Poland: Ant-crisis measures – aid package covering taxes and social insurance (ZUS) contributions

On March 18, 2020, during a conference held after the Cabinet Council meeting, the President and Prime Minister of Poland announced that works are underway on a range of draft bills as part of the so-called “anti-crisis shield.” They are supposed to form an aid package aimed at prevention of the negative impact of the coronavirus epidemic. The anti-crisis shield is going to be based on 5 pillars: employee protection, financial liquidity, healthcare support, security of deposits and public investments. These actions may include deferral of ZUS contributions, support for individuals hired on the basis of civil-law contracts, and payment holidays. You can find more information in our general alert – Anti-crisis package. Unfortunately, there are no specific details of the anticipated reliefs and exemptions related to tax settlements. Additionally, the Chancellery of the Prime Minister has indicated that it intends to postpone the deadlines for submission of PIT-36, PIT-36L, PIT-38 and PIT-39 until the end of June 2020. Also, local authorities (e.g. the Mayor of Kraków) are declaring their plans to support businesses with a property tax relief if the COVID-19 threat affects financial liquidity.

ZUS [Social Insurance Institution] website provides information about the application of reliefs in relation to coronavirus, based on which businesses will be able to use the following simplified types of assistance:
• deferral of the payment term by 3 months for the period of February – April 2020;
• 3-month suspension of performance of an agreement executed with ZUS, in which the payment dates for instalments or contributions fall between March and May 2020, and, consequently, 3-month extension of the agreement term.

In an application, it is necessary to specify how the coronavirus epidemic has influenced the business entity’s financial condition. Needless to say, the fact that an application is submitted does not automatically mean that it will be approved.