The ZUS holiday (wakacje składkowe) in 2026: one month a year without social contributions

The ZUS holiday (wakacje składkowe) lets a sole trader skip the social contributions for one month of their choice, once per calendar year. The state pays those contributions for you, so the month still counts towards your pension and your cover carries on. The health contribution is not included: you pay it as usual.

You apply with the RWS form in eZUS, ZUS’s online portal (formerly PUE ZUS), during the month before the month you want off. That window is only one month long, so it is easy to miss.

What is waived, and what you still pay

The rule is in art. 17a of the social insurance act. It took effect on 1 November 2024, so December 2024 was the first month anyone could take off. It still applies in 2026.

For the month you choose, you do not pay:

• pension, disability and accident contributions (emerytalna, rentowa, wypadkowa)
• voluntary sickness insurance (chorobowa), if you have it and meet one extra condition (see “Who qualifies” below)
• the Labour Fund and Solidarity Fund (FP/FS), if you normally pay them

You still pay:

• the health contribution (składka zdrowotna), in full
• any contributions for your employees or contractors

How much you save in 2026

The waived amount is worked out on the lowest base that applies to you. That depends on your ZUS stage: full ZUS, preferential ZUS (the lower rate for the 24 months after ulga na start) or Mały ZUS Plus (contributions based on your income). If you normally declare a higher base, you cannot do so in the holiday month. ZUS settles that month on the minimum base only, with no extra contributions on top.

On Mały ZUS Plus, FP/FS is waived as well if your base is 4,806 PLN or more.

The health contribution you still pay depends on your tax form. On the tax scale (skala) or flat tax (liniowy), the 2026 minimum is 432.54 PLN a month. On ryczałt (the lump-sum tax on revenue) it is 498.35, 830.58 or 1,495.04 PLN, depending on your revenue since 1 January. The health contribution guide explains how to work out yours.

Watch out: “the ZUS holiday” does not mean a month with no payment to ZUS. The transfer is smaller, not zero.

Does the month still count towards your pension?

Yes. This is what makes the holiday different from simply not paying. The state budget pays the contributions you are excused from, so:

• the month counts towards your future pension or disability pension
• your right to ZUS benefits stays in place
• you keep running the business normally, with no need to suspend it

If you are ill for part or all of the holiday month, or stop being insured during it, ZUS does not reduce the waived amount in proportion.

Who qualifies

You can use the holiday if you are a sole trader registered in CEIDG, the public register of sole traders. Partners in a civil partnership (spółka cywilna) qualify too. Each partner applies from their own payer account, not the partnership’s.

You must meet all five conditions:

1. No more than 10 insured people. In the month before you apply, no more than 10 people, you included, were registered for insurance through your business. ZUS counts everyone registered on any day of that month, not the most at one time.
   • They count: employees, contractors, and family members who work with you.
   • They do not count: students under 26 on a contract, and staff away the whole month on unpaid or parental leave, or on maternity benefit.
2. Social insurance in the month before you apply. You had pension, disability and accident insurance through the business for at least one day of that month. This is why the holiday is not available during ulga na start (the first 6 months of a new business, when you pay health only).
3. Revenue of no more than EUR 2 million in at least one of the two previous years, or no revenue at all in those years. The euro amount is converted at the rate of the NBP (Narodowy Bank Polski, the central bank) on the last working day of the previous year. If you apply in 2026, you look at 2024 and 2025.
4. No work for a former employer. In the previous year, and in the current year up to the day you apply, you did not work through your JDG (jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza, your sole trader business) for a former employer, doing what you did for them as an employee in the year you started the business or the year before.
5. Enough de minimis room. The holiday counts as pomoc de minimis (small state aid). All such aid you received over the last 3 years, including this month’s contributions, must stay within EUR 300,000. For a one-person business this is rarely a problem, but the form asks you to state it.

Sickness insurance has its own test. It is waived only if you had it for at least one day both in the month you apply and in the month before.

Unpaid ZUS arrears do not stop you from taking the holiday.

For foreigners: citizenship makes no difference. If you pay Polish ZUS through a JDG, the same rules apply. If you hold an A1 certificate (proof that your social security is paid in another EU country) and pay there, you pay no Polish social contributions, so there is nothing for the holiday to waive.

Can you combine it with other ZUS relief?

The stages are explained in ulga na start and preferential ZUS and in Mały ZUS Plus. We found no ZUS guidance on whether a holiday month changes how your preferential or Mały ZUS Plus months are counted. If that matters to your plans, ask ZUS on 22 560 16 00 before you apply.

If your business is suspended, you can still apply, because ZUS still treats you as a payer. You must have been insured through the business for at least one day in the month before you apply, and you must resume the business in the month you chose.

How to apply

The form is RWS (wniosek o zwolnienie z obowiązku opłacenia składek za wskazany miesiąc, an application to be excused from contributions for a chosen month). You send it only through eZUS, yourself or through a proxy with the right authorisation. ZUS ignores applications sent any other way.

1. Pick your month. You get one per calendar year, so it must be in a year whose holiday you have not used.
2. Apply during the month before it. For July 2026, ZUS’s own example, you apply between 1 and 30 June 2026. An application sent two months early, or in the holiday month itself, is not considered.
3. Open the form in eZUS. Go to Konto płatnika (your payer account), open Katalog usług (the list of services) in the side menu, then Wakacje składkowe, and click “Przejdź do usługi” (go to the service). You can also type “RWS” in the search. The form fills in your details and suggests next month.
4. Fill in the statements: your revenue and the total de minimis aid you received. One total is enough; attaching certificates slows your case down.
5. Choose your PKD version. Since 26 June 2026 the form asks whether your activity codes are PKD 2007 or PKD 2025. From 1 January 2027 only PKD 2025 is accepted, so update your CEIDG entry first if you have not done so yet. See PKD 2025 codes.
6. Wait for the answer in eZUS. If you gave eZUS an e-mail address or phone number, you also get an alert there.

The answer. A full exemption comes as information. A partial exemption or a refusal comes as a decision. You can appeal a decision within one month to the labour and social insurance court, sending the appeal through ZUS. If ZUS has not answered within 2 months, you may take that to court too.

While you wait. Until ZUS answers, you can still correct or withdraw the application in eZUS. If the answer has not come by the filing deadline for the holiday month, file and pay that month as usual, then correct the documents once the exemption arrives. If the answer is no, you file and pay as usual, even if you appeal.

What you file for the holiday month

The deadline stays the 20th of the next month. When the 20th falls on a weekend or public holiday, it moves to the next working day. You send:

• a ZUS RCA (the monthly report for each insured person) with the holiday code: 05 14 on full ZUS, 05 74 on preferential ZUS, 05 94 on Mały ZUS Plus
• a second ZUS RCA with your normal code, for the health contribution (and sickness insurance, if it was not waived)
• the ZUS DRA (the monthly summary declaration), and the health payment

If you file nothing, ZUS creates the documents from its own data and may charge the minimum health contribution for your tax form.

Here are the dates for the months still open in 2026. January 2027 is included too, but it would use your 2027 holiday, not the 2026 one.

ZUS holiday or suspension?

Suspending the business (zawieszenie działalności) also lowers your ZUS bill, but in a very different way.

The holiday suits someone who keeps working and wants one cheaper month. Suspension suits someone who stops working for a while. Keep in mind that health cover ends 30 days after a suspension begins. More in how to suspend a JDG.

What to do next

1. Check whether you have already used your 2026 holiday. If not, October, November and December 2026 are still open.
2. Choose the month when the saving helps most, for example one with a bigger bill or a smaller income.
3. Put a reminder in your calendar for the first days of the month before.
4. From 1 January 2027, make sure your CEIDG entry uses PKD 2025 codes before you apply.