Urban free zones: exemptions extended to 31 December 2014 with a local hiring condition

The 2012 Finance Act allows businesses created or set up in an urban free zone until 31 December 2014 (instead of end-2011) to benefit from exemptions from profit tax, business property contribution, property tax and employer social contributions. For businesses set up from 2012, the social exemption requires that at least half of the employees hired live in an urban free zone or a sensitive urban area of the conurbation, and the profit-tax exemption is linked to the social exemption for businesses with at least one employee.