How this estimate is calculated
Your employer first deducts your ZUS contributions: 13.71% of your gross salary for pension, disability and sickness insurance. The pension and disability parts stop once your pay for the year reaches 282,600 PLN.
Then comes the health contribution (składka zdrowotna): 9% of your pay after ZUS. Since 2022 it no longer reduces your tax.
PIT is charged on your pay minus ZUS and a fixed 3,000 PLN a year for work costs (koszty uzyskania przychodu). This estimate shows the PIT for the whole year, as settled in your annual return (PIT-37); the monthly advances on your payslip come to about the same.
PIT tax scale in 2026
The scale has two rates. The first 30,000 PLN of income a year is in effect tax-free, because of the 3,600 PLN tax-reducing amount (kwota zmniejszająca podatek).
| Taxable income per year | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to 120,000 PLN | 12%, minus 3,600 PLN |
| Above 120,000 PLN | 32% |
Under 26, the ulga dla młodych makes up to 85,528 PLN of pay a year free of PIT. ZUS and the health contribution are still due on it.
The ulga na powrót in 2026
If you move your residence to Poland, the ulga na powrót makes up to 85,528 PLN of your income a year free of PIT, for 4 years in a row, starting with the year you move or the next one.
It covers pay from employment, mandate contracts (umowa zlecenia) and business income. ZUS and the health contribution are still due on the exempt income. Your employer applies it once you give them a written statement; otherwise you claim it in your annual return.
Main conditions
- You did not live in Poland in the 3 calendar years before the year you move, or in that year before the move.
- You have Polish citizenship, a Karta Polaka, or citizenship of an EU or EEA country or Switzerland. Otherwise you lived in the EU, EEA, Switzerland, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Chile or Mexico before, or in Poland for at least 5 years before that.
- You can prove where you were tax resident, for example with a residence certificate, and you have not used the relief before.
Sole traders (JDG): ZUS and the three tax forms
A sole trader pays social ZUS on a fixed base: 1,926.76 PLN a month on full ZUS (duży ZUS) in 2026, based on 5,652 PLN. New businesses pay no social ZUS for 6 months (ulga na start) and then preferential ZUS, 456.18 PLN a month, for 24 months. Sickness insurance is voluntary.
On the tax scale (skala), you pay 12% and 32% like an employee, plus a 9% health contribution on income that does not reduce tax. On podatek liniowy you pay a flat 19% with no tax-free amount, and a 4.9% health contribution that you can deduct up to 14,100 PLN a year. The health contribution is at least 432.54 PLN a month on both.
On ryczałt you pay a rate on revenue that depends on the activity, for example 12% for IT services, with no deduction for costs. The health contribution is a fixed amount by revenue band, from 498.35 PLN to 1,495.04 PLN a month, and half of it reduces the taxed revenue.
What this estimate leaves out
- Filing jointly with a spouse, and tax reliefs for children.
- Higher work costs for commuting from another town, and 50% copyright costs (autorskie koszty).
- Employee capital plans (PPK) and other payslip deductions.
- Mandate (umowa zlecenia) and specific-task (umowa o dzieło) contracts.
- Starting or leaving part way through the year.
- For sole traders: VAT, mały ZUS plus, IP Box, and the yearly settlement of the health contribution.
Your employer also pays its own share of ZUS and other contributions on top of your gross salary. They are not taken from your pay.