What Taxes Does an Employer Pay for an Employee in Poland?

In Poland, employers are required to pay a variety of taxes and contributions for their employees, which include social security contributions and taxes.
The total amount of these obligations is approximately 17.93% of the employee’s gross salary, plus additional expenses in the form of income tax.

The main obligations of the employer towards employees include the following social security contributions (ZUS):

• Pension contribution (emerytalne) – 9.76% of the employee’s gross salary
• Disability contribution (rentowe) – 6.5% of the employee’s gross salary
• Accident insurance contribution – The rate varies depending on the risk level of the profession and ranges from 0.67% to 3.33%. On average, a rate of about 1.67% can be used.

Personal Income Tax (PIT) – Personal income tax is directly withheld from the employee’s salary and transferred by the employer to tax authorities. It is not an additional tax for the employer but rather the employer acts as a tax withholding agent.

Calculation Example

Suppose an employee earns a gross salary of 5,000 PLN. In this case, the employer would need to pay the following social contributions for the employee:

• Pension contribution – $5000\times 9.76\%=488$ PLN
• Disability contribution – $5000\times 6.5\%=325$ PLN
• Accident insurance contribution – $5000\times 1.67\%=83.5$ PLN

Thus, the employer would pay an additional approximately 896.5 PLN on top of the employee’s gross salary.

As we can see, employers in Poland bear significant costs for social security contributions for their employees. The total amount of these obligations is approximately 17.93%. This is important to consider when planning the company’s budget and calculating personnel costs.

If you have any questions, contact us at office@progressholding.pl