12.08.2021 ZUS

[Poland] Correction of ZUS reports and settlement declarations – changes in 2022


The regulations amending the Act on social insurance system are to come into force in 2022. The changes will concern, among others, the limitation of submitting corrections to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) insurance documents.

A draft bill prepared by the government amending the Act on Social Insurance System and some other acts assumes the modification of the rules of making corrections to personal reports and ZUS settlement declarations.

The amended regulations are to come into force at the beginning of 2022, and their aim is to eliminate the indefinite possibility of submitting corrections by payers of contributions. This is because indefiniteness often contributes to the creation of the so-called “artificial liquidation” of the previous debt or overpayment and thus to changes in account balances.

According to ZUS calculations, in the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2018, the number of corrections of documents submitted by the payers amounted to 38.3 million, and such a large scale of corrections causes a significant distortion of information on the funds accumulated in the account and makes it difficult to determine its correct balance.

The provisions proposed in the draft are to solve the current problems concerning the balance of the accounts of the contribution payers and the insured by introducing a limitation in the time of submitting the corrections of the insurance documents by the payers.

Limitation on submission of corrections to ZUS documents in 2022

The amendment to the regulations provides for limiting the possibility for the payer of contributions to submit corrections to documents – settlement declaration and personal monthly report – to 5 years, counting from the date the contribution is due.

The running of the 5-year deadline will not be affected by the occurrence of circumstances suspending and interrupting the running of the limitation period for dues for contributions, and after 5 years from the date on which the contributions settled in the declaration and report became due, corrections to settlement documents will only be drawn up ex officio by ZUS on the insured’s account.

Moreover, the overpayment in the insured’s account resulting from the correction will not be refundable, but will be credited to the Social Security Fund’s (FUS) revenues, and after 5 years, ZUS will not be able to claim dues for contributions if a debt arises as a result of the correction.

The 5-year deadline proposed in the draft will be extendable if the dues for contributions to which the correction relates are not time-barred under the Act on the Social Security System.

What is important, is that the draft assumes that the new limitation on submitting corrections and declarations is to take effect as from 1 January 2022, but until 1 January 2024 the payers will be able to submit corrections of documents for the period up to 31 December 2021 under the existing rules.

New methods of signing ZUS documents

The amendments proposed in the draft are also to introduce new methods of signing electronic documents submitted to ZUS. Currently, the Act allows for electronic documents to be signed only with a qualified electronic signature, whereas once the amendment comes into force, the documents will also be able to be signed with the use of a personal signature and a trusted signature.

Learn more: Health contribution in the Polish Order – draft legislation

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