ZUS social contributions
Employees pay 13.71% of gross salary to ZUS: 9.76% for the pension (emerytalne), 1.5% for disability (rentowe) and 2.45% for sickness (chorobowe). The pension and disability parts stop once your salary for the year passes 282,600 zł, thirty times the forecast average wage for 2026, which happens in the later months of the year for salaries above about 23,550 zł a month.
The 9% health contribution
The health contribution (składka zdrowotna) is 9% of salary after the ZUS contributions, with no ceiling. Since 2022 it can no longer be deducted from income tax, so it is a full extra cost for employees.
Income tax (PIT)
Taxable income is salary minus ZUS contributions and fixed work expenses of 250 zł a month (3,000 zł a year), or 300 zł a month if you commute from another town. The tax is 12% up to 120,000 zł and 32% above it, less a tax-reducing amount of 3,600 zł a year, which makes the first 30,000 zł tax-free. Your employer applies 300 zł of it each month if you have filed a PIT-2. Above 1,000,000 zł a year a 4% solidarity levy is added.
The 32% rate starts at a gross salary of about 11,900 zł a month for a full year. People under 26 pay no PIT on pay up to 85,528 zł a year (ulga dla młodych); that relief is not included in this calculator.
A worked example
On 8,000 zł gross a month, 96,000 zł a year: ZUS contributions are 13,161.60 zł and the health contribution 9% of 82,838.40 zł, or 7,455.46 zł. Taxable income is 96,000 − 3,000 − 13,161.60 = 79,838 zł, and PIT is 12% of that, 9,580.56 zł, less 3,600 zł: 5,981 zł. Take-home pay is 69,402 zł a year, about 5,783.50 zł a month.
Net pay at different salaries
| Gross a month | Net a month | Deductions |
|---|---|---|
| 4,806 zł | 3,606.19 zł | 25% |
| 6,000 zł | 4,420.18 zł | 26.3% |
| 8,000 zł | 5,783.50 zł | 27.7% |
| 10,000 zł | 7,146.89 zł | 28.5% |
| 12,000 zł | 8,489.28 zł | 29.3% |
| 15,000 zł | 10,016.67 zł | 33.2% |
| 20,000 zł | 12,562.20 zł | 37.2% |
| 30,000 zł | 18,081.83 zł | 39.7% |
Yearly averages without PPK. Monthly payslips differ a little: tax rises in the months after you pass 120,000 zł, and ZUS falls once you pass the 282,600 zł cap.
What this leaves out
Civil-law contracts (umowa zlecenie, umowa o dzieło) and self-employment (B2B) are taxed differently. Joint filing with a spouse, the child relief, the relief for young people under 26 and for working seniors, and 50% author's costs are not included. Your employer also pays its own ZUS contributions on top of your gross salary.