ZUS contribution payment deadlines and consequences of delays in payment

Entrepreneurs, when asked about the most burdensome obligation when running a business, most often mention the need to settle accounts with ZUS. Every month, at a strictly specified time, each company owner is obliged to pay ZUS for himself and the employees he employs. The same deadlines apply to submitting the DRA settlement declaration and possibly personal reports (RCA, RZA, RSA, RPA) to ZUS. What do the payment deadlines for contributions depend on? What are the consequences of their late payer? Answer below.

Three payment deadlines for contributions

ZUS contributions are paid by payers on three basic dates:

• by the 5th day of the following month - in the case of budgetary units and establishments and ancillary enterprises;
• by the 10th day of the following month - for natural persons who pay the premium only for themselves;
• by the 15th day of the following month - this obligation applies to other taxpayers.

The deadlines for payment of contributions are the same as the date of submitting the settlement declaration to the Social Insurance Institution. ZUS must receive a document confirming the calculation of contributions.

The deadline for payment of contributions and the day off from work

Sometimes it happens that the payer's deadline falls on a weekend or a holiday (non-working day). In such a case, the regulations indicate that the premium payment deadline is the next working day following this holiday.

Example 1.

The entrepreneur employs employees, and therefore is obliged to pay contributions by the 15th day of each month. In 2021, August 15 is Sunday. Thus, the payer is obliged to pay the contributions and submit the declarations to the Social Insurance Institution no later than Monday, August 16 inclusive.

Payment made according to ZUS

As a rule, the Social Insurance Institution considers the date of payment of contributions as the date of receipt of funds on the payer's individual account. If the entrepreneur has settled the liability on the 15th day of the month (or on the 10th day if the contributions are paid only for himself), but it has not been booked by ZUS on that day, the payment may be considered untimely. Therefore, it is best to submit a transfer order several days in advance.

However, it is worth noting that when contributions are paid by bank transfer, the payment will be considered on time if the payment deadline imposed by the regulations is debited from the payer's bank account. This is due to the provisions set out in the Tax Ordinance, to which reference is made in Art. 31 of the Act on the social insurance system. Art. 60. § 1. point 2. Tax ordinance
The date of payment of the tax is considered to be: in non-cash transactions - the day of debiting the taxpayer's bank account, the taxpayer's account in a cooperative savings and credit union or the taxpayer's payment account in a payment institution, small payment institution or electronic money institution on the basis of a transfer order, and in the case of payment by means of a payment instrument other than a credit transfer, hereinafter referred to as "other payment instrument" - the date of obtaining confirmation of the authorization of the payment transaction referred to in Art. 40 sec. 1 of the Act of 19 August 2011 on payment services (Journal of Laws of 2017, item 2003, as amended2)).

ZUS does not have information about when the payer's account was debited, which is why the date of settlement of liabilities is usually the day the funds are credited to the contributory account.

Example 2.

The contribution payer pays contributions only for himself, therefore he is bound by the payment deadline on the 10th day of the month. In December 2021, this day fell on Friday, and the entrepreneur made the ELIXIR transfer on Friday evening (after the last bank transfer session). Thus, the paid contributions were transferred to the ZUS account only on Monday and were posted on this date. More about ZUS contributions in the following articles:
ZUS contributions for novice entrepreneurs
Payment of ZUS contributions - deadlines and payment rules
ZUS contributions during the suspension of activity

Another date of payment to ZUS - for whom?

Another date of payment to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) applies to taxpayers settling with the code "4", even though they pay contributions only for themselves. The code "4" should be entered in the organizational data in field 01 of the ZUS DRA declaration.

This group includes:

• partners of sole proprietorships with limited liability, civil partnerships, general partnerships, limited partnerships and partnerships who pay contributions exclusively for themselves, provided that the company employs employees or other persons subject to insurance on this account and by persons subject to voluntary health insurance;
• people who voluntarily pay health insurance contributions;
• persons who pay simultaneously for voluntary pension insurance and voluntary health insurance.

The insured persons mentioned above, although they pay contributions only for themselves, but are indicated with the code 4 in their declarations, pay contributions by the 15th day of the following month.

Contributions from the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) of creators and artists

Insurance regulations define authors and artists as self-employed persons, therefore their contributions are obligatory until the 10th day of the month, if they pay contributions only for themselves, and until the 15th day of the month, if they also pay contributions for employees. However, for this group, the date of payment of contributions may change. For example, when the Creator Retirement Provisioning Committee, which indicates the start date, decides to start on a date later than the stated insured time. In this case, ZUS does not charge interest, but the payment date is postponed. Start a free 30-day trial period with no strings attached!

Failure to pay the ZUS contribution on time

ZUS charges interest on each delayed payment. If they do not exceed 1% of the minimum wage applicable in a given year, they will be canceled and the payer pays only for overdue contributions. 1% of the minimum wage in 2021 is PLN 28, and from January 1, 2022, PLN 30.10.

If the payer is notoriously late in paying ZUS contributions, he or she may be fined up to PLN 5,000.

Contribution payment deadlines - other consequences of delays

In addition to penal tax interest, the contribution payer may also face other consequences. If the payer pays voluntary contributions and does not pay them within the required deadlines, he ceases to be covered by this insurance. This is the case, for example, in the case of sickness insurance, as a consequence of which the payer loses the right to the allowance during the illness. However, it is possible to restore the deadline for paying the premium, but you must submit an application to ZUS in advance, but this decision depends on the individual interpretation of the company.

Example 3.

Ms Aleksandra runs a sole proprietorship and does not employ any employees. She voluntarily applied for sickness insurance and pays premiums for this on a regular basis. In September, due to the lack of financial liquidity, it could not pay the contributions until September 10, late in the evening. She was aware that the transfer would be credited to ZUS only on the next day, which would result in a break in being subject to sickness insurance. To avoid a break, it decided to make a SORBNET transfer, which is performed immediately after its approval. Thanks to this, contributions for Ms Aleksandra were transferred to ZUS even within the required period, without interrupting the insurance.

From 1 January 2022, the nature of the voluntary sickness insurance will change. The insurance will no longer terminate due to late payment of premiums. Therefore, people running a business will be able to apply for benefits also in the case of late payment of contributions. The introduced solution is the same as in the case of accident insurance benefits. There is no entitlement to benefits in the event of sickness and maternity if, on the day when the right to benefit arises, there is a debt due to social security contributions for an amount exceeding 1% of the minimum remuneration for work, until the debt is repaid in full. The right to these benefits will become time-barred if the debt is not paid within 6 months from the date of the entitlement to the benefit.