Exemption from ZUS contributions for 3 months

Exemption from the obligation to pay ZUS contributions for 3 months is one of the most important proposals of the government’s Anti-Crisis Shield project.

The government is currently working on an amendment to a set of laws called the Anti-Crisis Shield. The amendment to the Anti-Crisis Shield will extend the scope of exemptions from ZUS contributions to enterprises employing from 10 to 49 employees (currently, the said regulation covers only companies employing up to 9 employees). The government has pledged to cover half of the ZUS contributions only if the employees covered by the support program maintain their jobs.

The Ministry announced that the contributions from which the employer would be released will be included in the employees’ retirement benefits.

Who can benefit?

An application for release from ZUS contributions may be submitted by:

• employers (contribution payers) who by February 29th, 2020, had submitted no more than 9 employees (when the amendment to the Anti-Crisis Shield will come into force, the scope will also include companies employing from 10 to 49 employees),
• performing non-agricultural activities before February 1st, 2020, paying premiums for their insurance,
• clergymen.

Exemption from ZUS is possible for companies employing up to 9 people (100% exemption from ZUS contributions) and for companies employing up to 49 people (50% exemption from ZUS contributions).

The proposal will not be available for the self-employed persons whose monthly income under the contract exceeds 15,681 PLN (300% of the projected average monthly gross salary in the national economy in 2020).

The possibility of applying for exemption from contributions is also available for those who applied earlier for the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund funding for the employment protection or for those who want to apply both for the ZUS exemption and Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund funding for the employment protection.

How to apply?

To take advantage of the exemption, you must submit an RDZ application. Deadline for submission: by the end of June 2020. The application should be accompanied by financial settlements for the period March-May 2020.

The submission of the application is free of charge. Possible ways of applying include e-mail, ZUS Electronic Services Platform, gov.pl portal or submitting a paper version of the application in-person to a special box in the ZUS office.

The RDZ application in PDF format can be downloaded here.

Controversy – exemption from contributions may mean higher PIT/CIT

ARPI experts suggest that entrepreneurs who decide to benefit from government support must take into account the increased costs of other obligations towards the State Budget due to the specific provision in the Act on personal income tax (PIT), and the Act on corporate income tax (CIT), which allows the deduction of tax only based on contributions that have been paid. In other words, when calculating the PIT/CIT amount due, one cannot take into account the insurance contributions from which the taxpayer has been exempted because of the Anti-Crisis Shield support.

Everything suggests that the ZUS exemption for 3 months will benefit in the full extension (in the dimension presented by the Ministry of Finance by announcing the Shield) only those taxpayers, who will record a loss in a given settlement period and will thus be released from the obligation to pay PIT/CIT.

The spokesman for the National Treasury Information informs, however, that the judgment of the Ministry regarding this matter may change, due to the ongoing work on the amendment of the laws from the Anti-Crisis Shield package.