Glossary of Polish pay, contributions and tax

34 Polish terms you will meet on a payslip, in a contract and in the calculator, each with a plain-English explanation. The rates come from the same data file as the calculations, so they match the 2026 calculator results.

Jump to: Pay and the payslip · ZUS contributions and funds · Income tax and tax forms · Contracts and self-employment

Pay and the payslip

Brutto (gross pay): The salary written in your contract, before your employer deducts contributions and the income tax advance. Polish job offers usually quote gross pay. The 2026 minimum wage is PLN 4,806 gross a month, and the minimum hourly rate on a mandate contract is PLN 31.40. More: minimum wage.
Netto, na rękę (net pay): What actually lands in your account: gross pay minus social contributions, the health contribution and the PIT advance. On the minimum wage under an employment contract that comes to PLN 3,606. More: convert net to gross.
Pasek wypłaty (payslip): The monthly statement from your employer that walks from gross to net: each contribution on its own line, the health contribution base, deductible costs, the taxable base and the tax advance withheld. The first place to look if your pay differs from the calculator. More: compare with the calculator.

ZUS contributions and funds

ZUS: Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych, the Social Insurance Institution; in everyday speech also the contributions themselves. An employee pays 13.71 % of gross pay in total for three insurances: pension, disability and sickness. More: ZUS contributions explained.
Składka emerytalna (pension contribution): 19.52 % of the base, split equally: 9.76 % from the employee and 9.76 % from the employer. It is only charged up to the annual cap of 30 times the average wage.
Składka rentowa (disability contribution): 8 % of the base, split unevenly: 1.5 % paid by the employee, 6.5 % by the employer. Same annual cap as the pension contribution.
Składka chorobowa (sickness contribution): 2.45 % of the base, paid entirely by the insured person. Compulsory on an employment contract, voluntary on a mandate contract. It entitles you to sickness benefit, usually 80 % of the benefit base. More: sick pay calculator.
Składka wypadkowa (accident contribution): Paid by the employer alone. The rate varies from one employer to another within a range of 0.4 % to 8.12 %; the calculator uses 1.67 %, the rate ZUS uses in its examples.
Fundusz Pracy, FP (Labour Fund): 1 % of the base, paid by the employer at the rate set in the Budget Act. It does not reduce your net pay but adds to what you cost your employer. More: employer cost.
Fundusz Solidarnościowy, FS (Solidarity Fund): 1.45 % of the base, also on the employer's side. Together with the Labour Fund it makes 2.45 %, which is how ZUS tables often show the pair.
FGŚP (Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund): Fundusz Gwarantowanych Świadczeń Pracowniczych: 0.1 % of the base, paid by the employer. It guarantees employee pay when an employer becomes insolvent.
Składka zdrowotna (health contribution): 9 % of a base equal to gross pay minus the employee's social contributions. Employees cannot deduct it from their tax. A self-employed person on the flat tax pays 4.9 % of income, at least PLN 432.54 a month. More: health contribution in detail.
Limit 30-krotności (contribution cap): The annual ceiling on the pension and disability contribution base: PLN 282,600 in 2026. Once your gross pay for the year passes it, those two contributions stop for the rest of the year and your net pay rises. More: contribution cap.
PPK (Employee Capital Plans): Pracownicze Plany Kapitałowe, a voluntary workplace pension scheme. You pay 2 % of gross (up to 2 % more if you choose), your employer 1.5 % (up to 2.5 % more), and the state adds a PLN 250 welcome payment and PLN 240 a year. More: PPK calculator.

Income tax and tax forms

PIT (personal income tax): Podatek dochodowy od osób fizycznych. Under the standard scale it is 12 % on annual income up to PLN 120,000 and 32 % on the excess. More: tax brackets.
Skala podatkowa (tax scale): The default tax method, with two rates (12 % and 32 %) and a tax-free allowance. It applies to every employee and mandate contractor; a self-employed person may choose the flat tax or the lump-sum tax instead.
Zaliczka na podatek (tax advance): The slice of your annual tax that the payer withholds from each payment and sends to the tax office (urząd skarbowy). The final figure is only settled in the annual return, which evens out any overpayment or shortfall.
Kwota wolna (tax-free allowance): PLN 30,000 of annual income on which no tax is due. In practice it works through the tax-reducing amount. More: tax-free allowance.
Kwota zmniejszająca podatek (tax-reducing amount): PLN 3,600 a year, which is 12 % of the tax-free allowance. Your employer subtracts 1/12 of it, PLN 300, from each tax advance if you have filed a PIT-2.
PIT-2: A statement you give the payer so that it reduces your monthly tax advance by PLN 300. It stays valid until withdrawn and can also be filed on mandate and specific-work contracts. More: the PIT-2 form.
PIT-11: The annual information slip that a payer (employer, principal under a mandate or specific-work contract) prepares after the year ends, for you and the tax office: income, costs, contributions and tax advances withheld. You use it to fill in your annual return.
PIT-37: The annual return for people whose income for the year came only through a payer (employment, mandate or specific-work contracts), taxed on the scale, with no business activity.
KUP, koszty uzyskania przychodu (deductible costs): An amount taken off income before tax is calculated. Employees: PLN 250 a month (PLN 300 if you commute from another town). Mandate and specific-work contracts: 20 % of income, or 50 % for creative work. More: deductible employment costs.
Koszty autorskie 50 % (creative work costs): Higher deductible costs (50 %) on pay for transferring copyright. Over a year they cannot exceed PLN 120,000 in total. More: creative work costs.
Ulga dla młodych (youth relief): An income tax exemption on up to PLN 85,528 a year for people under 26, on employment and mandate contracts. It covers tax only: contributions are charged as usual. More: youth tax relief.

Contracts and self-employment

Umowa o pracę (employment contract): Employment under the Labour Code: full contributions, employee deductible costs, paid leave and sick pay from the employer (80 % for the first 33 days of illness in a year). More: salary calculator.
Umowa zlecenie (mandate contract): A civil-law contract for services. Pension, disability and health contributions are compulsory, sickness cover is optional, and deductible costs are 20 %. A pupil or student under 26 pays no ZUS contributions on a mandate contract. More: mandate contract calculator.
Umowa o dzieło (specific-work contract): A contract for a defined result (a text, a design, a program). The calculator treats it without ZUS or health contributions, as a typical contract with a client who is not your employer. Deductible costs: 20 %, or 50 % when copyright is transferred. More: specific-work contract calculator.
B2B / JDG (sole proprietorship): Working through your own one-person business (jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza): you invoice instead of drawing a salary, pay your own contributions (full ZUS is PLN 1,926.76 a month with sickness cover) and choose how you are taxed. More: B2B calculator.
Podatek liniowy (flat tax): 19 % of income whatever its level, with no tax-free allowance. The health contribution is 4.9 %, and the amount you can deduct is capped at PLN 14,100 a year. More: flat tax.
Ryczałt ewidencjonowany (lump-sum tax): Tax on revenue with no deduction of costs, at a rate that depends on the activity: for example 12 % for software developers and 3 % in retail. The health contribution is fixed in three revenue bands, starting at PLN 498.35 a month. More: lump-sum tax.
Preferencyjny ZUS (reduced ZUS): Lower social contributions calculated on PLN 1,441.80 instead of PLN 5,652. PLN 456.18 a month in total with sickness cover. More: ZUS for the self-employed.
Mały ZUS plus: A relief under which a self-employed person's social contribution base depends on their income and falls between PLN 1,441.80 and PLN 5,652. ZUS sets the eligibility conditions.
Ulga na start (start-up relief): An exemption from social insurance contributions for a new business at the start of its activity. The health contribution remains due throughout. More: self-employed contributions.

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