The obligation to notify the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) about contracts for specific tasks starting from 1 January 2021
1 January 2021 marks the date from which entrepreneurs will be obliged to notify ZUS (the Polish Social Insurance Institution) about conclusion of contracts for specific tasks (PL: umowa o dzieło), including contracts which are not subject to social insurance contributions. The new obligation was implemented based on provisions of the so-called First Anti-Crisis Shield (the Act of 31 March 2020 amending the act on special solutions for prevention, counteracting and combatting COVID-19, other infectious diseases, the resultant crisis, and some other acts).
The new obligation to notify
The new obligation to notify was imposed on payers of social insurance contributions and persons who conclude contracts for specific tasks and do not pay the contributions. The notification will apply to contracts for specific tasks, except for:
- contracts concluded with a person who is employed by the contracting party under a contract of employment,
- contracts under which the contractor provides work for the employer with whom he or she is bound by a contract of employment.
A contract for specific task will have to be notified within 7 days of its conclusion. The relevant notification form is not available yet. It is to be presented in a regulation of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy. It is still unknown whether the notification can be filed via the Płatnik programme.
It also remains unclear whether the new obligations will also apply to contracts concluded before 1 January 2021 as there are no transitional regulations governing this issue. The literal wording of the regulations indicates, however, that the new regulation will apply to contracts concluded after 1 January 2021 only.
Purpose and effects of the regulations
It should be assumed that the main purpose of the new regulations is to enable the Social Insurance Institution to effectively identify entities to be inspected in terms of contracts for specific tasks concluded by them. If the inspection demonstrates that a contract does not satisfy the requirements for it to be recognized as a contract for a specific task, it will be re-classified and recognized as a contract of mandate [umowa zlecenia] or even a contract of employment. This will mean that the relevant insurance contributions will have to be paid under the contract. It will also trigger the necessity to pay outstanding contributions to ZUS.
It bears emphasizing that the information obtained by ZUS can be passed to the Minister of Finance and the authorities of the National Fiscal Administration, which may also affect the course and frequency of tax inspections.
The sectors which are most likely to rely on contracts for specific tasks as a form of cooperation are also most likely to suffer the adverse effects of the new regulations. These include, without limitation: media, advertising, IT or other sectors which require creative work.
What measures should be taken?
Given the foregoing, we encourage you to get ready for the new obligations in advance. To this end, it is recommended that contracts for specific tasks be analysed, in particular with a view to:
- reviewing their provisions and the nature of work done thereunder in terms of compliance with the requirements pertaining to contracts for specific tasks,
- introduction of changes to the contracts or to the work method, so as to minimize the risk of the contract being re-classified.
Should you have any questions or doubts, please contact us.
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