Anti-crisis shield – ZUS reliefs and exemptions for companies from 1 April

On 31 March, the Sejm adopted an anti-crisis shield. On 1 April 2020, the provisions introducing ZUS aid solutions for entrepreneurs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic entered into force.

Coronavirus – ZUS support for entrepreneurs

The Anti-Crisis Shield adopted by the Sejm includes a number of solutions to help companies combat the effects of coronavirus. Some of the adopted regulations assume business support provided by ZUS.

The ZUS aid package includes the following solutions:

• exemption of small-sized companies, reporting to ZUS up to 9 persons, from contributions for March, April and May 2020,
• downtime benefit for persons working on the basis of civil law contracts (contracts of mandate, agency, for a specific task),
• downtime benefit for the self-employed,
• relief in the payment of contributions without a prolongation fee – deferment of the deadline for payment or distribution into instalments the amounts due of contributions.

Exemption of small-sized companies from social security contributions for 3 months

ZUS contributions from entrepreneurs (contributions for entrepreneurs and employees) operating before 1 February 2020 will be covered by the state for 3 months. Self-employed persons with income up to PLN 15,681 (300% of the average salary), who pay contributions exclusively for themselves, are also exempt from paying them.

The above exemptions from payments apply to social security, health insurance, Labour Fund, Solidarity Fund, FGSP, FEP and do not result in the loss of the right to benefits under them.

The exemption from paying contributions does not apply to entrepreneurs who were in a difficult economic situation in December 2019 and who have not paid their debts to ZUS.

Downtime benefits

Downtime benefits are provided for persons who perform civil law contracts (contracts of mandate, agency, for a specific task) and for the self-employed.

Downtime benefit for persons working under civil law contracts:

• payment of PLN 2080 (80% of the minimum remuneration) – non-contributory and tax-free,
• payment of the downtime benefit in the amount of the sum of remuneration from contracts, in the case of persons performing civil law contracts, whose sum of revenues from civil law contracts in the month preceding the month of submitting the application is up to 1299.99 PLN (less than 50% of the amount of the minimum remuneration for work in 2020),
• granting the benefit if the income in the month preceding the month of submitting the application did not exceed 300% of the average monthly remuneration from the previous quarter announced by the President of the CSO on the day of submitting the application,
• granting the benefit only for contracts concluded before 1 February 2020.

The downtime benefit for the self-employed is PLN 2080 (80% of the minimum remuneration) and is non-contributory and tax-free. In the case of persons accounting in the form of a tax card and benefiting from VAT exemption, the downtime benefit amounts to PLN 1300.

The condition for receiving a downtime benefit when self-employed is:

• income in the month preceding the month of submitting the application not exceeding 300% of the average monthly remuneration from the previous quarter announced by the President of the CSO on the basis of the regulations on pensions from the Social Insurance Fund (FUS) in force on the day of submitting the application,
• starting operations before 1 February 2020,
• the income in the month preceding the month of submitting the application must be at least 15% lower than in the previous month,
• In the case of suspending the operations, the suspension must take place after January 31, 2020, and the income from these operations from the previous month cannot exceed 300% of the average monthly remuneration from the previous quarter announced by the President of the CSO as of the date of submitting the application.

Relief from payment of contributions without a prolongation fee

All payers of contributions are entitled to a relief in the payment of contributions without a prolongation fee (applies to contributions for an entrepreneur, for employees and for self-employed persons). The date of commencement of business operations in this case does not constitute a condition for receiving the benefit, and its granting does not involve any additional costs (the exception is the submission of an application after the date of payment of contributions, when interest for late payment shall be charged).

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