The biggest advantage of a Free Zone located in Tenerife and its main added value compared to other European Free Zones, is its complete compatibility with instruments and inherent economic stimulus of the specific Economic and Tax Regime (R.E.F.) applicable to the Canary Islands. This compatibility implies that the following specific advantages derived from our status as Outermost Region of the European Union are added to the customs advantages of the ZF:
1. CANARY ISLANDS SPECIAL ZONE (ZEC).
The compatibility and overlapping of the areas of the FTZ and the ZEC Zone allows, under certain employment and investment generation requirements, the operators of certain activities carried out within the free zone of Tenerife to enjoy a reduced tax rate of only 4% of Corporate Tax in force in Spain.
Among the requirements to obtain such benefit, we highlight the following:
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- Initial investment of at least 100,000.00 €.
- Creation of at least 5 jobs within the first 6 months following registration, and maintain that average number as long as the company is within the ZEC.
- Authorized Activities in the ZEC Zone: The list of industrial, trade and services activities eligible for the ZEC Zone are expressly assessed. Among the suitable activities in the FTZ are all those relating to processing and manufacturing involving the import of items or raw materials from third countries, with the subsequent aim of reexporting the final product.
2. RESERVE FOR INVESTMENTS IN THE CANARY ISLANDS (RIC)
The reserve for investments in the Canary Islands was implemented with the objective of stimulating the investment effort from its own resources, i.e. self-financing of investments of companies that engage in commercial activities on the Canary Islands. The RIC makes it possible to reduce the taxable amount, up to 90% of the Non-Distributed Benefits (BND) in Corporate Tax by the amount that the establishments located in the Canary Islands destine from their profits to the endowment of the Reserve for Investments in the Canary Islands.
In order to adhere to the RIC, the company must be permanently established on the Canary Islands, no matter where its registered office is. As regards its requirements, it is necessary to materialize the reserve through the acquisition of fixed assets within one of the following investments:
- Initial investment;
- Job creation;
- Acquisition of assets that do not constitute an initial investment;
- Subscription of shares or shares in companies for the constitution or increase of capital and public debt in the Canary Islands.
3. NON-APPLICATION OF ECONOMIC CONDITIONS TO INWARD PROCESSING TRAFFIC.
In the Tenerife Free Zone there is no limitation related to applying trade policies or economic conditions established by the European Union, thus, guaranteeing free access to the international raw materials market.
The Economic Order conditions in force in the rest of the Community Free Zone as restrictions, quotas or entry quotas, impede or limit the freedom of supply of commodities, raw materials and components from third countries to carry out transformation processes under the Active Improvement Regime. However, companies located in the Tenerife Free Zone may go to the international market for supply without any limitation, provided that the final product resulting from inward processing is in turn re-exported to a third country.
