Dividend or salary
Enter the company's annual profit and your pay, and see what you keep compared with a dividend alone, and which board appointment pay leaves you the most. No sign-up.
Law as of 13 October 2026.
Inputs
Revenue minus costs, before your pay and before CIT.
9% for a small taxpayer and in the year the company starts, with revenue up to 2 million euro in the year.
The rest of the profit after CIT goes to you as a dividend. Enter 0 to see the dividend alone.
Result for the year
You keep
231 438,00 zł
That is 10 308,00 zł more than a dividend alone.
With these inputs you keep the most with board appointment pay of about 10 250,00 zł a month: 231 597,00 zł for the year.
The pay is your only income taxed on the scale, with the 3,600 zł tax-reducing amount. Employment contract: 1.67% accident rate, no PPK.
Comparison
| Per year | Dividend only | Pay and dividend |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | 0,00 zł | 120 000,00 zł |
| Cost of the pay to the company | 0,00 zł | 120 000,00 zł |
| Health contribution (9%) | 0,00 zł | 10 800,00 zł |
| PIT on the pay | 0,00 zł | 10 440,00 zł |
| Company CIT | 27 000,00 zł | 16 200,00 zł |
| Dividend tax (19%) | 51 870,00 zł | 31 122,00 zł |
| Net pay | 0,00 zł | 98 760,00 zł |
| Net dividend | 221 130,00 zł | 132 678,00 zł |
| Total you keep | 221 130,00 zł | 231 438,00 zł |
| Taxes and contributions | 78 870,00 zł | 68 562,00 zł |
How we calculate
1. Dividend
The company pays 9% or 19% CIT on its profit (art. 19 ust. 1 of the CIT Act). From the profit after CIT the shareholder receives a dividend, and the company withholds 19% tax on it (art. 30a ust. 1 pkt 4 of the PIT Act). A dividend is not added to income taxed on the scale (art. 30a ust. 7) and carries no ZUS contributions.
2. Board appointment pay (powołanie)
A board member's pay is a company cost (art. 15 ust. 1 of the CIT Act), so it reduces the profit subject to CIT. An appointment is not a social insurance title (art. 6 ust. 1 of the Social Insurance System Act). The health contribution is 9% of the full pay (art. 81 ust. 8 pkt 11a of the Publicly Funded Healthcare Act) and does not reduce the tax.
3. PIT on the scale
We deduct costs of 250 zł a month from the pay (art. 22 ust. 2 and ust. 9 pkt 5 of the PIT Act). The annual tax is 12% up to 120,000 zł of income less the 3,600 zł tax-reducing amount, and 32% above that (art. 27 ust. 1). For an appointment the company withholds 12% advances during the year without the tax-reducing amount, and the difference comes back in the annual return.
4. Employment contract
The company adds employer contributions (20.48% at a 1.67% accident rate) and deducts 13.71% employee social contributions and the 9% health contribution from the pay. We calculate this the same way as the employer cost calculator, with the 30× cap.
5. Sole shareholder
A sole shareholder pays shareholder ZUS anyway. The social contributions paid for their own insurance come off the scale income (art. 26 ust. 1 pkt 2 lit. a of the PIT Act), and the health contribution is due separately for each title (art. 82 ust. 1 of the Healthcare Act). We search for the best amount in steps of 50 zł.
What the calculator leaves out
- Estonian CIT, management contracts and contracts of mandate.
- Other scale income, joint filing with a spouse and PIT reliefs.
- The 4% solidarity levy on scale income above 1,000,000 zł (art. 30h of the PIT Act). Dividends are not subject to it.
- The conditions for paying a dividend under the Commercial Companies Code (art. 191–195 KSH) and the resolution deadlines.
- PPK, bonuses and pay changes during the year.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better: a dividend or board pay?
Up to 120,000 zł of scale income, board appointment pay leaves more: about 79 zł from each 100 zł of profit, against 73.71 zł from a dividend at 9% CIT and 65.61 zł at 19% CIT. Above the threshold the appointment leaves about 59 zł, so the rest is better paid as a dividend. With 300,000 zł profit and 9% CIT a dividend alone gives 221,130 zł; appointment pay of 10,250 zł a month plus a dividend gives 231,597 zł.
Which appointment pay stays within the 12% bracket?
10,250 zł a month: 123,000 zł a year less 3,000 zł of costs is 120,000 zł of income. A sole shareholder also deducts their own ZUS social contributions (21,459.48 zł in 2026), so they reach the same income at about 12,040 zł a month.
Does an employment contract with my own company pay off?
At 9% CIT the calculator finds no amount at which an employment contract leaves more than a dividend: employer and employee contributions come to about 34% of gross pay. The contributions do build a pension and the right to benefits. A sole shareholder cannot validly sign an employment contract with their company (Supreme Court, I PZP 7/95).
Is a dividend subject to ZUS or the solidarity levy?
No. A dividend is not a contribution title, and the solidarity levy covers income taxed on the scale, the flat rate and some other sources, but not dividends under art. 30a of the PIT Act (art. 30h ust. 2).
Are the 2027 values final?
CIT, PIT and dividend rates follow current law. The 30× cap and the shareholder contributions for 2027 rest on the forecast average wage in the draft budget act (Sejm print 3150). The PIT and CIT bill (print 3147) is still in the Sejm and the calculator does not apply it.
The calculator is for information only and is not tax advice. Calculations run in your browser; we store nothing.