (zero-one evaluation of meeting the qualitative criterion), clarification (introducing a description of the verification of meeting the criterion) and approximation in terms of content to the solutions functioning under the second stimulus instrument for investments - tax exemptions granted on the basis of the Act of May 10, 2018 on supporting new investments.

The amendment also facilitates reinvestment. In the case of reinvestment in an existing establishment planned by an entrepreneur applying for support for investment costs, the minimum number of new jobs to be created for each type of investment is reduced by 50%.

We are glad that the introduced changes facilitate access to financing, in particular for SMEs and developing companies, which so far have had limited possibilities of using this form of support. It is also a promotion of investments in less developed regions of the country that need new projects more than other regions. We invite you to implement your investments with PAIH - adds Marcin Fabianowicz, Deputy Director of PAIH’s Investment Center.

How to apply for support?

The point of contact for an investor wishing to obtain support is the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, which provides services for investor at the stage of investment project evaluation. The first step is for the entrepreneur to provide information about their project in the application form. In case of having the status of a large entrepreneur - a declaration of the necessity of state aid for the project should be submitted (the so-called analysis of the incentive effect).

Experts of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency emphasize that thanks to the introduction of solutions modeled on the CIT exemption regulations, more companies - mainly domestic ones - may decide to implement new investments. The introduced solutions, together with other forms of state aid, create an attractive system of incentives in Poland. This, in turn, affects the further, sustainable development of the Polish economy.