Sole Proprietors and Micro-Contributions: The New System Is Already Being Revised
On 2 June 2026, an amendment to the Social Insurance Act was approved, introducing changes to the micro-contribution system applicable to self-employed individuals (sole proprietors).
Under the previously applicable legislation, all self-employed individuals (including those with low income or no income at all) were to be required, as of 1 July 2026 to pay compulsory sickness and pension insurance contributions to the Social Insurance Agency, with a minimum monthly contribution amount of EUR 131.34 (for 2026). The only exception was to be newly established entrepreneurs, whose contribution holiday period ends on the first day of the sixth calendar month following the commencement of their business activity.
The approved amendment, effective as of 1 July 2026, introduces a so-called income test for determining the obligation to pay compulsory sickness and pension insurance contributions. The objective of this amendment is to reassess the mechanism governing the establishment and termination of compulsory insurance, particularly for low-income self-employed individuals, while at the same time reducing their overall tax and social contribution burden.
The income test sets an income threshold under which the obligation to pay compulsory sickness and pension insurance contributions will arise only for those self-employed individuals whose income from business activities and other self-employment activities for the relevant calendar year exceeds 10.5 times the subsistence minimum applicable to one adult individual. This means that if a self-employed individual’s income for 2025 does not exceed this threshold (EUR 2,876.90), the obligation to pay the above-mentioned sickness and pension insurance contributions will not arise as of 1 July 2026.
The income threshold will be assessed on the basis of the information reported in the personal income tax return filed by the self-employed individual.
