Information and services website for entrepreneurs

Relief for starting a business, reduced or standard contributions. What kind of ZUS with regard to economic activity?

If you are setting up a company, one of your duties will be to apply for insurance and pay social security contributions. What will you gain in return? As an entrepreneur, you will have the right to a pension, free medical care or sickness benefits.

If you are registering for the first time or it has been 5 years since you closed down your previous business, you are entitled to social security reliefs. You must decide whether or not you want to take advantage of these reliefs before starting your business and entering it in the Central Register and Information on Economic Activity (CEIDG). Your application for entry into CEIDG is at the same time your application to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) as a payer of contributions. When you submit your CEIDG-1 application, you can apply for social security and health insurance at the same time.

As an entrepreneur, you are obliged (except some cases) to pay contributions to the following insurance schemes: old age, disability, accident and health insurance. Only sickness insurance is voluntary. Additionally, if you do not take advantage of the relief to ZUS, you will pay contributions to the Labour Fund. If you hire employees, you will pay additional contributions (e.g. to the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund).

Types of ZUS reliefs for entrepreneurs

Relief for starting a business

If you take advantage of the relief, you do not have to pay social security contributions ( old age, disability, accident, sickness ) for 6 months. You also do not pay contributions to the Labour Fund. You only register for health insurance and pay your health insurance contributions for 6 months.

To take advantage of the relief for starting a business, register your activity with CEIDG and apply for health insurance. You can submit your application at the same time as the CEIDG-1 application, just by attaching the ZUS ZZA document to the application for entry into CEIDG.(Application for health insurance / notification of data change)

Remember, however, that taking advantage of the relief means that you do not have contributions to your pension, you are not entitled to benefits in case of illness or accident.

After 6 months, you can take advantage of another relief - reduced contributions, i.e. the possibility of paying lower contributions

It is your right, not your duty, to take advantage of the relief for starting a business. If you want to secure your right to e.g. sickness benefits, you can give up the relief for starting a business and from the start of your activity, take advantage of another relief, which allows you to pay reduced contributions for 2 years.

Reduced ZUS contributions for 24 months

If you take advantage of this relief, you will pay reduced (compared to standard) social security contributions for the full 24 months. You are obliged to apply to the health insurance and pay a contribution for it.

If you benefit from preferential contributions, unlike the relief for starting a business - you are insured (only sickness insurance is voluntary). If you pay lower social security contributions, this will affect, among other things, the amount of voluntary sickness insurance benefits you are entitled to (sickness benefit, rehabilitation benefit, maternity benefit, care allowance,). 

Certain conditions have to be met in order to benefit from the relief for starting a business and preferential contributions. Find out which contributions are required to be paid by persons taking advantage of the benefits.
 

          Reduced contributions (for 24 months) Standard contributions
Contribution                            only health insurance                              PLN 213,57 (wthout health insurance)  PLN 974,65 zł (wthout health insurance)
Insurance only health                  

old-age pension

disability pension

sickness (voluntary)

accident

health
 

   old-age pension

  disability pension

sickness (voluntary)

      accident

  health

   Labour Fund

Who can benefit

self-employed

partners in civil law partnerships (natural persons)

elf-employe

         partners in civil law partnerships (natural persons)

all entrepreneurs liable to pay insurance contributions
Who cannot benefit

partners in registered companies

limited partnerships

professional partnerships

single shareholder of a limited liability company

persons cooperating with persons running business activity
 

partners in registered companies

limited partnerships

professional partnerships

single shareholder of a limited liability company

persons cooperating with persons running business activity

 
Additional conditions

The relief is available to entrepreneurs who:
 commence their activity for the first time or resume it at least 60 months from the date of its last suspension or termination;

do not perform activity for the former employer, with whom in the current or previous calendar year they worked as an employee and performed activities falling within the scope of                    currently performed activities;

are not insured with KRUS

The relief is available to entrepreneurs who

commence their activity for the first time or resume it at least 60 months from the day of its last suspension or termination

do not perform activity for a former employer, where in the current or previous calendar year they worked as employees and performed activities falling within the scope of currently performed activity

are not insured with KRUS

 

Important

  • The table shows the amount of contributions from the minimum base. Entrepreneurs can declare a higher base, pay higher contributions and have higher benefits in the future (e.g. retirement).
  • The total amount of contributions includes sickness insurance, which is voluntary.
  • The accident insurance contribution rate is variable and depends on the size of the company and the industry in which the company operates. The table gives the value for the entrepreneur who reported to the insurance no more than 9 persons (including employees).

Healt insurance contribution (2019) - 342,32 PLN

See also:

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