The 2027 minimum wage and a Polish sole proprietorship: a complete guide to what changes

Legal status: 18 September 2026 · Reading time: approx. 20 minutes

In brief: from 1 January 2027 the minimum wage is PLN 4,950 gross and the minimum hourly rate PLN 32.30. The increase of PLN 144 (3%) is one of the smallest in years, but it feeds through to more than a dozen parameters in a JDG (jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza, a sole proprietorship): preferential contributions to ZUS (the Social Insurance Institution), the minimum health contribution, the limit for unregistered activity, the thresholds of fiscal penal liability, the amount exempt from seizure of a bank account and, in businesses that employ staff, the cost of employment and a range of employee entitlements. A full breakdown with calculations follows.

1. What exactly has been announced

The basis is the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 14 September 2026 on the amount of the minimum wage for work and the amount of the minimum hourly rate in 2027, published in the Journal of Laws of 15 September 2026 under item 1213. The regulation enters into force on 1 January 2027.

The amounts set:

The route to that figure matters for understanding the mechanism. Within the statutory deadline the Social Dialogue Council did not reach agreement on the level of the minimum wage — the trade union side (Solidarność, OPZZ and FZZ) held out for PLN 5,200, while the government stayed with PLN 4,950. Under Article 2(5) of the Act of 10 October 2002 on the Minimum Wage for Work, where no agreement is reached the Council of Ministers sets the amounts by regulation by 15 September, and they may not be lower than the proposal previously put forward for negotiation. The government did not change its June proposal — and that is the proposal that became law.

What the regulation does not contain also matters: for 2027 a single increase has been provided for the whole year, without the split into two dates (January and July) used in 2023 and 2024. That simplifies payroll and contribution calculations for the entire year.

The scale of the impact: according to GUS (Statistics Poland) data for March 2026, 12.2% of employees — 1,507,300 people — were paid no more than the minimum wage.

2. Why this affects a JDG that employs no one

The minimum wage long ago stopped being a labour-law parameter alone. The legislature uses it as a reference indicator in the Social Insurance System Act, the Act on Healthcare Services Financed from Public Funds, the Entrepreneurs' Law, the Fiscal Penal Code (Kodeks karny skarbowy, KKS) and the Banking Law. As a result, a self-employed person without a single employee feels the change in at least five places.

The mechanism works in two modes:

• The calendar year — social insurance contributions, limits, fiscal penal thresholds, amounts exempt from seizure. The change applies from 1 January 2027.
• The contribution year — the minimum health contribution under the tax scale (the general rules). The change applies only from 1 February 2027.

That divergence is the source of the most common errors in January settlements.

3. An entrepreneur's contributions — item by item

3.1. The start-up relief (ulga na start)

For the first 6 full months of business an entrepreneur pays the health contribution only. In 2027, with no income or low income, that means PLN 445.50 a month (from February 2027).

The start-up relief does not release anyone from the health contribution — one of the most common misunderstandings among people setting up a business.

3.2. Preferential contributions (preferencyjne składki) (24 months)

The contribution base is 30% of the minimum wage, i.e. PLN 1,485 in 2027 (2026: PLN 1,441.80).

The increase over PLN 456.18 in 2026 is PLN 13.67 a month and PLN 164.04 a year. Set against 2023–2024, when preferential contributions rose by a combined 43% compared with 2022, this is a symbolic change.

Two things are worth noting:

• No Labour Fund contribution. The contribution to the Labour Fund (FP) and the Solidarity Fund (FS) is due only once the contribution base reaches at least the minimum wage. On a base of PLN 1,485 the obligation does not arise.
• A low benefit base. The base for sickness and maternity benefit is the average monthly earnings, i.e. the same PLN 1,485 reduced by 13.71%. For anyone planning a longer absence or parenthood, that is an argument for declaring a higher base — subject to the waiting periods and the rules on establishing the base.

3.3. Mały ZUS Plus (the Small ZUS Plus scheme)

The base depends on the previous year's income, but stays within a band: not lower than 30% of the minimum wage and not higher than 60% of the forecast average wage. The lower limit in 2027 is PLN 1,485, so the minimum social insurance contributions are the same as under the preferential scheme — PLN 469.85.

The revenue limit qualifying for Mały ZUS Plus — PLN 120,000 for the previous year — does not change with the minimum wage.

3.4. Full ZUS (duży ZUS) — where the minimum wage does not apply

The base is 60% of the forecast average wage in the national economy — an amount set in the budget act and announced by the minister in Monitor Polski. In the draft budget act for 2027 the forecast is PLN 10,033, which gives a base of PLN 6,019.80 and full social insurance contributions, including sickness insurance and the Labour Fund, of PLN 2,052.15 a month — against PLN 1,926.76 in 2026, i.e. PLN 125.39 (6.5%) more. For the first time ever, an entrepreneur's full social insurance contributions will exceed PLN 2,000.

A caveat: this is a draft figure. The government's June assumptions referred to slower wage growth (5.6%), under which the contributions would come out a dozen or so złoty lower. The final amount follows from the budget act as enacted — it is worth verifying before January.

3.5. The health contribution — the tax scale, the flat tax, IP Box

Today this is the most painful item for businesses with low profitability. The minimum monthly base is 100% of the minimum wage in force on the first day of the contribution year. The provisions allowing the contribution to be calculated from 75% of the minimum wage applied only in the contribution year February 2025 – January 2026, and the act extending that arrangement was vetoed.

The January trap. For January 2027 (payable by 22 February, because 20 February falls on a Saturday) the old contribution year still applies, i.e. a minimum of PLN 432.54. The new amount of PLN 445.50 applies only to the contribution for February 2027. The same error appeared in January 2026, when the minimum was still PLN 314.96.

The minimum annual contribution for the full 2027/2028 contribution year is PLN 5,346 (12 × PLN 445.50). In the annual settlement of the contribution, the entrepreneur retains the choice whether to include revenue and costs from the disposal of fixed assets for consideration.

For taxpayers on the lump-sum tax (ryczałt) the base follows the average wage in the enterprise sector for the fourth quarter of the previous year, not the minimum wage. The 2027 amounts will not be known until January.

3.6. The contribution holiday (wakacje składkowe)

The exemption covers one freely chosen month in the calendar year and applies only to contributions for the entrepreneur's own social insurance and to the FP and the FS. The health contribution remains payable on the normal date — this is the most common error, and it leads to arrears with interest.

For the month covered by the exemption, the base for pension and disability contributions is the lowest base applicable to the given entrepreneur — under the preferential scheme, therefore, PLN 1,485. The relief constitutes de minimis aid and counts towards the three-year limit. The RWS application is filed electronically on eZUS, from the payer's account, in the month preceding the month of the exemption.

3.7. Overlapping insurance titles (zbieg tytułów) — the most often overlooked effect of the increase

This is the point at which a rise in the minimum wage can cost an entrepreneur more than a thousand złoty a month, even though nothing in the business has changed.

Employment plus a business. Under Article 9(1a) of the Social Insurance System Act, an entrepreneur who is at the same time employed under an employment contract is released from social insurance contributions on the business provided that the pay from the employment relationship on which contributions are charged is at least equal to the minimum wage. What counts is the amount, not the fraction of full-time hours — even a half-time job gives the release if the pay reaches the threshold.

From 1 January 2027 the threshold rises from PLN 4,806 to PLN 4,950. People whose employment pay falls in the range PLN 4,806–4,949 lose the release on 1 January and must register for social insurance on the basis of their business. It is worth reviewing this group of clients as early as November — sometimes a small adjustment to the pay from the employer is enough.

A contract of mandate (umowa zlecenia) plus a business. A contractor under a contract of mandate who at the same time runs a business on preferential contributions or under Mały ZUS Plus is compulsorily covered by insurance on both titles (Article 9(2a) of the Social Insurance System Act). The exception is a month in which the base from the contract of mandate reaches the amount of the minimum wage — social insurance contributions are then paid from the contract of mandate alone (Article 9(2c)). There is no choice of title here.

Release from the health contribution for an employee on the lump-sum tax. An employee whose contribution base does not exceed the minimum wage is released from the health contribution on the business if, cumulatively: revenue from the business does not exceed 50% of the minimum wage per month (PLN 2,475 in 2027) and the business is taxed with the lump-sum tax.

4. Thresholds and limits outside ZUS

4.1. Unregistered activity (działalność nierejestrowana)

From 1 January 2026 the limit is calculated quarterly and amounts to 225% of the minimum wage — a change introduced by the Act of 25 July 2025 amending certain acts in order to simplify administrative procedures and support entrepreneurship (Journal of Laws 2025, item 1168), which replaced the former monthly limit of 75% of the minimum wage.

Practical traps:

• What counts is revenue due, i.e. the invoices issued, not the money received into the account.
• The limit applies to each quarter separately — unused headroom cannot be "carried over".
• Exceeding it means business activity from the day of the excess and 7 days to apply for entry in CEIDG (the Central Register and Information on Business Activity) — what to check before filing that application we have gathered in 10 things to check before starting a business.
• A person registered with the district labour office (powiatowy urząd pracy, PUP) has a separate, lower monthly limit, which operates independently of the quarterly limit.
• The limit for exemption from using a cash register (PLN 20,000) and the thresholds in KSeF (the National e-Invoicing System) are entirely different figures.

4.2. The amount exempt from seizure of a bank account

In enforcement against a bank account, the enforcement officer leaves at the debtor's free disposal funds amounting to 75% of the minimum wage per month. In 2027 that is PLN 3,712.50 (2026: PLN 3,604.50). The exempt amount applies to savings accounts, savings-and-settlement accounts (personal current accounts) and savings term deposits — it does not cover an entrepreneur's business settlement account.

4.3. What the minimum wage does not touch

A list of figures that clients often link to the minimum wage — wrongly:

For comparison: for 2026, the exchange rate of 1 October 2025 was PLN 4.2586, which gave a lump-sum tax limit of PLN 8,517,200 and a full-accounting-books limit of PLN 10,646,500. The rate that will determine the limits for 2027 is not yet known — clients balancing close to the thresholds should hold off on decisions until the beginning of October.

5. Fiscal penal liability

The Fiscal Penal Code refers to the minimum wage in several key places. A fiscal petty offence is an act in which the amount of the public-law receivable depleted or exposed to depletion, or the value of the object of the act, does not exceed five times the minimum wage at the time the act was committed. The daily rate of a fine for a fiscal crime may not be lower than 1/30 of the minimum wage or exceed four hundred times that amount.

The shift in the threshold is of practical significance: an act involving a depletion of PLN 24,500 committed in December 2026 is a fiscal crime, while the same act committed in January 2027 is a petty offence. The classification is determined by the position as at the day the act was committed.

6. A JDG in the role of employer

6.1. The cost of employment

The employer's part consists of: pension 9.76%, disability 6.50%, accident 1.67%, the Labour Fund and the Solidarity Fund 2.45%, and FGŚP (the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund) 0.10%. The accident rate of 1.67% applies to payers reporting up to 9 insured persons; for the contribution year starting in April 2027 it has not yet been announced. The net amounts are calculated for an employee over 26, with a PIT-2 form filed, tax-deductible costs of PLN 250 and no PPK (the Employee Capital Plans).

6.2. Payroll figures derived from the minimum wage

The night-work supplement is 20% of the hourly rate derived from the minimum wage, calculated by dividing the minimum wage by the nominal working time in the given month. In 2027: January PLN 6.51, February PLN 6.19, May PLN 6.88, October and December PLN 5.89. The supplement does not count towards the minimum wage — it is paid on top of the PLN 4,950.

6.3. What is not required and what is worth doing

Amendments to employment contracts are not necessary — provisions setting pay lower than PLN 4,950 are replaced by operation of law with the statutory rules. An amendment does, however, tidy up the documentation and makes it easier to pass an inspection by PIP (the National Labour Inspectorate), which has had new powers since 2026.

The minimum wage includes the components classified by GUS as personal remuneration, excluding, among others, the jubilee award, retirement or disability severance pay, overtime pay, the night supplement, the length-of-service supplement and the supplement for special working conditions. A bonus under the pay rules can therefore top pay up to the minimum, whereas the night supplement cannot.

A change in the minimum wage also requires the base for holiday pay and for pay in lieu of unused holiday to be established again, if it took into account components calculated from the previous year's minimum wage.

The fine for underpaying wages is already higher: since 8 July 2026 Article 282 § 1 of the Labour Code provides for PLN 2,000 to PLN 60,000 (Act of 11 March 2026 amending the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate, Journal of Laws 2026, item 473). A separate sanction for pay arrears lasting at least three months, and automatic interest for late payment, are for now a government draft (no. UC62 in the Council of Ministers' legislative agenda, at the stage of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers on 18 September 2026) — they are not in force.

7. Contracts of mandate and B2B cooperation

The minimum hourly rate of PLN 32.30 applies to contracts of mandate (Article 734 of the Civil Code) and to contracts for the provision of services to which the rules on mandate apply (Article 750 of the Civil Code), performed by a natural person who does not run a business or who runs one single-handedly, without employing employees or contractors. Self-employed people working B2B are therefore covered by that rate — a point regularly overlooked in negotiations with subcontractors.

There is an obligation to specify in the contract how the number of hours is to be confirmed, and to keep those records for 3 years (Articles 8b–8c of the Minimum Wage Act). The rate does not apply to contracts for specific work (umowa o dzieło), nor to cases in which the place and time of performance are decided by the contractor and the remuneration is purely commission-based.

For firms settling with subcontractors by the hour, the increase of PLN 0.90 an hour translates into about PLN 150 a month at full time (an average of 167.33 hours in 2027).

8. Three calculations on specific cases

Case A — a JDG on the tax scale, second year of business, low income or a loss

The annual increase in the burden: PLN 424.18.

Case B — a JDG employing one person on the minimum wage

An increase in the cost of employment of PLN 173.49 a month and PLN 2,081.88 a year. With three employees on the minimum: more than PLN 6,245 a year.

Case C — a job paying PLN 4,900 plus a business

In 2026 the pay exceeds PLN 4,806, so only the health contribution is paid on the business. From 1 January 2027 the threshold is PLN 4,950 — the pay falls below it, and an obligation to pay social insurance contributions on the business arises. On full ZUS that is a jump of more than PLN 2,000 a month. The remedies: adjusting the employment pay to at least PLN 4,950, or rebuilding the contribution budget.

9. A calendar of the changes

• the beginning of October 2026 — the NBP euro exchange rate that determines the limits for the lump-sum tax, full accounting books and small taxpayer status for 2027.
• November–December 2026 — a review of employment pay against the PLN 4,950 threshold; RWS applications for a contribution holiday for January 2027; verification of the rates in contracts of mandate.
• 1 January 2027 — the new minimum wage and hourly rate; the new fiscal penal thresholds; the new limit for unregistered activity; the new amount exempt from seizure of an account; the new base for preferential contributions.
• January 2027 — announcement of the average wage in the enterprise sector for the fourth quarter of 2026, which determines the health contribution for lump-sum taxpayers; the health contribution for January is still on the old minimum of PLN 432.54.
• 1 February 2027 — the start of the new contribution year, minimum health contribution PLN 445.50.
• 22 February 2027 — the payment date for the contribution for January (20 February falls on a Saturday), the last one in the old contribution year.

10. A checklist for the accounting office and for the client

1. Recalculate the contribution budget for 2027 — January separately, February–December separately.
2. Identify clients who combine employment with a business and whose pay falls in the range PLN 4,806–4,949.
3. Verify the rates in contracts of mandate and in B2B contracts with self-employed people against PLN 32.30, and the record of hours.
4. Review employment contracts and pay regulations; prepare tidying-up amendments.
5. Inform people on unregistered activity about the limit of PLN 11,137.50 per quarter and about the fact that what counts is revenue due.
6. For clients close to the revenue thresholds — monitor the 2026 result and wait for the euro exchange rate of 1 October.
7. Plan contribution holidays in advance and remind clients of the obligation to pay the health contribution in the month of the exemption.
8. Verify the final amount of the forecast average wage in the budget act as enacted.

Check your own situation

The cheapest change is the one you can see in November, not in February. If you would like us to recalculate your contribution budget for 2027, review your payroll against the PLN 4,950 threshold and check your contracts of mandate, see how we handle accounting for sole proprietorships. Do you settle with the lump-sum tax? Then the health contribution follows a different indicator, and the 2027 amounts will be known in January.

Legal basis

• Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 14 September 2026 on the amount of the minimum wage for work and the amount of the minimum hourly rate in 2027 (Journal of Laws 2026, item 1213)
• Act of 10 October 2002 on the Minimum Wage for Work — Article 2(5), Article 6(5), Articles 8a–8d
• Act of 13 October 1998 on the Social Insurance System — Article 9(1a) and (2a)–(2c), Articles 17a–17b, Articles 18, 18a, 18c, 18d, Article 36d
• Act of 27 August 2004 on Healthcare Services Financed from Public Funds — Article 81
• Act of 6 March 2018 – Entrepreneurs' Law — Article 5
• Act of 29 August 1997 – Banking Law — Article 54
• Act of 13 March 2003 on Special Rules for Terminating Employment Relationships with Employees for Reasons Not Attributable to Employees — Article 8(4)
• Act of 20 March 2025 on the Labour Market and Employment Services — Article 259
• Act of 10 September 1999 – Fiscal Penal Code — Articles 23, 47, 48, 53 § 3
• Act of 26 June 1974 – Labour Code — Articles 18³ᵈ, 81, 87¹, 94³, 151⁸

Legal status as of 18 September 2026. The amounts marked as draft figures — the forecast average wage and the limits converted at the EUR exchange rate — may still change; check them before January. This article is for information only and does not constitute legal or tax advice.