The gross salary written into a contract usually looks different from the amount that actually lands in your account. The gap is made up of ZUS social security contributions, the health levy and the income tax advance payment. Below you will find the current bands, rates and rules that apply in 2025, plus what is already known about 2026.
Gross, net and the employer cost
Gross is the figure recorded in the employment contract before deductions. Net is the amount paid out to the employee. The employer separately funds its own share of ZUS contributions plus the Labour Fund (Fundusz Pracy) and the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund (FGSP), so the total cost of employment is higher than the gross salary, usually by around 20%.
The fastest way to estimate your pay is the National Calculators salary calculator, which accounts for all the mandatory contributions, the deductible work costs and the tax-free amount.
Employee-side ZUS contributions
On an employment contract the employee funds three social contributions, each calculated on the gross salary:
- pension (emerytalna): 9.76%
- disability (rentowa): 1.5%
- sickness (chorobowa): 2.45%
Together that comes to 13.71%. The pension and disability contributions are collected up to an annual cap of thirty times the forecast average wage. For 2026 that cap is 282,600 zl, which is thirty times the forecast average monthly wage of 9,420 zl (M.P. 2025 poz. 1206); in 2025 it was 260,190 zl. Once you pass that amount these two contributions stop being deducted, which most people notice in their November or December pay. The sickness and health contributions have no cap. The rules are set out by the Social Insurance Institution (Zaklad Ubezpieczen Spolecznych, ZUS).
The health levy
The health levy (skladka zdrowotna) is 9% and is charged on a base equal to the gross salary less the employee social contributions. Since the 2022 reform the health levy is no longer deducted from tax, so it genuinely reduces net pay. This is one of the main reasons a gross raise feeds through to net by less than the tax scale alone would suggest.
The employer cost
On top of the gross salary the employer funds its own share of contributions, also calculated on the gross figure:
- pension (emerytalna): 9.76%
- disability (rentowa): 6.5%
- accident (wypadkowa): usually 1.67% (the rate depends on the industry and headcount)
- Labour Fund (Fundusz Pracy): 2.45%
- Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund (FGSP): 0.10%
Together that is about 20.48% above the gross salary. For example, at 8,000 zl gross the full cost of employment is roughly 9,638 zl a month, while the employee takes home around 5,780 zl. The gap between those two figures, over 3,800 zl, shows the full weight of an employment contract across the employee and employer sides combined. The current rates and limits are set out by the Social Insurance Institution.
PIT bands and the tax-free amount
The 2026 tax scale has two bands, unchanged from 2025:
- 12% on income up to 120,000 zl a year
- 32% on the surplus above 120,000 zl
The tax-free amount is 30,000 zl a year. In practice it is delivered through a tax-reducing amount of 3,600 zl a year, that is 300 zl a month with one employer, if you file a PIT-2 form. The official rates are published by the Finance Ministry tax portal. You can also add 250 zl a month of deductible work costs, rising to 300 zl if you work outside your place of residence.
If you want to check how a specific gross figure affects the advance payment, the income tax calculator will help.
Net pay in 2026, a worked table
The figures below are for an employment contract in 2026 with one employer, the standard deductible work cost (250 zl a month) and a filed PIT-2, with no extra reliefs. They come from the salary calculator.
| Gross per month | ZUS per year | Health per year | PIT per year | Net per year | Net per month | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 zl | 8,226 zl | 4,660 zl | 2,253 zl | 44,861 zl | 3,738 zl | 25.2% |
| 8,000 zl | 13,162 zl | 7,455 zl | 5,981 zl | 69,402 zl | 5,783 zl | 27.7% |
| 12,000 zl | 19,742 zl | 11,183 zl | 11,203 zl | 101,871 zl | 8,489 zl | 29.3% |
| 20,000 zl | 32,904 zl | 18,639 zl | 37,711 zl | 150,746 zl | 12,562 zl | 37.2% |
| 30,000 zl | 40,641 zl | 28,742 zl | 73,635 zl | 216,982 zl | 18,082 zl | 39.7% |
The effective rate climbs not only because of the 32% second band but because the 9% health levy is not deducted from tax. At the highest salaries the thirty-times cap also shows: once the base passes 282,600 zl the pension and disability contributions stop, so ZUS rises more slowly than the salary.
Reliefs that lower the tax
The most commonly used preferences:
- Youth relief (Ulga dla mlodych, PIT-0): exemption from tax on income up to 85,528 zl a year for people under 26.
- Child relief (Ulga na dziecko): 1,112.04 zl a year for one child, more with a larger number of children, with income limits where there is a single child.
- Relief for families of 4+, the return relief and the relief for working seniors: each with its own conditions and limits.
You will find the full list, the forms and the explanations on the Finance Ministry site.
Minimum wage in 2026
For 2026 the minimum wage is 4,806 zl gross, with a minimum hourly rate of 31.40 zl gross. The amounts are set by the Council of Ministers regulation of 11 September 2025 (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1242). It stays at a single level for the whole year, without the twice-a-year rise that applied when inflation was higher (in 2025 it was 4,666 zl gross and 30.50 zl an hour). The rise over 2025 is 140 zl a month.
The percentage ZUS rates, the 12% and 32% scale and the 30,000 zl tax-free amount all stay unchanged in 2026 from 2025. The main change is the thirty-times cap rising to 282,600 zl along with the forecast average wage. It is worth checking the latest figures on gov.pl and on the tax portal.
Frequently asked questions
Do you pay ZUS and tax on a contract of mandate (umowa zlecenia) too? Yes, though the rules differ from an employment contract. Social contributions can be mandatory or voluntary depending on the insurance title, the health levy is mandatory, and tax is charged on the same scale, usually with 20% deductible work costs.
What is a PIT-2 form and is it worth filing? A PIT-2 is a declaration that lets the employer deduct 300 zl of the tax-reducing amount each month. Without it the advance payments are higher, and you only recover any overpayment after your annual PIT-37 return.
Can the health levy be deducted from tax? No. Since 2022, on an employment contract the health levy no longer reduces the PIT advance payment. Different rules can apply to entrepreneurs taxed under the lump-sum (ryczalt) or flat-tax (podatek liniowy) regimes, but the scope of the deduction is capped by statute. You will find the current limit amounts on National Calculators and on the tax portal.