Abstract

The articles outlines legal problems related to imposition of an additional charge by the Social Insurance Company (ZUS). That charge is a special type of economic and financial punishment similar to a penal sanction. The legislator has specified that ZUS may impose an additional charge on the payee up to 100% of unpaid social insurance contributions. However, the fact that the payee failed to pay the contribution is not the sole condition for imposing the charge. There are additional requirements that need to be fulfilled. Those requirements have not been clearly outlined in the statute but basing on case law analysis it is possible to determine what circumstances should be considered by ZUS when deciding to impose the additional charge. The article discusses the circumstances determining imposition of the additional charge and its amount, the legal nature of the charge, its purposes, issues connected with remitting the charge and issues of judicial control over the decisions made by ZUS.