ZUS has issued a new ruling (31 October 2023, ZUS branch in Gdańsk (ref. no. DI/100000/43/907/2023), according to which the exemption from §2 sec. 1 item 26 of the Regulation of 18 December 1998 on detailed rules for calculating the basis for old-age and disability insurance contributions does not apply to preferential rental of cars to employees.    

The Social Insurance Institution argued that the cited regulation applies only to situations in which the employer purchases goods or enables the use of services at a price lower than that which the employee would have to pay had he/she decided to purchase them personally.   

It considered that it is one thing for an employer to make available to its employees, at prices lower than retail prices, medical packages or sports passes which the employer purchases with the express purpose of doing so, and another thing for the employer to make available its own assets used for its business activity.  In the latter case, the value of such benefits does not, in the opinion of ZUS, meet the criterion of 'benefit' on the part of the employee, as this arises mainly on the part of the employer, for whom it may constitute an additional source of income.

Consequently, a benefit in the form of rental of the employer’s car to employees at prices lower than retail prices is subject to both social security contributions and health contributions. The contribution base is the difference between the market value of such a benefit and the amount paid by the employee.
 

Find more in the PRO HR December 2023