Income Tax Exemption as a Regional State Aid in Special Economic Zones and Its Impact upon Development of Polish Districts

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were established to attract entrepreneurs to invest in Polish regions in order to increase their social and economic development. One of the most important incentives offered in SEZs is state aid in the form of an income tax exemption. The objective of this paper is to verify if the regional state aid granted to entrepreneurs in SEZs has had a positive impact on the social and economic development of Polish poviats. The conducted research allowed for the conclusion that regional state aid in SEZs in the form of an income tax exemption was of a relatively higher importance to the poorest regions, while its significance was much lower in better developed areas in Poland. Moreover the intensity of regional state aid granted to entrepreneurs in SEZs had a positive influence on the social and economic development of the poorest and sometimes less developed poviats in Poland, while the more developed poviats with SEZs did not record better or much better results compared to poviats without SEZs.