In this article you will find out:

What ZUS contributions should you pay as an entrepreneur?
How much are ZUS contributions in 2025?
Are all ZUS contributions mandatory?
Does their amount depend on the number of days in a month?
Can I benefit from any ZUS discounts?

Table of contents:

ZUS contribution schedule in 2025;
Relief for start-up – first 6 full months;
Preferential ZUS contributions- 24 months;
Small ZUS plus;
Standard ZUS contributions, or so-called large ZUS;
Sickness insurance;
Sickness Insurance. Is sickness insurance compulsory?
Sickness Insurance. How much is sickness insurance?
Sickness Insurance. What does sickness insurance give you?
Sickness insurance. How do I apply for sickness insurance?
Health contribution. Rules for payment and amount of health contribution;
Health contribution on the tax scale;
Health contribution on flat tax;
Health contribution on flat-rate income;

ZUS contribution schemes in 2025

Polish entrepreneurs have a choice of different schemes for paying ZUS contributions, depending on the stage at which their business activity is. Which scheme will be available depends, inter alia, on whether:

the entrepreneur is just starting a business,
is resuming business activity – and if so, how long the activity was suspended,
has completed a period of start-up relief or preferential contributions,
he/she has a high income and benefits from income-related contributions,
has a concurrence of insurance titles,
has pensioner status, etc.

Start-up relief – first 6 full months

Entrepreneurs benefiting from the start-up relief are not subject to the standard social security obligation. In this case, they only pay a health contribution. For a period of six months after starting a business, the entrepreneur is exempt from paying social security contributions.

The start-up allowance is calculated in full calendar months. Therefore, if you set up your business in the middle of a month, even if only on the second day of the month, you have an additional full month of start-up relief!

The start-up relief is available to entrepreneurs who are setting up a business for the first time, or to those who are restarting a business after at least 60 months since its last suspension. This relief is voluntary, which means that an entrepreneur who chooses to be subject to social security may opt out of it.

As a general rule, once the start-up relief has been renounced, it is not possible to rejoin it.

Preferential social security contributions – 24 months

New entrepreneurs and those who have completed the start-up relief period have the opportunity to benefit from a two-year relief in the payment of social security contributions. For a period of 24 months, entrepreneurs can pay contributions reduced to a minimum of 30% of the minimum wage.

These preferences apply only to social security contributions, while health contributions are always paid in full, regardless of the insurance title code.

Social Security Contributions for January to December 2025

Type of insurance:	Old-age pension	Disability Pension	Accident Insurance	Sickness Insurance
Assessment basis	1 399,80 zł
Contribution rate in %	19,52%	8%	1,67%	2,45%
Amount of contribution	273,24 zł	111,98 zł	23,38 zł	34,30 zł
Sum of contributions to be paid	442,90 zł
The sum of contributions to be paid if you do not use the voluntary sickness insurance	408,60 zł

Contribution table – ‘small’ ZUS 2025

Small ZUS “plus“

Entrepreneurs who in 2024 obtained income not exceeding PLN 120,000 can benefit from the Small ZUS plus relief from January 2025. This relief is available to entrepreneurs who have been in business for at least 60 days in the previous year, have not benefited from a start-up relief or preferential ZUS contributions, do not provide work for a former employer and do not use a tax card and are exempt from VAT under Articles 113(1) and 9 of the VAT Act.

Notification of contributions on income had to be made by the end of January 2025, except in cases where the two-year relief period (preferential ZUS) ends or the business resumes. In such cases, the entrepreneur may join the income contributions immediately after the end of these periods and has a maximum of seven days to do so from the moment the insurance obligation arises or changes.

The relief is valid for a maximum of 36 months. After this period, the entrepreneur must switch to standard Social Security contributions. The possibility to take advantage of the relief again is only granted after a further two years.

The “Mały ZUS Plus” program allows entrepreneurs to pay lower social insurance contributions, calculated based on their business income from the previous calendar year. The contribution base for a given year cannot be less than 30% of the minimum wage or exceed 60% of the projected average monthly wage. In 2025, this means the contribution base must fall within the range of 1,399.80 PLN to 5,203.80 PLN. However, it is important to note that this relief does not apply to the health insurance contribution, which must be paid in full by the entrepreneur.

Standard ZUS contributions, or so-called large ZUS

After the period of all reliefs. The assessment basis for standard ZUS contributions is 60% of the projected average monthly remuneration. Entrepreneurs using this scheme pay social and health insurance contributions.

Contributions for January – December 2025

Type of insurance:	Old-age pension	Disability Pension	Accident Insurance	Sickness Insurance	Employment fund
Assessment basis	5 203,80 zł
Contribution rate in %	19,52%	8%	1,67%	2,45%	2,45%
Amount of contribution	1 015,78 zł	416,30 zł	86,90 zł	127,49 zł	127,49 zł
Sum of contributions to be paid	1 773,96 zł
The sum of contributions to be paid if you do not use the voluntary sickness insurance	1 646,47 zł

Contributions for January – December 2025 – ‘Large” ZUS

Sickness insurance

Is sickness insurance compulsory?

No. Sickness insurance is not compulsory. Sickness insurance is voluntary.

How much is sickness insurance?

The contribution base for sickness insurance is the contribution base for pension and disability insurance. When determining it, the limitation to an amount corresponding to thirty (30) times the projected average monthly remuneration in the national economy for a given year does not apply.

The basis for the assessment of pension and disability insurance contributions for persons conducting non-agricultural economic activity is the declared amount, however, not less than 60% of the projected average monthly remuneration. The contribution at the new rate is effective as of the third month after the end of a given quarter. However, in the case of entrepreneurs in the first 24 months from the start of economic activity, the assessment basis is the declared amount, not less than 30% of the minimum wage.

For those preferential ZUS rates paying the ‘Small ZUS’ – the monthly sick insurance payment is PLN 34,30 per month from January 2025 to December

2025 .

For those paying ‘Large ZUS’ – the monthly contribution to sickness insurance is PLN 127,49 per month.

What does sickness insurance offer?

Sickness insurance belongs to the social insurance group, except that it is the only one that can be paid voluntarily. This insurance allows you to claim benefits in the event of incapacity for work, which means that the Social Security will pay a certain amount to the insured person in the event of illness. In addition, during this incapacity for work, the Social Security will suspend the payer’s obligation to pay social contributions.

An entrepreneur benefiting from sickness insurance is entitled to two benefits:

sickness benefit,
maternity benefit.

There is, however, a catch – the right to these benefits is only granted after 90 days of contribution payment. If the illness occurs before the end of this period, the entrepreneur, despite regularly paying contributions to the Social Insurance Institution, will not receive sickness benefit.

How to sign up for sickness insurance?

An entrepreneur who decides to join voluntary sickness insurance must submit an appropriate application to ZUS. This application is submitted on the ZUS ZUA form, marking the option of voluntary sickness insurance in block VIII, fields 05 and 06.

Accession to sickness insurance takes place from the date indicated in the application, but not earlier than from the date of submission of the application.

It is worth noting that not every entrepreneur can join sickness insurance. Only persons covered by compulsory pension and disability insurance have this right. This means that if an entrepreneur also works as an employee and receives at least the minimum salary and his/her activity is not subject to compulsory social insurance, he/she is not entitled to sickness insurance.

How do I pay contributions to sickness insurance?

In the case of sickness insurance, the general rules on the payment of contributions to the Social Insurance Institution apply. If you are a sole proprietor paying contributions exclusively for yourself, you must pay your contributions for a given month by the 20th of the following month at the latest.

If this day falls on a Saturday or other public holiday, the deadline for payment of contributions is postponed to the first working day after the holidays.

Contributions must be paid non-cash, by debit to a bank account. Micro-entrepreneurs, in accordance with the Entrepreneurs’ Law, may also pay contributions by postal order.

Deadline for the payment of ZUS contributions

The current deadline for paying contributions and sending DRA declarations to ZUS is by the 20th day of the month for the previous month – for payers who pay contributions exclusively for themselves, as well as for entrepreneurs and other unincorporated entities who employ other insured persons (e.g. civil, general, partnership, limited partnership, limited joint-stock partnership and partners of such companies, as well as a partner of a one-person limited liability company and a simple joint-stock company).

As a rule, ZUS settles payers on the basis of the date on which the payment is posted to their individual accounts. If contributions are paid electronically, the payment may be considered timely if the payer’s bank account has been debited within the deadline.

Settlement of ZUS contributions for an entrepreneur

The regulations set out the minimum ZUS contributions that an entrepreneur must pay in a given tax year. The assessment bases for the minimum contributions are as follows:

Preferential ZUS – the base is 30% of the minimum wage,
Small ZUS plus – the base depends on the income and is determined according to the regulations,
Large ZUS – the basis is 60% of the projected average monthly remuneration.

Contributions are paid monthly in the same amount, regardless of the number of calendar days in a month. They may be changed only when the parameters determining the basis for assessment of contributions change (usually at the turn of the year) or when the entrepreneur suspends his/her activity, resumes it, is on unemployment benefit or starts employment under an employment contract.

The entrepreneur has the possibility to set a higher contribution assessment basis, but with certain limitations, for example, with voluntary sickness contributions, the assessment basis cannot exceed 250% of the average monthly remuneration – in 2025 this is PLN 21,682.50

The annual assessment basis for pension and disability insurance contributions cannot in a given year exceed 30 times the projected average monthly salary in the national economy. Once this amount is exceeded, pension and disability insurance contributions are not paid.

Health contribution. Rules for payment and amount of the health contribution

For the health contribution, the amount depends on the form of taxation:

1. health contribution on a tax scale

With scale taxation, income earned in the previous month is the basis and the contribution rate is 9%.

From February 1, 2025, to January 31, 2026, the minimum mandatory health insurance contribution is calculated as 9% of 75% of the minimum wage effective from January 1, 2025, which is 4,666 PLN. Therefore, the monthly amount is 314.96 PLN (4,666 PLN × 75% × 9%).

In January 2025, when the previous contribution year (February 1, 2024, to January 31, 2025) is still in effect, the minimum health insurance contribution remains 381.78 PLN. This is based on the minimum wage as of the first day of the contribution year in 2024, which was 4,242 PLN.

2. health care contribution in the case of a flat tax

With a flat tax, income is the basis and the contribution rate is 4.9% (no less than PLN 381,78 in January 2025, and from February 2025 to January 2026. – not less than PLN 314,96),

3. health contribution for flat-rate tax on income

With a flat tax on registered income, the contribution rate is 9% and the base depends on the income in 2025:

up to PLN 60,000 – the basis is 60% of the average salary in the enterprise sector in the fourth quarter of the previous year (i.e. 5 129.51 PLN ), and the contribution is PLN 461.66,
from PLN 60 001 to PLN 300 000 – the basis is 100% of the average remuneration (i.e. PLN 8 549.18), and the contribution amounts to PLN 769.43,
above PLN 300 000 – the basis is 180% of the average remuneration (i.e. PLN 15 388.52), and the contribution amounts to PLN 1 384.97,

Remember: with flat-rate income. If in a calendar year you exceeded one of the above income thresholds, i.e. PLN 60,000 or PLN 300,000, you will have to pay the difference for each of the months of running your business until 20 May 2025.

Importantly, the health contribution is indivisible and must be paid in a fixed monthly amount, regardless of the number of days you are in business or on sick leave.

Additionally, from January 1, 2025, when determining the revenue or income that forms the basis for calculating the health insurance contribution for entrepreneurs taxed under the progressive scale, flat tax, or lump sum on recorded revenues, revenues specified in Article 14(2)(1) and (19) of the Personal Income Tax Act, as well as costs of earning revenues specified in Article 23(1)(1) of the same act, are excluded.

This means that revenues and costs related to the sale of fixed assets and intangible assets are not taken into account when determining the amount of revenue or income.

For individuals taxed under the progressive scale or flat tax, who calculate the contribution base based on the income from the previous month, this exclusion will apply to contributions due for the period starting from February 1, 2025.