A person registered as unemployed may run unregistered business activity only within a narrow scope: when they sell goods exclusively and their monthly revenue does not exceed half of the minimum wage — PLN 2,403 in 2026. Providing services under a mandate contract (umowa zlecenia), a specific-task contract (umowa o dzieło) or any other civil-law contract means losing the unemployed status, regardless of the amount. Below we explain where these two limits come from and how to stay safely within them.
Two different rulebooks, two different limits
Unregistered business activity stems from Poland's Business Activity Law and is not treated as regular business activity, provided that revenue in no quarter exceeds 225% of the minimum wage (PLN 10,813.50 in 2026). The basic rules of this form, including the condition of having had no registered business in the past 60 months, are described in our article Unregistered business activity in Poland 2026 — limits and rules.
Unemployed status, on the other hand, is governed by the Act on the labour market and employment services, in force since 2025. That act does not ask whether someone is an entrepreneur, but only whether:
- they do not perform "other paid work";
- they have no "stable source of income" — which includes any monthly revenue above half of the minimum wage.
In practice, this means an unemployed person must fit within both regimes at once. The quarterly limit on unregistered activity is of little relevance here, because the monthly cap from the labour market act will stop them much earlier.
Services are ruled out from the first contract
Under the statutory definition, "other paid work" means work or services provided under civil-law contracts: a mandate contract, a specific-task contract, an agency contract or a service-provision contract to which the mandate rules apply. Anyone who provides services to clients within unregistered activity typically concludes exactly such contracts (even orally). The biznes.gov.pl portal states expressly that an unemployed person cannot run unregistered activity based on civil-law contracts, because they then lose their status.
The level of pay is irrelevant here. A one-off apartment cleaning for PLN 150, private lessons or a flyer design made for a neighbour already counts as other paid work.
Sales of goods — allowed, but with a monthly cap
Things are different when the activity consists solely of concluding sales contracts: for own products, handicrafts or items bought for resale. A sales contract is not "other paid work", so by itself it does not strip someone of their status. The second condition — revenue — still applies, however.
| Parameter | Value in 2026 | Settlement period |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum wage | PLN 4,806 | monthly |
| Cap for keeping unemployed status (50%) | PLN 2,403 | monthly |
| Unregistered activity limit (225%) | PLN 10,813.50 | quarterly |
The monthly cap excludes interest and other income from money kept in bank accounts and credit unions. The labour market act refers to income subject to PIT, and in unregistered activity the taxable revenue is the amount actually received from buyers. The safest approach is therefore to add up receipts each month and stay well below the threshold — in case of doubt as to how to count, it is worth asking directly at the county labour office.
Example: three months of candle sales
Ms Ewa is registered as unemployed and receives benefits. From January 2026, she sells handmade candles online:
- January — receipts of PLN 1,700: within the cap, status preserved;
- February — receipts of PLN 2,050: still below PLN 2,403;
- March — before the holidays, receipts rise to PLN 2,900: the cap is exceeded, so a stable source of income appears and gives grounds for loss of status.
Over the quarter, Ms Ewa earned a total of PLN 6,650 — far from the PLN 10,813.50 limit. Her unregistered activity is therefore fine, but her unemployed status — no longer. If, in March, she had instead accepted a single order to decorate a hall for PLN 300, the result would have been the same, albeit for a completely different reason.
Duties towards the labour office
The act sets two seven-day deadlines:
- the unemployed person submits an income declaration to the PUP (county labour office) within 7 days of receiving the income — even when it stays within the cap;
- the unemployed person notifies the PUP within 7 days of taking up other paid work or of filing an application for a CEIDG entry, and of any other circumstances that cause loss of the right to benefits.
The income declaration is submitted under criminal liability for false statements. Concealing income risks loss of status and an obligation to return benefits received without entitlement, so it is worth keeping a simplified sales record from the very first transaction.
Checklist before you start selling
- Make sure you offer only goods and not services — including "incidental" ones (assembly, custom personalisation treated as a specific-task service, workshops).
- Set a monthly ceiling on receipts with a buffer below PLN 2,403.
- Keep a sales record day by day and retain payment confirmations.
- File income declarations with the PUP within 7 days.
- After year-end, settle the income from unregistered activity in a PIT-36 return.
If sales grow faster than the cap allows, it is more sensible to give up the status and consciously choose a form for further activity — stay unregistered or set up a business. The registration procedure is described in our guide How to set up a JDG in 2026; a new entrepreneur may use the start-up relief in ZUS for the first 6 months.
How Good Balance helps
We help assess whether a planned earning activity will allow you to keep your unemployed status, we prepare a sales-record template and we settle the income in a PIT-36 return. When your revenue outgrows unregistered activity, we guide you through company registration as part of our sole proprietorship support service.