From 2022, the expenses of transport companies in Poland for the remuneration of employees (drivers) on work trips differ depending on where the trip takes place – domestically or abroad, as well as on the amount of wages (compensation of travel expenses), which affects the amount of personal income tax and social security contributions. More on this further.

Work travel expenses for employees of transport companies differ depending on whether the road trip is made domestically or abroad.

Costs in auto trip are:

Within the country are related to work trip expenses,

Abroad, international – to wage costs.

These costs are divided into two options:

• In the amount of the established wage (minimum wage) under an employment contract with allowances for overtime, night hours, call duty, this is for bilateral and transit transportation (plus a maximum of two additional loading and unloading operations), *
• In the amount of wages of the country (average for the industry, industry agreements) where cabotage and cross-trading transportation is carried out.

* Provided that the driver does not load or unload goods in the same country when in transit.

An example payroll structure** includes:

Basic salary, for example, in the amount of the minimum wage of PLN 3,010,

Lump sum payment for overtime PLN 26.88 = 3,010/168 * 150%,

Lump sum payment for night work PLN 3.58 = 3,010/168 * 20%,

Remuneration for duty PLN 8.96 = 3,010/168 * 50%,

Sectoral wages in international road trips abroad,

Compensation for settling lump sums/advance payments,

Possible bonuses,

Travel expenses compensation (when traveling within the country).

** Approximate calculation. The costs shown refer to 1 hour of duty, overtime and night work. Duty time may be part of the minimum wage.

At the same time, the making of an international trip with part of the mileage within the territory of the country also applies to an international trip in terms of the hours of work of an employee of a transport company.

That is, the driver's salary must include the base salary, along with any allowances for overtime, night hours, and on-call duty.

The employer will be able to reduce the base for calculating tax (contributions) by the equivalent of daily allowance for each day of stay abroad:

• 100% of the national allowance for social insurance,
• 30% country-specific allowance for income tax.

However, the base after the cuts cannot be lower than the projected average salary for 2022 – about PLN 5,922 gross.

If a driver's monthly salary exceeds the current average salary of PLN 5,922 gross, the tax base must be reduced by 30%, the so-called virtual allowances (used to determine the amount of contributions and tax advances) for each day of work abroad, in accordance with the rates of the given country.

If the salary then falls below PLN 5,922, the base for the calculation of social contributions should be raised to the level of this amount.

Uniform rules, regulation of wages for cabotage and cross-trading trips takes place in accordance with EU directives and Polish legislation.

General conditions:

• A driver posted to work in another country as part of an international trip receives remuneration in the amount in which drivers in that country receive it in accordance with industry collective agreements.
• A driver performing work duties in the framework of international road transport is not on a work trip within the meaning of Art. 77 of the Labor Code.
• Total income does not include the following benefits and income: social security and accident insurance benefits, disability or sickness benefits.
• • The calculation of remuneration may include an exception to the basis for calculating the ZUS contributions referred to in the provision § 2 sec. 1 point 16 of the Regulation on Contributions, Order of the Minister of Labor and Social Policy of 18 December 1998 on detailed rules for determining the basis for calculating contributions for pension and disability insurance (podstawy wymiaru składek ZUS wskazane w przepisie § 2 ust. składkowego stanowiącym). That is, in the case of persons employed abroad by Polish employers whose income exceeds the projected average salary in the national economy for a given calendar year (PLN 5,922 w 2022 r.), the basis for calculating social insurance contributions is reduced by the equivalent of that specified in the travel regulations allowances for each day of stay abroad.
• A part of income is exempted from personal income tax in the amount corresponding to 30% of the allowance specified in the rules on work trips for each day of stay abroad.

The draft law on the budget for 2023 states that the predicted average monthly gross salary in the national economy will be PLN 6,935.

An example of calculating the driver's remuneration in international road transport. An employee of the transport company carried out transportation from October 10 to October 18, 2022 along the route:

An example of calculating the driver's remuneration in international road transport. An employee of the transport company carried out transportation from October 10 to October 18, 2022 along the route:

CMR 1 (consignment, list przewozowy): loading in Poland and unloading in Germany.

CMR 2 (bill of lading, list przewozowy): loading in Germany and unloading in France, is 24 hours of work.

CMR 3 (bill of lading, list przewozowy): loading in France and unloading in Poland.

Single trip cross-trading is counted, bilateral trips are not counted.

Calculation of wages, social security contributions and income tax, in PLN (Tables 1-4).

Table 1 – Payroll calculation

* Conditional exchange rate.

** Further we take into account the industry (sectoral) wages of truck drivers (for example, with a total weight of more than 3.5 tons), which in France is 11.12 euros / gross / hour. Therefore, for a 24-hour cross-trading trip, an additional payment is charged in the amount of the difference between the payment according to the employment contract and the average salary in the country of the international road trip.

Table 2 – Calculation of social security contributions

* Conditional exchange rate.

Table 3 – Calculation of personal income tax

* Conditional exchange rate.

Table 4 – Salary to be paid

Income in foreign currency is recalculated into złoty at the average exchange rate of foreign currencies on the last business day preceding the day the income is received, i.e. if the reward is paid on the 10th of the month, the rate is taken relative to the 9th of the month.