Start Relief and Preferential ZUS in 2026

Three stages of lower contributions - what follows what

The regulations provide a new entrepreneur with several successive preferences in paying ZUS contributions. Using them is not mandatory, but it allows costs to be significantly reduced in the first months of running a company. The standard order is as follows:

• Start relief (ulga na start) - for the first 6 full calendar months you do not pay social security contributions, only the health insurance contribution.
• Preferential ZUS (the so-called maly ZUS / small ZUS) - for the following 24 months you pay social contributions on a reduced base of 30% of the minimum wage.
• Small ZUS Plus or full ZUS - after the preferences end, you move to contributions dependent on revenue (if you meet the conditions) or to full contributions on general principles.

Each of these stages has its own conditions. You can waive the start relief and move straight to preferential ZUS, but in that case you lose part of the reduced-contribution period. At Luno-Group we will calculate, for your situation, how much you will pay at each stage, and explain the effects of each variant - you make the decision yourself.

Stages of ZUS preferences for a new company

Start relief - 6 months without social contributions

Start relief exempts you from the obligation to pay social security contributions (pension, disability, accident) and the Labour Fund for 6 full calendar months from the day business activity begins. If you start the company during a month, this incomplete month does not count towards the relief period.

During the start relief period you are subject to compulsory health insurance and pay only the health insurance contribution. Its amount depends on the form of taxation and the income earned. In 2026, the minimum monthly health insurance contribution (for those settling under the tax scale or flat tax with low income) is approximately PLN 432.54.

Who can use the start relief

The start relief is available to a person who jointly meets the following conditions:

• is starting business activity for the first time or again - after at least 60 months from the day the previous activity was last suspended or closed,
• is not performing activity for a former employer for whom, in the current or previous calendar year, they worked under an employment contract and performed the same tasks they would perform within the business activity.

Remember that during the start relief period you do not pay pension and disability contributions, so this time is not counted towards the retirement seniority and does not build capital for your future pension. You are also not entitled to sickness insurance benefits, unless you voluntarily join it - which is not possible under the start relief.

Preferential ZUS - 24 months of reduced contributions

After the end of (or waiver of) the start relief, you may, for the following 24 full calendar months, pay preferential, i.e. reduced, social security contributions. Their assessment base is a declared amount not lower than 30% of the minimum wage in force in the given year.

In 2026, the minimum wage is PLN 4,806, so the preferential base is PLN 1,441.80 (30% of this amount). The lowest social security contributions calculated on it are approximately PLN 456.18 per month. On top of this comes the health insurance contribution, calculated separately according to the form of taxation and income. Treat these amounts as approximate - they may differ depending on whether you join the voluntary sickness insurance, and they are updated by ZUS.

Conditions of preferential ZUS

The conditions for using preferential contributions are similar to those for the start relief. You must jointly meet the following:

• undertake business activity for the first time or again after at least 60 months from its last suspension or closure,
• not perform activity for a former employer for whom, in the current or previous calendar year, you worked under an employment contract and performed the same tasks.

Unlike the start relief, during the preferential ZUS period you already pay social contributions, so this time counts towards the retirement seniority. You can also voluntarily join the sickness insurance, which gives the right to, among other things, sickness and maternity benefits.

After preferential ZUS - Small ZUS Plus or full ZUS

When the 24 months of preferential ZUS end, you have two options: move to full contributions on general principles or - if you meet the conditions - use the Small ZUS Plus relief, in which social contributions depend on the revenue and income from the previous year.

Small ZUS Plus in 2026

You can use Small ZUS Plus if your revenue from business activity in the previous calendar year did not exceed PLN 120,000, and you conducted the activity for at least 60 days in the previous year. The relief can be applied for a maximum of 36 months within each 60-month period of running the company.

From January 2026, new rules for Small ZUS Plus apply - an entrepreneur may use 36 months of the relief regardless of whether they used it before 2026. If you do not meet the conditions of Small ZUS Plus or have already used up the limit, you pay full ZUS contributions calculated on a base equal to 60% of the projected average wage.

Who cannot use the reliefs

Some entrepreneurs are excluded from the preferences in paying contributions. You cannot use the start relief or preferential ZUS if:

• within your activity you perform work for a former employer for whom, in the current or previous calendar year, you worked under an employment contract and performed the same tasks,
• 60 months have not passed since the suspension or closure of your previous activity,
• you conduct activity as a partner in a general partnership, limited partnership, professional partnership or single-member limited liability company (these titles are excluded from the preferences),
• you are subject to KRUS insurance on the terms provided for farmers.

Small ZUS Plus, in turn, does not cover, among others, people who settled under the tax card and benefited from the VAT exemption, as well as those who exceeded the revenue limit in the previous year. Each situation is worth checking individually - at Luno-Group we will verify which reliefs you can use and present the calculations for your activity.

How Luno-Group helps settle contributions

Using the reliefs requires correct registration with ZUS under the proper insurance code and keeping track of deadlines - the transition from the start relief to preferential ZUS, and later to Small ZUS Plus or full contributions. A mistake in the code or late registration can mean the need to pay back contributions.

As an online accounting office run by experienced accountants, Luno-Group will register you with ZUS under the proper code, calculate the contributions at each stage and keep track of the deadlines for transitioning between reliefs. We serve clients exclusively in Polish and English. We will explain the effects of the individual solutions, and you make the final decision yourself.