Salary Tax in Poland: What Is Deducted and What the Employer Pays

It is crucial to understand the difference between gross and net salary in Poland. The gross salary is the pre-tax amount, while the Poland net salary is the final take-home pay after all deductions.

Need the exact figure for your salary?
Use our Poland gross to net salary calculator: enter your gross amount and see the net salary and the total employer cost in a few clicks.

For example, if you pay an employee 7,000 zł gross, that doesn't mean they'll receive that amount on their card. After ZUS, health insurance and income tax are deducted, their salary after tax could be around 5,100 zł, while your total employer cost is about 8,430 zł.

The main mandatory deductions from wages in Poland are:

• social contributions (ZUS)
• health insurance
• income tax (PIT)

These amounts are calculated at specific rates and depend on the type of contract, the employee's age and benefits.

How much tax is deducted from salary in Poland?

Roughly 25-30% of the gross salary. It is split into three parts:

• Employee ZUS contributions: about 13.71% (pension 9.76%, disability 1.5%, sickness 2.45%);
• Health insurance (składka zdrowotna): 9% of the base after ZUS;
• Income tax (PIT): 12% up to 120,000 zł per year, 32% above that.

On an employment contract (umowa o pracę, often shortened to UoP) all three apply. On umowa zlecenie ZUS is usually the same, only sickness insurance is voluntary; students under 26 pay no ZUS. Umowa o dzieło carries no ZUS and no health insurance unless it is signed with the person's own employer.

Gross salary is the amount specified in the contract and serves as the basis to calculate net salary in Poland and determine all applicable employment taxes.

Net salary is what an employee receives after deductions. The difference between the two is:

• payroll tax
• contributions to ZUS
• health insurance

To accurately determine your salary after tax, the simplest way is to use a poland tax calculator or a dedicated taxes in Poland calculator. For example, wynagrodzenia.pl shows both the net salary and the cost to the employer.

When calculating your salary, consider three types of mandatory payments:

1. Social contributions (ZUS)

The employee pays:

• pension - 9.76%
• disability - 1.5%
• sickness - 2.45%

The employer additionally pays:

• pension - 9.76%
• disability - 6.5%
• accident insurance - 1.67% (for firms with up to 9 insured people; for larger firms the rate depends on the type of business)
• Labor Fund and Solidarity Fund - 2.45%
• FGŚP (Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund) - 0.1%

2. Medical insurance

9% from the base (after social contributions)
Does not reduce taxes - the deduction has been cancelled since 2022.

3. Income Tax (PIT)

• basic rate — 12% (up to 120,000 PLN per year)
• progressive scale: from 120,000 zł per year - 32%
• There is a tax-free minimum of 30,000 zł per year (2,500 zł per month)

Tax is calculated on gross pay minus the employee's ZUS contributions and the standard tax-deductible costs (KUP, 250 or 300 zł a month). Health insurance does not reduce the tax base.

Tax-deductible costs in Poland (koszty uzyskania przychodu, KUP)

Every employee on an employment contract gets a standard tax-deductible cost allowance that lowers the taxable base before PIT is calculated. It is 250 zł per month for people who live in the town where they work, and 300 zł for those who live in another town.

• KUP is deducted after ZUS contributions and before income tax is applied.
• The basic 250 zł is applied automatically by the employer. The higher 300 zł needs a written statement to the employer.
• Creative work (umowa o dzieło with transfer of copyright) can qualify for 50% tax-deductible costs, which significantly lowers the tax.

Let's say you sign a contract with an employee for 7,000 zł gross. What happens next?

2026 figures. The employee has filed PIT-2, lives in the town where they work (KUP 250 zł), is not in PPK, and the employer has up to 9 insured people. Without PIT-2 the net pay is 4,801.67 zł, and the 300 zł a month comes back only after the annual return.

If you pay an employee PLN 7,000 gross, your actual costs are 20% higher.

7,000 zł gross to net in Poland: full breakdown (employment contract, 2026)

7,000 zł gross on an employment contract leaves 5,101.67 zł net, and the total cost to the employer is 8,433.60 zł.

For most salaries the employer pays about 20% on top of the gross figure in the contract (20.48% with the 1.67% accident rate).

Step 1: Withhold social security contributions

To get from gross to net salary in Poland, first deduct the employee's pension, disability and sickness contributions, 13.71% of gross in total.

Step 2: Withhold health insurance

9% from the base (after ZUS), fully paid by the employee.

Step 3: Calculate your income tax

Tax at 12% is calculated on gross pay minus the employee's ZUS from step 1 (health insurance from step 2 does not reduce the base), taking into account:

• tax-deductible costs (KUP): 250 zł a month, or 300 zł if the employee lives outside the town where they work and has told the employer in writing
• the 300 zł monthly tax-reducing amount, if the employee filed PIT-2 with the employer. This is the 30,000 zł tax-free allowance spread over 12 months, so it is not deducted a second time
• progressive scale (if the limit of 120,000 zł per year is exceeded)

  What else affects your net pay:

  • PIT-2 declaration: the 300 zł monthly tax-reducing amount applies only if you filed a PIT-2 form with your employer. Without it, more tax is withheld every month.
  • PPK (employee capital plans): employees aged 18 to 55 are enrolled automatically unless they opt out in writing. 2% of gross pay is deducted, and the employer adds at least 1.5% of its own.
  • Ulga dla młodych (under 26): pay under an employment contract or umowa zlecenie is exempt from PIT up to 85,528 zł a year, so net pay is noticeably higher. ZUS and health insurance are still deducted.
  • Tax-deductible costs (KUP): 250 zł per month (300 zł if you live outside the town where you work), deducted before tax is calculated.

Step 4: Add employer contributions

Add approximately 20% to the gross amount – these are the company’s mandatory ZUS payments.

How to read a Polish payslip (pasek wynagrodzeń)

A Polish payslip shows the path from gross to net. These are the lines that matter:

• Wynagrodzenie zasadnicze - your base salary; with bonuses and overtime it adds up to the gross (brutto) amount.
• Składki ZUS - emerytalne (pension), rentowe (disability) and chorobowe (sickness), about 13.71% in total.
• Podstawa zdrowotnej - the base for health insurance, calculated after ZUS.
• Składka zdrowotna - health insurance at 9%, not deductible from tax since 2022.
• KUP - tax-deductible costs that lower the taxable base.
• Zaliczka na podatek - the income tax advance withheld by the employer.
• Do wypłaty / netto - the amount actually transferred to your account.

If the figure under do wypłaty does not match your expectation, the usual reasons are a missing PIT-2 declaration, PPK enrolment, or an unpaid absence during the month.

High salaries have a cap. Once gross pay since January exceeds 282,600 zł (the 2026 figure), neither the employee nor the employer pays pension and disability contributions for the rest of the year. Other contributions stay the same.

Employees under 26 years of age

Pay under an employment contract or umowa zlecenie is exempt from PIT until the age of 26, up to 85,528 zł a year. The employer applies the relief automatically, no application is needed. ZUS and health insurance are still deducted as usual. At 7,000 zł gross the take-home pay is 5,496.67 zł, 395 zł a month more, and the whole year stays within the limit. Income above the limit is taxed normally.

B2B contracts and zlecenie

B2B: the contractor runs their own business and pays their own ZUS, health insurance and tax
Zlecenie: ZUS is usually the same as on an employment contract, only sickness insurance is voluntary
Important: Poland salary tax depends on the contract type.

UoP, zlecenie, dzieło or B2B: which gives the highest net pay?

Higher net pay usually means less protection. Only umowa o pracę gives paid vacation and the protection of the Labor Code. Umowa zlecenie gives sick pay only with voluntary sickness insurance, and umowa o dzieło gives no sick pay and no pension contributions. We compare the contract types in detail in a separate guide: employment contracts in Poland.

However, the contract type is chosen by how the work is actually done, not by the tax. If a person works under the client's direction, at a place and time the client sets, this is employment whatever the contract is called (art. 22 § 1¹ of the Polish Labor Code).

If you carry out projects for companies and are not employed, you do not have to open your own company: you can work through the Łatwy Start business incubator. The contract with the client is signed by the incubator, which also issues the invoices, keeps the books and pays the taxes. This format suits people who decide for themselves how, where and when to do the work.

Error 1: Calculating only gross wages

The employer looks only at the gross amount and does not budget for its own contributions of about 20%. If the contributions then reach ZUS late or incomplete, late-payment interest is charged, and ZUS may impose an additional fee of up to 100% of the unpaid amount.

Error 2: Tax deduction applied incorrectly

The employer did not apply the relief for young people or ignored a PIT-2 form the employee had filed. Then too much tax is withheld every month: without PIT-2 it is 300 zł, up to 3,600 zł a year. The money is not lost, but the tax office returns the overpayment only after the annual return, the following year.

Mistake 3: a B2B contract on paper, while the person actually works like a full-time employee (na etacie)

Risk of contract reclassification, additional tax assessment, fines.

If an employer has not complied with a labor inspectorate order to remedy a violation, from July 8, 2026 the PIP may issue a decision stating that such a contract is in fact an employment contract. The decision takes effect from the date it is issued, including for taxes, ZUS and the health contribution. Where the law requires an employment contract and a civil-law contract is used instead, the employer, or the person who signed the contract on its behalf, faces a fine of 2,000 to 60,000 zł (art. 281 § 1 pkt 1 of the Polish Labor Code). If such a contract was signed before July 8, 2026 and the company replaces it with an employment contract on its own within a year of that date, this fine does not apply.

If you're not an accountant, the easiest way to see how much is net salary after taxes is to use a Poland tax calculator, for example:

• Łatwy Start salary calculator
• Wynagrodzenia.pl
• Infor.pl

Companies with several employees are better off hiring an accountant or outsourcing payroll. This matters especially for Ukrainians who have opened a business in Poland, because the rules here change often and mistakes can be costly.

We can keep your HR paperwork: contracts, employee personnel files, ZUS notifications when people are hired and when they leave. Read more about HR records management in Poland.

After the year ends, the employer sends PIT-11 to the tax office by the end of January and gives it to the employee by the end of February. The employee files the annual PIT-37 return themselves, between February 15 and April 30. In the Twój e-PIT service the tax office fills it in in advance, and the ready return can simply be accepted. It is worth filling it in or correcting it yourself:

• if there was additional income
• if there is a right to tax deductions
• if you want to get back the overpaid tax

The employer generates PIT-11, on the basis of which the employee can submit a declaration.

Annual tax return: PIT-11 and PIT-37

At the end of the year your employer issues a PIT-11 certificate with your annual income and the tax withheld. Based on it you file your own annual return, PIT-37, between 15 February and 30 April. You file it to claim reliefs, report extra income or recover overpaid tax.

We cover deadlines, reliefs and refunds in a separate guide: filing your annual PIT return in Poland.

What the employer must do

1. Register the employee with ZUS within 7 days of the start of work. Report every umowa o dzieło with a person who does not work for you under an employment contract to ZUS within 7 days of signing.
2. Every month, withhold the employee's ZUS contributions, the health contribution and the PIT advance from the salary.
3. Pay the PIT advance to the tax office by the 20th of the following month.
4. Pay ZUS contributions and file the ZUS DRA return with ZUS RCA reports: sp. z o.o. and other legal entities by the 15th of the following month, JDG and partnerships without legal personality by the 20th.
5. Enroll employees aged 18 to 55 in PPK unless they have opted out in writing, no later than the 10th of the month after they complete 3 months of work. Employees over 55 are enrolled only at their own request. Pay PPK contributions by the 15th of the following month.
6. After the year ends, send the PIT-4R return and a PIT-11 for each employee to the tax office by the end of January, and give each employee their PIT-11 by the end of February.

If the employer fails to withhold or pay over the tax, it is liable for it with all its assets. For late contributions, late returns and unregistered employees, the employer, or the person responsible for this in the company, faces a fine of up to 46,000 zł.

Calculating salaries in Poland requires precision. You need to understand the gross and net salary in Poland, exactly how much tax is deducted from salary in Poland, and which mandatory social contributions have to be paid. Calculation errors can lead to penalties from ZUS or the tax office.

If you're looking for a simple way to calculate salaries, start with an online calculator. And if you have several employees, it is better to leave the calculations to specialists.

If you need to calculate salaries in Poland for Ukrainians, start a business, or understand the payroll tax system, we can help. Contact us – we'll provide a simple and to-the-point answer.

Frequently asked questions

How much is 7,000 zł gross in net?

5,101.67 zł net in 2026 with a PIT-2 form filed, and the total employer cost is 8,433.60 zł.

How much tax is deducted from salary in Poland?

Roughly 25-30% of gross: ZUS contributions, health insurance and income tax.

What is the difference between gross and net salary?

Gross is the amount written in the contract. Net is what reaches the employee after ZUS, health insurance and income tax.

How much does an employer pay on top of the gross salary?

About 20% of gross in employer contributions (20.48% in a firm with up to 9 insured people), so 7,000 zł gross costs 8,433.60 zł in total.

What is the income tax rate in Poland?

12% on annual income up to 120,000 zł and 32% above that threshold.

Do employees under 26 pay income tax in Poland?

Within the annual limit their employment income is exempt from PIT, so their net pay is higher.

What is PIT-2 and why does it matter?

PIT-2 is a declaration filed with your employer so that the monthly tax-reducing amount is applied. Without it, more tax is withheld each month.