Farmers to pay social contributions up to zł.3000 annually

The new law on farmers' social security is one of the key elements of the so-called 'Hausner program' of public finance consolidation. According to an outline of the draft law, beginning next year, farmers' social contributions are to amount to 30% of their farm's income per member of the household. In practice many small farm owners with very low incomes will continue paying similar rates as they do currently. However, those with larger farms will contribute more towards their future pensions. At present, only 5% of the cost of farmer pensions is covered by farmer social contributions. According to estimates in the Hausner plan, this change is expected to save zł.2 billion annually. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1) T.J.