Including ZUS overpayment for contributions in April and May unpleasantly surprised many payers. The Social Insurance Institution claims that it had full right to do so and entrepreneurs are asking about the meaning of the anti-crisis shield.
ZUS overpayment for contributions for April and May was automatic
Entrepreneurs could apply for exemption from ZUS contributions for the period March-May. It was the first aid provided for persons conducting business activity. So the huge number of applications for this exemption was not surprising. The full monthly ZUS contribution together with the sickness contribution is PLN 1431.48.
However, it turned out that in a situation where an overpayment occurs on the entrepreneur’s ZUS account, the Social Insurance Institution deducted it against contributions for the period of using the exemption. So many entrepreneurs were surprised when it turned out that, despite being exempted from contributions for the period March – May, ZUS had overpaid the unpaid contributions.
Entrepreneurs have various reasons for leaving overpayment of contributions on their ZUS account. Some prefer to pay more in a good market situation to be able to survive a more difficult period without any problems. This is of great importance especially if the entrepreneur falls ill. Even one day’s arrears can result in the loss of sickness benefit. Sometimes it happens that the transfer to ZUS was made twice in the same month. Regardless of the reason for the overpayment, the Company had no doubts when it applied the ZUS overpayment to the contributions for April and May. For example, if the entrepreneur had a PLN 300 overpayment, the Social Security Office ex officio counted them as a premium for April, and applied the exemption to the amount of the difference, i.e. PLN 1,131.48. The higher the overpayment, the worse the entrepreneur found himself. If he had more than twice the monthly premium, he didn’t really receive any help. And this despite the positive consideration of the application for exemption from ZUS contributions.
Is the ZUS overpayment credited to contributions for April and May in accordance with the regulations?
It turns out that yes. The Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) had the full right to credit the overpayment of contributions. He differentiates between exemption from unpaid contributions and exemption from contributions. In his understanding, the exemption covers only unpaid contributions. According to art. 31zo of the Act on specific solutions related to the prevention, counteraction and eradication of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them, colloquially referred to as the anti-crisis act, the exemption actually relates to the obligation to pay unpaid receivables from ZUS contributions. A bet by unpaid contributions means those that have not been covered by overpayment. In view of the above, contributions that are accounted for by overpayment are not exempt.
Interestingly, the Company did not apply this interpretation of the regulations to contributions for March. This is explained by the fact that the provisions of the 2.0 crisis shield exempted the premium for this month, even if it has already been paid. There is no such provision in relation to contributions for the next two months.
It turned out that entrepreneurs who did not apply to the Social Insurance Institution for a refund of overpayment of contributions made a serious mistake. What’s more – they have no chance to get that money back. An application for a refund of overpayment for April had to be submitted by May 10, and for May by June 10. The overpayment will be refunded only at the payer’s request. The lack of such resulted in the fact that the company applied the ZUS overpayment to contributions for April and May.
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