Start-up relief, preferential ZUS, Mały ZUS Plus: what to use and when
Three mechanisms for lowering ZUS contributions for an entrepreneur. Who is entitled, how to calculate them and in what order to use them in the first years of the business.
An entrepreneur’s contributions to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) can eat up several thousand zloty a month. With full ZUS in 2026, the total contribution without health insurance and without voluntary sickness insurance is PLN 1,788.29 (with sickness insurance PLN 1,926.76). The state has provided three mechanisms to lower these costs for people starting a business and earning little: the Start-up Relief (ulga na start), preferential ZUS and Mały ZUS Plus.
In this article we explain how they differ, in what order to use them and what to watch out for. Most new entrepreneurs can use all three in turn, which gives more than 5 years of lowered contributions at the start.
The Start-up Relief: 6 months almost without ZUS
The Start-up Relief is an exemption from social insurance contributions for the first 6 months of running a business. During that time you pay only the health insurance contribution (9% of income on the scale, 4.9% on the flat tax or the lump-sum rate; minimum PLN 432.54 from February 2026, in January 2026 PLN 314.96).
Conditions:
- You are starting a business for the first time or after a break of at least 5 years
- You are not carrying out business for a former employer for whom, in the current or previous calendar year, you did work within the scope of that business as an employee (Article 18(2) of the Entrepreneurs’ Law)
- You are not a partner in a general partnership, a limited partnership or a professional partnership
The Start-up Relief is voluntary: you do not have to use it. It is worth skipping the Relief if:
- you want to build up service towards a pension (the 6 months of the Relief do not count towards service)
- you plan to claim sickness benefit: the sickness contribution is voluntary, and during the Relief you cannot pay it
Preferential ZUS: 24 months
After the Start-up Relief (or straight away, if you skipped it) you pay preferential ZUS for 24 months: social insurance contributions calculated on a base of 30% of the minimum wage.
In 2026 the minimum wage is PLN 4,806 gross (one rate for the whole year, with no change in July). The base of preferential ZUS is 30% of that amount, that is PLN 1,441.80.
Monthly contributions of preferential ZUS in 2026 (without health insurance and without voluntary sickness insurance):
| Contribution | Percentage | Amount (I–XII 2026) | |---------|---------|-------------------| | Pension | 19.52% | PLN 281.44 | | Disability | 8% | PLN 115.34 | | Accident | ~1.67% | PLN 24.08 | | Labour Fund | 2.45% | PLN 0 (because the base is < the minimum) | | Total (without sickness) | | PLN 420.86 | | Sickness (voluntary) | 2.45% | +PLN 35.32 |
On top of this there is always the health insurance contribution calculated on income.
Conditions for preferential ZUS:
- The first business in your life, or after a break of at least 5 years
- You do not provide services for a former employer (as with the Relief)
- You are not a partner in partnerships
Mały ZUS Plus: after preferential, for small revenue
After 24 months of preferential ZUS you move by default to full ZUS (a base of 60% of the forecast average wage: PLN 5,652 in 2026, contributions without health insurance and without voluntary sickness insurance of PLN 1,788.29 a month; with sickness insurance PLN 1,926.76, at an accident rate of 1.67% for a payer with up to 9 people). If your revenue in the previous year did not exceed PLN 120,000, you can move to Mały ZUS Plus instead of full ZUS.
Mały ZUS Plus calculates the contribution base from your income:
Base = (income of previous year / days of business in previous year) × 30 × 0.5The resulting base must fall within the range from 30% of the minimum wage to 60% of the forecast average wage (in 2026: from PLN 1,441.80 to PLN 5,652).
Conditions for Mały ZUS Plus:
- Revenue in the previous year ≤ PLN 120,000 (proportionally, if the business was shorter)
- You are not carrying out business for a former employer
- You did not use the tax card for the whole of the previous year
Details and a calculator are in the article Mały ZUS Plus 2026.
The optimal sequence: from 0 to 5 years of business
For a typical new entrepreneur with revenue of up to PLN 120 thousand a year, the sequence looks like this:
| Phase | Period | Social insurance contributions | |------|-------|-------------------| | Start-up Relief | months 1–6 | PLN 0 | | Preferential ZUS | months 7–30 | about PLN 421 / month | | Mały ZUS Plus | up to 36 months in the next 60 | depends on income | | Full ZUS | after Mały ZUS Plus | about PLN 1,788 / month |
You can use Mały ZUS Plus for a maximum of 36 months in 60 consecutive months. After using up the limit you must move to full ZUS for at least 24 months before qualifying again.
What you must report
You give the insurance title code in the ZUS ZUA or ZZA registration, and we will choose it at registration.
Moving between phases requires sending form ZUS ZWUA (deregistration) and ZUS ZUA (registration with a new code). Most often an accounting firm does this automatically.
What next
At Profais we set up ZUS preferences for every new client in the first month of cooperation: we check eligibility and set the title codes. If you want to check which phase you are in and whether you can move to Mały ZUS Plus, write to us. If you are setting up a company and sign a contract with us, we guide you through setting up the company, registration and KSeF access free of charge.
Sources: zus.pl, the Act on the Social Insurance System (Article 18c), announcements of the President of ZUS.