ZUS for the sole shareholder of a Polish sp. z o.o. in 2026 and 2027

The sole shareholder of a Polish sp. z o.o. pays PLN 1,788.29 in social insurance contributions and PLN 830.58 in health contribution every month in 2026, a total of PLN 2,618.87 (PLN 2,757.34 with voluntary sickness insurance). Under the 2027 budget bill, social contributions rise to PLN 1,904.66 in 2027, and the health contribution will only be known in January 2027.

Law as of 9 October 2026.

The shareholder pays these contributions from personal funds, as a natural person. It is a personal obligation, not the company's. The company separately settles its CIT (corporate income tax) and contributions for its employees.

Legal basis: why the shareholder pays ZUS

The social insurance system act (ustawa o systemie ubezpieczeń społecznych, "ustawa o s.u.s.") treats the sole shareholder of a sp. z o.o. as a person carrying on non-agricultural activity (art. 8 ust. 6 pkt 4 ustawy o s.u.s.). On this basis, the shareholder is compulsorily covered by pension and disability insurance (art. 6 ust. 1 pkt 5 ustawy o s.u.s.) and accident insurance (art. 12 ust. 1 ustawy o s.u.s.). Sickness insurance is voluntary (art. 11 ust. 2 ustawy o s.u.s.).

It does not matter whether the company makes a profit, whether the shareholder takes money out of it or sits on the management board. The obligation comes from holding all the shares.

When the obligation starts and ends

Insurance runs from the day the company is entered in the KRS (National Court Register) or from the day the shares are acquired, until the company is deleted from the KRS or all shares are sold (art. 13 pkt 4a ustawy o s.u.s.). Any period for which the company has suspended its business under the Entrepreneurs' Law (Prawo przedsiębiorców) is excluded (same provision).

In practice:

• a company in organisation (spółka w organizacji), before the KRS entry, does not yet trigger the obligation;
• if you buy all the shares in an existing company, the obligation starts on the day of purchase;
• if a second shareholder joins, the company stops being a one-person company and the title under art. 8 ust. 6 pkt 4 ustawy o s.u.s. ends;
• resigning as president of the management board does not end the obligation.

Contribution amounts in 2026 and 2027

The social contribution base is a declared amount of at least 60% of the forecast average wage for the year (art. 18 ust. 8 ustawy o s.u.s.). The 2026 forecast is PLN 9,420, so the minimum base is PLN 5,652. Rates are set in art. 22 ust. 1 ustawy o s.u.s.

For 2027, the government budget bill (Sejm print no. 3150) assumes an average wage of PLN 10,033. That gives a base of PLN 6,019.80. This is a projection: the final value will follow from the adopted budget act and the minister's announcement.

The 1.67% accident rate is the rate in the ZUS table for 2026 for such payers. Over 2026 the shareholder pays PLN 31,426.44 without sickness insurance.

To see what the whole company costs, including bookkeeping, CIT and the shareholder's ZUS, use the sp. z o.o. cost calculator.

Health contribution

The health contribution is 9% of the base (art. 79 ust. 1 of the act on publicly funded health care, ustawa o świadczeniach opieki zdrowotnej). For the sole shareholder of a sp. z o.o., the base is the average monthly wage in the enterprise sector in the fourth quarter of the previous year, including profit payouts, announced by the President of GUS (Statistics Poland) (art. 81 ust. 2za of that act). The new amount applies from 1 January to 31 December.

For Q4 2025, GUS announced PLN 9,228.64 (announcement of 22 January 2026). The 2026 contribution is therefore PLN 830.58 a month, regardless of the shareholder's income or the company's results. The 2027 amount depends on the Q4 2026 figure, which GUS will publish in January 2027.

Many guides quote PLN 432.54. That is the minimum contribution of a sole trader (JDG) taxed on the progressive scale or the flat rate, not the contribution of a sp. z o.o. shareholder.

Each one-person sp. z o.o. counts as a separate type of activity for the health contribution (art. 82 ust. 5 pkt 1 of the health care act). If you are the sole shareholder of two companies, you pay the health contribution for each of them separately (art. 82 ust. 4 of that act).

No start-up relief and no small ZUS

The sole shareholder of a sp. z o.o. gets none of the reliefs available to sole traders:

• ulga na start (6-month start-up relief) is for an entrepreneur who is a natural person starting a business (art. 18 ust. 1 Prawa przedsiębiorców); the shareholder does not run a business in their own name, the company does;
• preferential contributions for 24 months apply only to persons under art. 8 ust. 6 pkt 1 ustawy o s.u.s. (art. 18a ust. 1 of that act);
• mały ZUS plus (income-based reduced contributions) also applies only to persons under art. 8 ust. 6 pkt 1 ustawy o s.u.s. (art. 18c ust. 1 of that act).

From the first month after the KRS entry, the shareholder pays full contributions.

Registering with ZUS step by step

The shareholder registers personally within 7 days of the obligation arising (art. 36 ust. 3 and 4 ustawy o s.u.s.).

1. File form ZUS ZFA, which registers you as a contribution payer. Use your own PESEL and NIP, not the company's NIP.
2. File form ZUS ZUA, which registers you for social and health insurance. In this form you also state whether you join voluntary sickness insurance.
3. If you are covered only by health insurance under this title (for example, you have a job elsewhere, see below), file ZUS ZZA instead of ZUS ZUA.
4. Each month, submit the ZUS DRA settlement declaration (art. 47 ust. 2 ustawy o s.u.s.) and pay the contributions.

You can file all documents online through PUE ZUS (eZUS).

Payment deadline: the 20th

The shareholder is a payer without legal personality, so contributions for a month are due by the 20th of the following month (art. 47 ust. 1 pkt 4 ustawy o s.u.s.). Contributions for October 2026 are due by 20 November 2026. The 15th applies to the company itself as payer for its employees (art. 47 ust. 1 pkt 3 of that act).

A second shareholder with one share

A common idea is to transfer one share to a spouse or friend so the company is no longer a one-person company. For years ZUS challenged such set-ups and treated a shareholder holding almost all shares as the sole shareholder.

In its resolution of 21 February 2024 (III UZP 8/23), the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy) held that a shareholder of a two-person sp. z o.o. holding 99% of the shares is not subject to social insurance under art. 6 ust. 1 pkt 5 read with art. 8 ust. 6 pkt 4 ustawy o s.u.s. The resolution was adopted by a three-judge panel and formally binds only the case in which the question was asked, but courts and ZUS take it into account.

The second shareholder must be a real shareholder: holding shares, with rights under the articles of association and a role in the shareholders' meeting. A sham share transfer is void (art. 83 of the Civil Code, Kodeks cywilny).

An employment contract with your own company

A sole shareholder cannot validly employ themselves in their own company under an employment contract. The Supreme Court held such a contract void where the sole shareholder concluded it with the company represented by themselves as president of the board (resolution of 8 March 1995, I PZP 7/95). There is no employee subordination (art. 22 § 1 of the Labour Code, Kodeks pracy).

The same applies to an "almost sole" shareholder. With a 99/100 to 1/100 split, the Supreme Court does not recognise an employment relationship (judgment of 7 April 2010, II UK 177/09; judgment of 3 August 2011, I UK 8/11). Resolution III UZP 8/23 concerns only the shareholder title and does not establish that such a shareholder can be an employee of the company.

Risks of such a contract:

• ZUS can issue a decision that you were not insured as an employee and challenge any benefits paid;
• for a sole shareholder, the obligation under art. 8 ust. 6 pkt 4 ustawy o s.u.s. continues, so ZUS can charge the shareholder's arrears with interest.

A job elsewhere and the shareholder's ZUS

If you are an employee of another employer, you pay pension and disability insurance only from the employment contract (art. 9 ust. 1 ustawy o s.u.s.). The condition: your employment contribution base is at least the minimum wage, PLN 4,806 in 2026 (art. 9 ust. 1a read with art. 18 ust. 4 pkt 5a of that act). As a shareholder you can join social insurance voluntarily.

You pay the health contribution separately for each title (art. 82 ust. 1 of the health care act). A job therefore does not exempt you from the PLN 830.58 contribution.

Sickness insurance

The shareholder's sickness insurance is voluntary and costs 2.45% of the base, PLN 138.47 a month in 2026 (art. 11 ust. 2 and art. 22 ust. 1 pkt 3 ustawy o s.u.s.). The right to sickness benefit arises after 90 days of uninterrupted insurance (art. 4 ust. 1 pkt 2 of the sickness benefits act, ustawa zasiłkowa). The benefit is generally 80% of the base (art. 11 ust. 1 of that act), and the base is the average monthly declared contribution base for the 12 months before the incapacity (art. 48 ust. 1 of that act).

Without this insurance the shareholder gets neither sickness nor maternity benefit (art. 29 ust. 1 ustawy zasiłkowej).

Frequently asked questions

Can the sole shareholder of a sp. z o.o. pay small ZUS?

No. Preferential contributions and mały ZUS plus apply only to people running a business in their own name (art. 18a ust. 1 and art. 18c ust. 1 ustawy o s.u.s.). The shareholder pays full contributions on PLN 5,652.

Can the company pay ZUS for the shareholder?

The contribution obligation rests on the shareholder as a payer for themselves. You pay the contributions to your own contribution account, from your own money.

Do I pay ZUS while the company's business is suspended?

No. A period of suspension of the company's business under the Entrepreneurs' Law is excluded from the shareholder's insurance obligation (art. 13 pkt 4a ustawy o s.u.s.).

How much will the shareholder's ZUS be in 2027?

Under the 2027 budget bill, social contributions will be PLN 1,904.66 without sickness insurance and PLN 2,052.15 with it. The health contribution depends on the Q4 2026 average wage, which GUS will announce in January 2027.

Does a shareholder with 99% of the shares pay ZUS?

Under the Supreme Court resolution of 21 February 2024 (III UZP 8/23), such a shareholder is not insured under the sp. z o.o. shareholder title. The second shareholder must be genuine, and such a shareholder still cannot validly be employed by the company as an ordinary employee.