[Poland] Holidays from ZUS – draft bill passed

The Council of Ministers has adopted a draft bill introducing the so-called ZUS holidays, a leave from the Social Security contributions for entrepreneurs. The proposed solution is to come into force on 1 October 2024.

ZUS holidays coming in October – who will benefit?

The new legislation will introduce the so-called “entrepreneur’s leave”, i.e. exemption from paying Social Security contributions for one selected month per year.

The ZUS holidays will be enjoyed by entrepreneurs who:

• are registered in the Central Register and Information on Business Activity (CEIDG)

and

• pay insurance contributions for themselves and up to 9 employees

and

• whose annual revenues do not exceed EUR 2 million.

The ZUS holidays, i.e. a one-month break in paying social security contributions, will only cover an entrepreneur running a sole proprietorship (JDG). The exemption will not apply to persons who are insured by the entrepreneur, i.e., for example, the company’s employees.

Contribution holidays for entrepreneurs – what will they include?

Entrepreneurs’ leave, or the so-called ZUS holidays, is a one-month exemption from paying contributions for:

• the entrepreneur’s own compulsory insurance: pension, disability, accident and sickness,
• contributions to the Labour Fund and the Solidarity Fund.

The exemption will not cover the health contribution.

In the month in which an entrepreneur takes a holiday from the Social Insurance Institution, social insurance contributions will be paid from the state budget. As a result, future benefits from the Social Insurance Institution, e.g. a pension, will not be reduced. The contribution holidays will be public aid implemented under the de minimis formula.

An entrepreneur will have to submit an application to benefit from a month without Social Security contributions. This should be made electronically by means of an information profile created in the ICT system of the Social Insurance Institution in the month preceding the month in which contributions holidays are to be enjoyed. The decision on the application will not take the form of an administrative decision.

ZUS holidays – from when?

Draft provisions introducing the so-called contribution holidays have been adopted by the Council of Ministers and directed to the Sejm. The legislator provided that the new solution will be available in 2024, most likely to take effect from 1 October 2024.

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