The Social Insurance Institution started an unprecedented control action, which includes thousands of Polish entrepreneurs. Officials on a massive scale verify the authenticity of their business activity, and the consequences for those whose documentation raises doubts are devastating. It is not only the request to return benefits of up to tens of thousands of PLN, but besides the full deregistration from the insurance system. The intent of the Social safety Office is to destruct the alleged apparent activity, but experts and entrepreneurs themselves inform that the methods utilized by officials are controversial and can lead to unfair decisions, hitting honest, tiny companies.
Targeted ZUS. Who and what are the officials investigating?
The main nonsubjective of the mass control activities is to combat practices which, according to the Social safety Office, constitute systemic abuse. Officials focus primarily on 2 groups of entrepreneurs. The first are persons who formally run the company, but in practice supply services to 1 payer. In the assessment of the Social safety Office, this may be an effort to circumvent the provisions of labour law and replace the B2B contract with a view to optimising contributions. The second group is those who have suspended business activity but proceed to pay contributions regularly, which is frequently intended solely to hold the right to sickness benefit or another benefits.
The scope of the required documentation is highly wide and aims to prove that the activity is carried out in a real and structured way. Controls must be ready for the show:
- Full bank statements.
- All contracts concluded with counterparties.
- Complete sets of invoices issued and received.
- Detailed accounting records (e.g. KPIR).
- Documents confirming the actual performance of services or the transportation of goods (e.g. reception protocols, email correspondence, plan documentation).
As ZUS employees anonymously emphasize, intensification of actions is simply a consequence to a increasing scale of detected irregularities. The institution feels committed to taking decisive steps to seal the social safety system.
Dracon penalties and reimbursement of benefits. It threatens entrepreneurs
The consequences for companies that will not pass the ZUS verification or will not respond to the call within the deadline are highly severe. Entrepreneurs must number on a full spectrum of negative decisions that can affect the future of their activities. The most serious financial punishment is the work to reimburse all benefits received with interest. In the case of persons who for a long time have been receiving sickness or maternity benefits, these amounts may amount to respective tens of thousands of zlotys.
But that is not all. ZUS may issue an administrative decision to immediate deregistration of the entrepreneur from the social safety strategy with a retroactive date. This means an automatic failure of the right to any benefits, including healthcare financed from the NFZ, if it was the only origin of insurance. In utmost cases where officials consider abuse to be gross, the Social safety Office may permanently restrict the anticipation of re-entering voluntary insurance, which in practice closes the way to social safety in the future.
Experts alert: ZUS works automatically, the burden of proof rests on the company
The way in which inspections are carried out raises serious concerns for legal and taxation experts. In their opinion, ZUS frequently operates in an automated way, making negative decisions without an in-depth analysis of the individual situation of the entrepreneur. The key problem is to reverse the burden of proof. It is not the ZUS that has to prove that the activity is apparent, but the entrepreneur has to show that he is conducting it correctly. In practice, this means that, even in the case of a misdecision by an official, it is the citizen who bears the costs and efforts of a long-term appeal process.
An avalanche of complaints affects business associations. Many say that calls for clarification are sent with very short deadlines, and any receive notifications after the fact, which automatically puts them in the position of a breacher. This problem is peculiarly affected by one-person business activities, where 1 individual is liable for everything – from providing services to handling authoritative correspondence.
Chaos, the silence of the ministry and the ghost of protests. What future awaits companies?
The situation is further complicated by interpretative chaos. Entrepreneurs say various ZUS branches in the country apply different assessment criteriawhich undermines assurance in the objectivity of the full process. Activities considered to be correct in 1 voivodship, in another 1 may be challenged. Despite increasing controversy, the ZUS-supervising Ministry of household and Social Policy has so far not taken an authoritative position, which exacerbates uncertainty and may propose a silent consent to current activities.
Experts inform that the current policy can be counterproductive. A climate of fear and uncertainty can discourage fresh businesses and inhibit the improvement of the SME sector, which is the foundation of the Polish economy. Moreover, any entrepreneurs, fearing restrictive controls, may opt to abandon their activities completely or decision to the grey area. This will consequence in a reduction, alternatively than an increase in gross for the insurance system. If the situation does not change, the business community announces organized protests.
Continued here:
ZUS moved with mass control in Poland! Thousands of companies could lose everything
