This article is for owners of a JDG (jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza, the Polish sole proprietorship) who already pay social ZUS contributions and want to skip them for one month a year. Wakacje składkowe (contribution holidays) exempt you from contributions for yourself for one chosen month of the calendar year, but the RWS application must be filed strictly in the preceding month, and the składka zdrowotna (health contribution) for that month still has to be paid.
What exactly you do not have to pay
The relief has applied since 1 November 2024. For the chosen month you do not pay for yourself:
- the mandatory emerytalne, rentowe and wypadkowe contributions (pension, disability and accident insurance);
- the voluntary chorobowe contribution (sickness insurance), if you are covered by it;
- the Fundusz Pracy and Fundusz Solidarnościowy (Labour Fund and Solidarity Fund), if you pay them.
These contributions are paid for you by the state budget. So the month counts towards your future pension, your right to sick pay and other benefits is kept, and you can work in that month as usual; there is no need to suspend the JDG. The exemption is calculated from the minimum base that applies to you. On full ZUS with sickness insurance this is 1 926.76 zł, on preferencyjny ZUS with sickness insurance 456.18 zł. The amounts for each stage are in the article ZUS for a JDG in 2026.
Not exempt: składka zdrowotna and contributions for your employees and zleceniobiorcy (contractors under an umowa zlecenia).
Who can take wakacje składkowe
The right belongs to those who run a business entered in CEIDG (the Central Register and Information on Economic Activity), including wspólnicy spółki cywilnej (partners in a civil-law partnership), and to komornicy sądowi (court bailiffs). The conditions are checked on the day the application is filed:
- No more than 10 insured persons in the month before filing, including you. Employees, zleceniobiorcy (except pupils and students under 26) and osoby współpracujące (cooperating family members) are counted. People on macierzyński, wychowawczy or bezpłatny urlop (maternity, parental or unpaid leave) are not included in the limit.
- You yourself were insured for emerytalne, rentowe and wypadkowe through the JDG for at least one day in the month before filing.
- Revenue no higher than 2 million euro in złoty in at least one of the two years before the year of filing. For applications in 2026, the years 2024 and 2025 are looked at.
- You do not work through your JDG for a former employer for whom, in the year the JDG was registered or the year before, you did the same work under an umowa o pracę (employment contract). The previous year and the current year up to the day of filing are checked.
- Your de minimis limit is sufficient. The relief counts as de minimis aid; over the last 3 years its total may not exceed 300 000 euro.
Exemption from the chorobowe contribution is given only if you were covered by sickness insurance for at least one day both in the month of filing and in the month before.
Who the relief does not suit
- On ulga na start (the start-up relief) there are no social contributions anyway, and the condition requires you to have been insured for emerytalne in the previous month. You can use wakacje after it ends.
- If the JDG was suspended for the whole month before filing, the insurance condition is not met. You can file the application during a suspension, but you need at least one day of insurance in the previous month, and the business must be resumed in the month of the exemption.
How and when to file RWS
- The RWS application (wniosek o zwolnienie z obowiązku opłacenia składek za wskazany miesiąc) is filed only electronically, from the płatnik (payer) profile in eZUS (PUE ZUS). ZUS does not consider paper or other forms.
- It must be filed in the month preceding the month of the exemption. If you want not to pay for November 2026, the application goes in from 1 to 31 October 2026. ZUS will not consider one filed earlier or already in the month of the exemption itself.
- The form fills in the month of filing plus one. It contains declarations on revenue and on de minimis aid. Since 26 June 2026 an updated version of RWS has applied: a “Wersja PKD” field has appeared in the de minimis block.
- The application may be filed by a pełnomocnik (representative), for example an accountant, if they hold a power of attorney registered with ZUS.
- With a full exemption ZUS sends information in eZUS; with a partial exemption or a refusal it issues a decyzja (decision). It can be appealed in court within a month.
December: the last month of the year
The relief is given for one month in a calendar year; an unused month is not carried over to the next year. The last month that can be chosen in 2026 is December, and the application for it is filed only in November 2026. An application filed in December already relates to January 2027 and uses up the next year’s relief. On the check date, 5 October 2026, those who have not yet taken wakacje this year have two options left: file RWS in October for November or in November for December.
How it looks in your settlements with ZUS
The documents for the month of wakacje are filed by the usual deadline, the 20th day of the following month:
- a ZUS RCA with the “holiday” code, showing the social contributions paid by the budget: 05 14 for full ZUS, 05 74 for preferencyjny ZUS, 05 94 for Mały ZUS Plus;
- a ZUS RCA with your usual code and składka zdrowotna, and also chorobowe if it is not exempt;
- a ZUS RCA for employees and zleceniobiorcy, if you have any, and a ZUS DRA that totals all of this.
If you pay only for yourself, the exempt Fundusz Pracy and Fundusz Solidarnościowy are not shown in the declaration. If ZUS refuses, you must file the ordinary documents and pay the contributions for that month, even if you appeal against the decision. One more detail: you did not pay the contributions that the budget paid for you, so they cannot be deducted from income for tax, and on the tax scale or liniowy they will not reduce the składka zdrowotna base.
Example
This is a teaching example, not a client case. A JDG on liniowy, full ZUS with sickness insurance, nobody insured apart from the owner. The owner wants not to pay social contributions for December 2026.
- In November 2026 he files RWS in eZUS. In October he was insured for the whole month, revenue in 2024 and 2025 was far from 2 million euro, and he does not work for a former employer.
- For December he does not pay 1 926.76 zł of social contributions, including chorobowe and Fundusz Pracy.
- He pays składka zdrowotna as usual: 4.9% of income for November, but no less than 432.54 zł. With income of 10 000 zł this is 490 zł.
- By 20 January 2027 the accountant files an RCA with code 05 14, an RCA with the usual code and składka zdrowotna, and a DRA. The transfer is 490 zł instead of 2 416.76 zł.
If the owner were on preferencyjny ZUS, the saving would be 456.18 zł. On Mały ZUS Plus the amount depends on his personal base; see the article Ulga na start and Mały ZUS Plus.
Frequently asked questions
Can I take two months of wakacje in one year?
No. The exemption is given for one month in a calendar year; you choose the month yourself.
Do I need to close or suspend my JDG for the wakacje?
No. In that month you work, issue invoices and pay tax as usual. The exemption concerns only social contributions for yourself.
I forgot to file RWS before the end of the month. Can I file in the first days of the month of the exemption?
No, ZUS will not consider such an application. You can file in this month for the next one, if a suitable month is still left in the year.
Is składka zdrowotna paid in the month of wakacje?
Yes, in the usual amount for your form of taxation. Details are in the article składka zdrowotna 2026.
We keep track of deadlines, file RWS under a power of attorney and submit the documents for the month of wakacje as part of our bookkeeping service: accounting for 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: zus.pl: zwolnienie z opłacania składek ZUS, wakacje składkowe, biznes.gov.pl: obniżone składki ZUS przez 24 miesiące (kwoty składek 2026).
