Is a survivor's pension taxed?

Yes. A survivor's pension (renta rodzinna) is subject to income tax in the same way as a retirement pension or any other ZUS pension. Each month ZUS, the Polish Social Insurance Institution, deducts an advance on the tax and the health contribution, and after the year it sends you a PIT-40A or a PIT-11A. Only the full-orphan supplement is tax-exempt, not the pension itself.

What ZUS deducts each month

The tax advance is 12% of the gross pension minus 300 zł, which is 1/12 of the annual tax-reducing amount (3,600 zł). ZUS applies this reduction itself, without a request from you. On a pension of 2,100 zł gross, 12% comes to 252 zł, less than 300 zł, so the advance is zero.

The health contribution is a separate 9% of the gross benefit. It does not reduce the tax, and ZUS deducts it even when there is no advance.

If all your income taxed on the scale for the year, not just your ZUS benefits, stays within 30,000 zł, you can submit an EPD-21 request. ZUS then stops withholding advances, and after the year it sends a PIT-11A instead of a PIT-40A, so you file the return yourself.

PIT-40A or PIT-11A

ZUS sends the annual form by the end of February. PIT-40A is a ready-made annual tax calculation, and if the pension is your only income, it replaces the tax return. Any tax still due is deducted from your March or April pension.

You receive a PIT-11A when ZUS does not prepare the annual calculation. The cases in which it does not are listed in art. 34 of the Personal Income Tax Act. A PIT-11A is only a statement of income, so you file the return yourself.

When to file your own return

Even with a PIT-40A, you file a PIT-37, the standard return for income taxed on the scale, between 15 February and 30 April if in the same year you had other income taxed on the scale, want to claim reliefs, file jointly with your spouse or file as a single parent. If you file jointly with a spouse who runs a business taxed on the scale, the form is PIT-36.

The youth relief (ulga dla młodych) does not cover pensions. Up to the age of 26 it exempts pay from employment, contracts of mandate, internships and apprenticeships, and maternity benefit. A student who works and receives a survivor’s pension after a parent’s death pays no tax on the wages up to the relief limit, but does pay it on the pension. With a question about a specific relief, you can turn to the tax office or a tax adviser.

A child’s pension and the full-orphan supplement

A minor child’s survivor’s pension is not added to the parent’s income. The child is a separate taxpayer, and ZUS issues the form in the child’s name, even if a parent collects the money.

The supplement for a full orphan (dodatek dla sieroty zupełnej, paid when both parents have died) is tax-exempt and is not counted as part of the pension when the advance is calculated. The orphan’s pension itself remains taxable.