Specific-work contract calculator (umowa o dzieło) 2026: what you take home
Enter the amount of your specific-work contract and the calculator works out deductible costs, the tax advance and what is paid out to you.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy
A specific-work contract (umowa o dzieło) for PLN 3,000 gross leaves PLN 2,712 take-home in 2026 with standard 20 % costs and no PIT-2. The calculator assumes a contract with a client who does not employ you and charges no ZUS or health contribution on it. It subtracts costs from the amount: 20 % (Article 22(9)(4) of the PIT Act), or 50 % when you transfer copyright in a work created in one of the creative activities listed in Article 22(9b). On the base, rounded to whole zloty, it withholds a 12 % advance. With creative costs, the same amount leaves PLN 2,820. A contract up to PLN 200 is taxed at a flat 12 % on the whole amount, with no costs. The PIT-2 reduction can be switched on in the calculator. The result covers a single contract in one month: your annual tax is settled in your return together with your other income.
Net pay (take-home)
PLN 3,000
| Deductible costs | −PLN 600 |
| Cost to the client | PLN 3,000 |
Same gross on other contracts: employment PLN 2,356 · zlecenie PLN 2,423 · dzieło PLN 3,000
2026 rates from ZUS and the PIT Act · calculated in your browser, nothing is sent.
Dzieło at different amounts: 20 % and 50 % costs
The table shows the advance and net pay without PIT-2. Up to PLN 200 both columns would be identical, because the flat tax ignores costs.
| Gross | Advance (20 % costs) | Net (20 % costs) | Advance (50 % costs) | Net (50 % costs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLN 500 | PLN 48 | PLN 452 | PLN 30 | PLN 470 |
| PLN 1,000 | PLN 96 | PLN 904 | PLN 60 | PLN 940 |
| PLN 2,000 | PLN 192 | PLN 1,808 | PLN 120 | PLN 1,880 |
| PLN 3,000 | PLN 288 | PLN 2,712 | PLN 180 | PLN 2,820 |
| PLN 5,000 | PLN 480 | PLN 4,520 | PLN 300 | PLN 4,700 |
| PLN 8,000 | PLN 768 | PLN 7,232 | PLN 480 | PLN 7,520 |
| PLN 10,000 | PLN 960 | PLN 9,040 | PLN 600 | PLN 9,400 |
With no contributions the arithmetic is simple: on 20 % costs, tax takes a fixed share of the amount and net pay grows in a straight line. At PLN 10,000 the advance is PLN 960 and you keep PLN 9,040. There are no monthly thresholds, because the advance is always 12 %.
How to read the result
The calculator first takes deductible costs off the contract amount. At PLN 3,000 with 20 % costs that is PLN 600, so the tax base is PLN 2,400. The 12 % advance on that base is PLN 288. That is what the client sends to the tax office (urząd skarbowy), and the rest is paid to you. Your contract bill (rachunek) should show exactly these three figures.
The creative-costs switch changes 20 % into 50 %. It is not a matter of choice: the rate applies only when a protected work is created and the job falls within the activities listed in the Act. Creative costs from all contracts in a year share one PLN 120,000 cap; see our guide to creative work costs. The PIT-2 switch lowers the advance by PLN 300 with one payer, as described in our PIT-2 guide.
What the calculator leaves out
The result does not apply to a specific-work contract signed with your own employer, nor to a situation in which you are really doing mandate work under another name: contribution rules may then differ from the calculator, and the contract is classified by its content, not its title. The calculator also does not add up several contracts or work out annual tax. If you also have a salary or mandate contracts in the year, total income is settled in your return, and on high earnings part of it may be taxed at 32 %.
No contributions has a flip side, too. In this model a specific-work contract gives you no health, pension or sickness insurance. If it is your only income, work out what cover through another route would cost before you compare dzieło with a job or a mandate contract.
Zlecenie or dzieło for the same amount
Take-home gap in favour of dzieło
PLN 727
| Net on zlecenie | PLN 2,889 |
| Net on dzieło | PLN 3,616 |
| ZUS and health on zlecenie | PLN 770 |