This article is for owners of a JDG (jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza, the Polish sole proprietorship) who have decided to take a break and want to understand what it will cost. In short: the break is arranged with a CEIDG-1 application, lasts at least 30 days or indefinitely, and for that time social contributions and the składka zdrowotna (health contribution) are not charged. But for a month in which the firm operated for at least one day, the health contribution is paid in full, so the start date is worth choosing in advance.
How a break differs from closure is described on the page close or suspend a JDG. Here we cover only the details.
Who can suspend and for how long
- A JDG can be suspended if you have no employees under an umowa o pracę (employment contract). The exception: all employees are on maternity, parental or childcare leave and are not working.
- The minimum period is 30 days. If the break covers only February, the minimum is the number of days in February of that year.
- There is no maximum. You can state an end date, in which case the business resumes by itself on that day, or leave the break open-ended.
- The CEIDG-1 application is free of charge: online at biznes.gov.pl with Profil Zaufany or an e-dowód (e-ID card), in person at the urząd gminy (municipal office) or by post with a notarised signature. Data from CEIDG (the Central Register and Information on Economic Activity) go to ZUS, the urząd skarbowy (tax office) and GUS (Statistics Poland) automatically.
Can a suspension be backdated
The sources differ. Under art. 24 ust. 2 of the Prawo przedsiębiorców (Entrepreneurs’ Law), a JDG break starts on the date given in the application, and biznes.gov.pl writes that it may be earlier than the day of filing. ZUS, however, states in the description of its service that the start of the break cannot be earlier than the day of filing.
And the date must match the facts: if there were invoices or revenue on the days of the “break”, a backdate will not stand up to an inspection, and ZUS will charge contributions with interest. It is safer to file the application before the break starts or on its first day.
What you can do during a break
You may not run the business or receive current revenue. What is allowed is listed in art. 25 of the Prawo przedsiębiorców:
- receiving payment of clients’ debts and paying your own obligations that arose before the break;
- selling your fixed assets and equipment;
- doing what is needed to preserve the source of income, including terminating earlier contracts;
- taking part in court, tax and administrative proceedings concerning past activity;
- receiving financial income, for example interest.
ZUS and składka zdrowotna for an incomplete month
- Social contributions for the month in which the break started or ended are calculated in proportion to the days of activity.
- Składka zdrowotna is not split by days. For a month with at least one day of activity it is paid in full: in 2026 a minimum of 432.54 zł on the tax scale and liniowy, and on ryczałt 498.35 zł, 830.58 zł or 1 495.04 zł depending on revenue since the start of the year.
- So it is more favourable to start a break on the 1st of the month, and to resume on the 1st as well.
- Months of a break do not extend preferencyjny ZUS: the 24 months keep running during a suspension.
- 30 days after insurance ends, the right to treatment funded by the NFZ (National Health Fund) is lost. It can be kept through a spouse or parent as a family member, by registering with the urząd pracy (labour office) or by a voluntary agreement with the NFZ.
How months of a break affect the annual reconciliation of the health contribution by 20 May is explained in the article składka zdrowotna 2026. If you need a break of only one month, compare a suspension with wakacje od ZUS: there you can keep working, but składka zdrowotna is paid.
VAT, KSeF and the cash register during a break
- PIT and ryczałt advance payments are not paid for the time of the break.
- A JPK_V7 is not filed for months or quarters that fall entirely within the break. For a period in which there was activity for at least part of the time, it is filed.
- If the break lasts 6 months in a row or longer, the urząd skarbowy removes you from the VAT register. After resumption the registration is restored by itself, with the previous status and without a new VAT-R (art. 96 ust. 9a and 9g of the ustawa o VAT, the VAT Act).
- If during such a break you are going to sell something with VAT, for example the firm’s car, you must notify the urząd skarbowy in advance, before the break or before the sale, and state the period. Then you will not be removed from the register for that time, and you will show the sale in the JPK for that month.
- Incoming invoices for leasing, rent or telecoms continue to arrive in KSeF (the National e-Invoicing System). A VAT payer documents the sale of a fixed asset to a firm with an invoice under the usual KSeF rules.
- The cash register does not need to be deregistered, and without sales during the break no technical inspection is needed either.
- A break does not trigger a spis z natury (stocktaking inventory) for VAT: the rule on 10 months without sales (art. 14 ust. 3 of the ustawa o VAT) does not apply to suspended businesses.
Leasing and fixed assets
- Depreciation stops from the month following the month in which the break began (art. 22c pkt 5 of the ustawa o PIT, the PIT Act) and continues after resumption.
- A break does not interrupt a leasing contract; payments continue according to the schedule.
- On the tax scale and liniowy, payments under an operating lease concluded before the break are usually treated as a cost of preserving the source of income; under a finance lease only the interest is a cost. Since advance payments are not calculated during a break, the cost goes into the first advance payment after resumption or into the annual return. This is practice, not an express rule; with large amounts it is worth confirming with a doradca podatkowy (tax adviser).
- VAT from leasing invoices received during a break is, as a rule, deducted in the JPK after resumption, if the general conditions for deduction are met.
Resumption
If the application stated an end date, you do not need to do anything. If the break is open-ended, a CEIDG-1 on resumption is filed with the required date, and ZUS and the tax office again receive the data automatically. Contributions are charged from the day of resumption; składka zdrowotna for that month is paid in full. If you decide not to come back, the closure procedure is described in the article closing a JDG: VAT and fixed assets.
Example: a break from 1 or from 3 August
A teaching example, not a client case. A JDG on ryczałt, revenue since the start of 2026 less than 60 000 zł, preferencyjny ZUS with sickness insurance 456.18 zł. The last work was completed on 31 July.
- Break from 1 August. For August there are neither social contributions nor składka zdrowotna, and no JPK is filed for August.
- The application was filed later, break from 3 August. 1 and 2 August count as days of activity. Social contributions about 29.43 zł (456.18 × 2 / 31), składka zdrowotna in full 498.35 zł. In total about 527.78 zł for two days without a single invoice, plus a JPK for August.
Frequently asked questions
Can I work under an umowa o pracę while my JDG is suspended?
Yes, the break concerns only the JDG. Health insurance then comes through the employer, and the NFZ question does not arise.
Can I issue an invoice during a break?
For the sale of a fixed asset or equipment, yes. New services and sales of goods are not allowed during a break. You may receive payment for work done before the break.
Which returns are filed during a break?
There is no ZUS DRA, no PIT advance payment and no JPK_V7 for full months of the break. The annual PIT and the annual reconciliation of składka zdrowotna are filed if there was activity for at least part of the year.
How many times can a JDG be suspended?
Without limit. Each break must be no shorter than 30 days.
For our bookkeeping clients, we arrange suspension and resumption, advise from which date it is more favourable to start a break, and check that no debts to ZUS remain for the transition months: close or suspend a JDG. The cost of bookkeeping is shown by the calculator on this page.
Checked as of 5 October 2026. This is general information, not tax advice.
Sources: biznes.gov.pl: na czym polega zawieszenie działalności, biznes.gov.pl: zawieszenie działalności gospodarczej, Zielona Linia: zawieszenie działalności a składki ZUS.
