The Act on 31^th of March, 2020 amending the Act on special solutions related to the prevention, prevention and eradication of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them, as well as some other acts, in accordance with its article 31 zo. stipulates that at the request of the contribution payer, who as on 29^th of February, 2020 reported less than 10 insured persons for social security, he is released from the obligation to pay unpaid social security contributions, health insurance, Labor Fund, Solidarity Fund, Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund or Bridging Pensions Fund, due for the period from 1^st of March, 2020 to 31^st of May, 2020, shown in the declarations submitted for that period, if it was reported as a contribution payer before 1^st of February, 2020. However, the exemption will not be available to all entrepreneurs who meet the above requirements.

From the Act on 31^th of March, 2020 amending the Act on special solutions related to the prevention, counteracting and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them, as well as some other acts (Dz. U. z 2020 r., poz. 568, the so-called anti-crisis shield) shows that the possibility of submitting to ZUS an application for exemption from paying contributions for three months – i.e. from March to May 2020 for persons engaged in non-agricultural activities before 1^st of February, 2020 and paying contributions for their own insurance , contribution payers who ran the business before 1^st of February, 2020 and reported less than 10 people for social security on 29^th of February, 2020, clergy, have people who:

– performed non-agricultural activities before 1^st of February 2020 and paid contributions for their own insurance or were payers of contributions before that date and reported less than 10 people to social security on 29^th of February 2020 or are clergy,

– perform work on the basis of an agency contract, mandate contract, other contract for the provision of services, to which, in accordance with the Civil Code, apply the provisions on the order and persons cooperating with it, for which the basis of the contribution is the declared amount

– they pay contributions exclusively for their own insurance, but the operating income in the first month for which the application is submitted may not exceed PLN 15,681, i.e. 300% of the projected average gross remuneration,

– submit an application to ZUS by 30^th of June 2020,

– submit settlement documents for the period March-May 2020 to 30^th of June 2020, unless they are exempted from submitting them in accordance with the regulations.

In addition, from currently designed article 31zo paragraph 1a-1c (the so-called anti-crisis shield 2.0) show that the exemption referred to in para. 1, applies to less than 10 insured persons. At the request of a contribution payer who is a social cooperative who, as on 29^th of February 2020, reported less than 50 insured persons for social insurance, he is released from the obligation to pay unpaid social security contributions, health insurance, Labor Fund, Solidarity Fund , Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund or Bridging Pensions Fund, due for the period from 1^st of March, 2020 to 31^st of May, 2020, shown in the settlement declarations submitted for that period, if it was reported as a contribution payer before 1^st of February, 2020 However, the exemption referred to above (in paragraph 1b) applies to less than 10 insured persons.

In addition, payers who were in a difficult situation in December 2019 and did not pay the amounts due, including contributions collected by ZUS (Social Insurance Institution), will not benefit from the exemption from contributions, which results from the provisions of EU regulations, the application of which is indicated by court judgments (see judgment ref. no. V SA 276/16).

The definition of an entrepreneur in a difficult situation is regulated in art. 2 point 18) of the European Commission Regulation No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014, which recognizes certain types of aid as compatible with the internal market in application of Art. 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. It follows from this definition that an enterprise in difficulty means an enterprise which is subject to at least one of the following circumstances:

a) In the case of a limited liability company (other than an SME that has been in existence for less than three years or, for the purposes of eligibility for risk finance aid, an SME within 7 years from its first commercial sale that qualifies for risk finance investments following due diligence by the selected financial intermediary), where more than half of its subscribed share capital has disappeared as a result of accumulated losses. This is the case when deduction of accumulated losses from reserves (and all other elements generally considered as part of the own funds of the company) leads to a negative cumulative amount that exceeds half of the subscribed share capital. For the purposes of this provision, ‘limited liability company’ refers in particular to the types of company mentioned in Annex I of Directive 2013/34/EU (1 ) and ‘share capital’ includes, where relevant, any share premium.

b) In the case of a company where at least some members have unlimited liability for the debt of the company (other than an SME that has been in existence for less than three years or, for the purposes of eligibility for risk finance aid, an SME within 7 years from its first commercial sale that qualifies for risk finance investments following due diligence by the selected financial intermediary), where more than half of its capital as shown in the company accounts has disappeared as a result of accumulated losses. For the purposes of this provision, ‘a company where at least some members have unlimited liability for the debt of the company’ refers in particular to the types of company mentioned in Annex II of Directive 2013/34/EU.

c) Where the undertaking is subject to collective insolvency proceedings or fulfils the criteria under its domestic law for being placed in collective insolvency proceedings at the request of its creditors.

d) Where the undertaking has received rescue aid and has not yet reimbursed the loan or terminated the guarantee, or has received restructuring aid and is still subject to a restructuring plan.

e) In the case of an undertaking that is not an SME, where, for the past two years:

• the undertaking’s book debt to equity ratio has been greater than 7,5 and
• the undertaking’s EBITDA interest coverage ratio has been below 1,0.

In connection with the above, if at least one of the above conditions is met for the entrepreneur, then such entrepreneur will not be able to benefit from the exemption from insurance premiums, resulting from article 31 zo. from the “anti-crisis shield”.

To receive an exemption from the obligation to pay contributions due, you must submit an application to ZUS for an exemption from the obligation to pay contributions contributions (RDZ). In the event that the Social Insurance Institution issues a decision refusing to exempt from paying contributions, an application should be submitted to the President of the Social Insurance Institution for re-examination of the case within 14 days from the date of delivery of the decision.