Lump-sum tax in Poland (ryczałt ewidencjonowany) in 2026: rates, health contribution, examples

Lump-sum rates by type of business

The last column shows monthly take-home on PLN 15,000 of revenue, with full ZUS without sickness cover and no costs. The descriptions are shortened: the rate is decided by the wording of Article 12(1) and the PKWiU classification of your service.

The gap between the extremes is huge. A shop selling goods at 3 % pays several times less tax on the same revenue than a doctor or architect at 14 %. But retail usually carries heavy purchasing costs that ryczałt ignores, so a low rate is no promise of a high income.

How one month's tax is worked out

Take PLN 15,000 of revenue at 12 %. You subtract social contributions (PLN 1,649.82) and half of the health contribution (PLN 415.29). That leaves a base of about PLN 12,935, on which the lump-sum tax is PLN 1,552. Once tax, social contributions, the Labour Fund (PLN 138.47) and the full health contribution (PLN 830.58) are paid, PLN 10,829 stays in your account.

Notice what is missing: costs. A phone bill, a new monitor or office rent does not change your tax by a single zloty. Ryczałt rewards people who earn a lot while spending little, typically developers, translators and consultants who work from home.

The health contribution in three bands

On the tax scale and the flat tax, the health contribution rises smoothly with income. On ryczałt it is a fixed sum within each of the three bands, so crossing a threshold works like a step. With monthly revenue just above PLN 5,000 (over PLN 60,000 a year), take-home falls by about PLN 311 a month compared with just below. At PLN 25,000 a month, the PLN 300,000 annual threshold, the step is already about PLN 624.

If you hover around a threshold, there is a practical lesson: an extra job that nudges annual revenue just over the line can be worth less than the invoice suggests. Work out the whole year, not a single month.

Lump sum versus flat tax when you have costs

Because ryczałt ignores costs, its advantage melts as spending grows. With PLN 15,000 of revenue at 12 % and PLN 2,000 of monthly costs, you keep PLN 8,829 on the lump sum after paying those costs, against PLN 8,637 on the flat tax. The break-even point lies around PLN 3,000 of monthly costs: above it, the flat tax leaves more. The other side of the comparison is covered in our guide to the Polish flat tax.

That arithmetic shifts with every rate. At 8.5 %, the lump sum tolerates much higher costs; at 17 %, it loses to the flat tax sooner. Before choosing a tax form, run all three options through the B2B calculator with your real figures.

A high rate eats the advantage

Ryczałt has a reputation for low tax, yet at 17 % and PLN 15,000 of monthly revenue you keep PLN 10,182, while the flat tax with no costs leaves PLN 10,177. A liberal profession on the lump sum therefore only comes out ahead when there would be heavy costs to deduct on the flat tax, and intellectual services rarely need as much spending as trade does.

At 12 % the picture changes. On PLN 20,000 of revenue, the lump sum leaves PLN 15,229 against PLN 14,029 on the flat tax; on PLN 30,000, PLN 23,404 against PLN 21,692. For a developer working from home, the lump sum's lead widens as revenue grows, held back only by the third health band above PLN 300,000.

Your first business year on the lump sum

At the start of a business, your ZUS option moves the result more than you might expect. With PLN 10,000 of revenue at 12 %, you keep PLN 8,019 on start-up relief, PLN 7,649 on preferential ZUS and PLN 6,429 on full ZUS. On start-up relief there are no social contributions to deduct, so the lump-sum tax is higher: PLN 1,150 against PLN 952 a month on full ZUS. Take-home is still clearly better, because the saving on contributions outweighs the extra tax.

On ryczałt the health contribution does not depend on your ZUS option, only on annual revenue, so at that level it stays at PLN 830.58 a month throughout the first year. People who budget for tax alone tend to forget exactly this line. Start-up relief and preferential contributions are explained in our guide to ZUS for the self-employed.

What you can and cannot deduct

You subtract pension, disability, accident and, if you pay it, sickness contributions from revenue. On top of that comes 50 % of the health contribution paid, worth PLN 2,990 of deductions a year in the first band and PLN 4,983 in the second. There are no business costs, no depreciation and no tax-free allowance on ryczałt.

Nobody hands you a payslip on ryczałt, so keeping the numbers right is your job. You record every item of revenue in the revenue register, and each month's tax follows the same pattern: revenue minus social contributions minus half the health contribution, multiplied by your rate.

Common traps

Applying 12 % to every "IT" service although the Act lists specific codes. Forgetting the health contribution step at PLN 60,000 and PLN 300,000. Choosing ryczałt despite high costs because "the rate is low". And calculating the health contribution as a percentage of revenue, as on the tax scale: on ryczałt it is a fixed amount set by the band.