Years of demanding pay off. Retirees and pensioners will now sleep soundly.

• The draft amendment eliminates the obligation to report income annually by previous retirees, pensioners and people receiving social pensions – data will be automatically downloaded from the ZUS and KAS systems
• The exception will be people earning income abroad, who will still have to submit additional documents.
• The reform is intended to simplify settlements, reduce the number of disputes and refunds of unduly received benefits, and cut bureaucracy for approximately 600,000 beneficiaries.
• The Act is to enter into force on 1 January 2027, after the adaptation of ZUS IT systems, without additional costs for the state budget.

The changes - published on Thursday on the website of the Government Legislation Centre - are intended to significantly reduce bureaucracy and at the same time bring the system closer to full settlement automation.

As explained in the Regulatory Impact Assessment, currently – pursuant to Article 127 of the Pension Act – every disability pensioner and retiree who has not reached the statutory retirement age (60 for women, 65 for men) is required to report their income from the previous year to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) by the end of February. Failure to do so may result in the need to return benefits if income thresholds are exceeded.

This obligation also applies to individuals receiving salaries from uniformed services, as well as retirees and pensioners pursuing activities exempt from mandatory contributions. Similar regulations apply to individuals receiving social security benefits, who are required to submit written declarations under penalty of perjury.

As the Ministry of Family Affairs points out, this solution has been criticized for years by both beneficiaries and contribution payers , as being overly burdensome and duplicating data that is already submitted to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) and the National Revenue Administration (Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa). The project assumes that ZUS will independently determine the beneficiary's income, using data stored in individual insured accounts.

For full-time or contract employees, the basis will be the amounts reported to social security or health insurance. For those running a business, a flat rate of 60% of the projected average salary has been adopted due to the specific nature of determining the contribution base for this group. An exception will be individuals earning income abroad, who will still be required to submit additional documents. In case of doubt, ZUS will also be able to request data from the National Revenue Administration (KAS) .

The project also envisages standardizing rules for social pension recipients. Instead of submitting annual declarations under penalty of perjury, they will also be required to rely on system data. However, the pension authority will gain the right to request clarification from beneficiaries if discrepancies arise.

The Ministry of Family Affairs emphasized that the change is intended to bring specific improvements:

• abolition of the obligation to report revenues annually,
• reducing the number of proceedings for the return of unduly received benefits
• and fuller use of data collected in the social security system.

According to experts, the project responds to long-standing demands from retirees and trade unions and is a step toward simplifying citizens' interactions with the state . Many people, especially older people, have experienced difficulties completing formalities, which has resulted in disputes with the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS).

The change is consistent with the trend of digitizing public services and automating settlements. As the project's authors point out, there was no way to achieve this goal other than amending the law. The proposed solutions will cover approximately 300,000 previous retirees and pensioners, as well as approximately 300,000 people receiving social pensions.

As stated, these changes do not increase state budget expenditures. However, they will result in increased ZUS (Social Insurance Institution) expenditures on implementing changes to the IT system, which should be included in the ZUS financial plan for 2026. In practice, they may contribute to reducing ZUS administrative costs and shortening proceedings.

The planned changes mean significant bureaucratic relief for retirees and pensioners. The annual obligation to submit income declarations will disappear, and the burden of settlements will fall on the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) and National Revenue Administration (KAS) systems. The reform could reduce the number of disputes and undue payments, although experts emphasize the need for additional protective mechanisms for beneficiaries.

It is proposed that the Act enter into force on 1 January 2027 due to the need to guarantee the necessary time for ZUS to adapt its IT system to the implementation of the solutions provided for in the draft Act.

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