Your Polish payslip explained: ZUS, health contribution and PIT (2026)
A Polish payslip (pasek wypłaty) follows a fixed order: gross pay, then social insurance (ZUS), then the health contribution, then the income tax advance, then net pay. On a typical salary, roughly a quarter of gross pay goes to these deductions.
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Social insurance (ZUS)
Your share is 13.71% of gross pay: pension (emerytalne) 9.76%, disability (rentowe) 1.5% and sickness (chorobowe) 2.45%. Pension and disability contributions stop once your gross pay for the year passes 30 times the forecast average wage (282,600 PLN in 2026); sickness has no ceiling. From that month your net pay rises noticeably. Your employer pays its own contributions on top, which are not deducted from you.
Health contribution
The health contribution (składka zdrowotna) is 9% of gross pay minus your ZUS contributions. Since 2022 it can no longer be deducted from your tax, so it is a full extra cost.
Income tax advance (PIT)
The base is gross pay minus ZUS minus tax-deductible costs (koszty uzyskania przychodu: 250 PLN a month, or 300 PLN if you commute from another town), rounded to whole złoty. Tax is 12% up to 120,000 PLN a year and 32% above. If you filed a PIT-2 with your employer, each monthly advance is reduced by 300 PLN, the monthly share of the 30,000 PLN tax-free amount; only one employer should apply it. If you are under 26, employment income up to 85,528 PLN a year is exempt (ulga dla młodych), so there is no tax line at all.
PPK and other lines
PPK (Pracownicze Plany Kapitałowe) is the workplace savings plan: you pay 2% of gross (between 0.5% and 4%), your employer at least 1.5%. You can opt out with a written declaration, and you are re-enrolled automatically every four years. The employer's PPK contribution is added to your taxable income, so it raises your tax slightly although you do not receive it in cash. Other lines include bonuses (premia), overtime (nadgodziny, paid 50% or 100% extra), sick pay (wynagrodzenie chorobowe, usually 80%) and holiday pay (wynagrodzenie urlopowe).
What to check every month
Your pay against the minimum wage (4,806 PLN gross a month, 31.40 PLN an hour in 2026); PIT-2 applied by one employer only; the right tax-deductible costs (300 PLN if you commute); the youth exemption if you are under 26; the month ZUS pension and disability contributions stop; overtime rates. Payslop runs these checks for free.
Check your own payslip. Upload it and every line is explained, the rates verified and the questions for HR written for you. Free, nothing stored. Decode my payslip
Questions people ask
Why did my net pay go up late in the year?
You probably passed the 30-times limit (282,600 PLN in 2026), so pension and disability contributions stopped for the rest of the year. They start again in January.
Why did my net pay drop late in the year?
Your income for the year passed 120,000 PLN, so the part above it is taxed at 32% instead of 12%.
I work on a contract of mandate (umowa zlecenie). Is it the same?
Partly. ZUS and the health contribution are similar, but sickness insurance is voluntary, and tax-deductible costs are 20% of pay instead of a fixed amount.
Related guides
Indicative rules as of October 2026. Not tax or legal advice.