Sole proprietor working for another sole proprietor: when you may not have to pay SSC for yourself

If you are registered as a sole proprietor (FOP) and work under an employment contract at another entrepreneur’s shop, you are exempt from paying the single social contribution (SSC) for yourself for each month for which your employer actually paid at least the minimum insurance contribution for you. In 2026, this threshold is UAH 1,902.34 per month. Part 6 of Article 4 of Law No. 2464-VI does not require the shop to be your primary place of work.

Check the contribution separately for each month. An employment contract or salary payment alone does not confirm that the exemption condition has been met. If your employer paid less than the minimum or paid nothing, check the rules for your tax system and any other grounds for exemption before determining your SSC liability as a sole proprietor.

How entrepreneur and employee status work together

A sole proprietor can work under an employment contract for another sole proprietor. Article 50 of the Civil Code of Ukraine governs an individual’s business activity, while Article 21 of the Labour Code governs work under an employment contract. At the shop, you receive a salary as an employee. You continue to conduct your own business separately.

Your employee salary is not turnover of your sole proprietorship. The employer acts as the tax agent for your salary. Income from your own trade or other business activity is accounted for under the rules of your chosen tax system. Exemption from SSC for yourself does not cancel your business taxes or the related reporting obligations.

Under the general tax system, other personal income is taxed under the general rules for individuals, as provided by paragraph 177.6 of the Tax Code. At the same time, paragraph 177.11 requires you to report other income alongside business income in your annual tax return. Reporting salary in the return does not turn it into business revenue.

Which months qualify for the SSC exemption

Part 6 of Article 4 of Law No. 2464-VI applies to sole proprietors under both the general and simplified tax systems. To qualify for the exemption for a particular month, your employer must pay an insurance contribution for you of at least the minimum amount.

• The minimum contribution or more was paid. You are exempt from paying SSC for yourself for that month. The State Tax Service also explains that there are no legal grounds for you to pay SSC for yourself independently for such a month.
• Less than the minimum contribution was paid. The exemption condition under Part 6 of Article 4 has not been met. This provision allows you to determine the contribution base independently for that month. You must also take Article 7 and any other grounds for exemption into account.
• No contribution was paid. There is no confirmed ground for exemption based on payment by your employer. Check why the payment is missing and what obligations you have as a sole proprietor.

Paying more than the minimum contribution in one month does not replace the contribution for another month. For example, a payment of UAH 3,000 for January does not confirm exemption for February if no contribution was paid for February.

Secondary employment, reduced working hours, or starting or ending employment partway through a month may affect the amount of the employer’s contribution. For your exemption, the decisive factor remains the amount actually paid for the relevant month.

Minimum and maximum SSC in 2026

Article 8 of the Law on the State Budget of Ukraine for 2026 sets the monthly minimum wage at UAH 8,647. Under Part 5 of Article 8 of Law No. 2464-VI, the SSC rate for a sole proprietor paying for themselves is 22%.

Minimum contribution: UAH 8,647 × 22% = UAH 1,902.34 per month.

For business income, the maximum contribution base in 2026 is 20 minimum wages under Article 32 of the budget law: UAH 8,647 × 20 = UAH 172,940. SSC at 22% of this base is UAH 38,046.80 per month.

Do not automatically apply the 22% rate when checking any salary contribution paid by your employer: the law provides for special rates and rules. Compare the minimum contribution with the amount your employer actually paid for you.

How to check your employer’s payments month by month

1. Get your information from the Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU). Sign in to the PFU electronic services web portal. Review the “My Insurance Record” and “My Salary” sections and the data for the relevant months. The salary section can help you check the income on which SSC was calculated.
2. Request an OK-5 certificate. Following the PFU instructions, open “Communications with the PFU” → “Request for electronic documents,” select OK-5, fill in the fields, provide the required consent, and submit the request. The document will appear in “My Requests.” OK-5 contains information about salary, insurance record, and contribution payments; the electronic certificate is equivalent to the paper version.
3. Check the data with your employer. Ask for a month-by-month calculation of SSC specifically for you and proof of its payment. Your personal details, accrual month, contribution amount, and payment should match across the documents.
4. Compare the confirmed amount with the threshold. For each month in 2026, check whether at least UAH 1,902.34 was paid.
5. Record the result. Keep a table with the month, the employer’s contribution, supporting documents, the exemption ground, or the SSC amount due from you.

A payslip confirms that salary and a contribution were accrued. The exemption requires actual payment. Check the employer’s total payment for all employees together with the individualised records: the total alone does not show how much was paid specifically for you.

If recent data is not yet available from the PFU, ask your employer whether the relevant report has been filed and whether the payment has been made. A missing record needs to be checked. If the records do not match, contact the PFU about your individualised data and the State Tax Service about payment records and your obligations.

Under Part 8 of Article 9 of Law No. 2464-VI, the employer pays SSC when paying salary; the general monthly deadline for paying the accrued contribution is no later than the 20th of the following month. Therefore, make your final check after the relevant payment and repeat it after any report or payment is corrected.

What to do if less than the minimum was paid

First, find out why. A lower amount may follow from the rules for calculating SSC or result from an error or incomplete payment. If your employer corrects an error, get confirmation of the correction and check the contribution for the same month again.

Part 6 of Article 4 says that sole proprietors “may be payers” if they independently determine the base. It does not require you to pay the difference between your employer’s contribution and the minimum. If you determine your own base under this provision, your SSC for yourself must be at least the full minimum contribution, and the base must not exceed the maximum.

For example, your employer paid UAH 1,100 for you. The difference to the minimum is UAH 802.34. Part 6 of Article 4 does not provide for you to pay that UAH 802.34 as your own SSC. If you determine your own base, your contribution must be at least UAH 1,902.34.

At the same time, the word “may” does not override other provisions of the law. To determine your obligation for a month that does not qualify for the exemption, take your tax system into account:

• Simplified tax system. Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Article 7 provides for you to determine the base independently and pay a contribution of at least the minimum. Having no business turnover is not, by itself, a ground for exemption. Apply this rule together with Part 6 of Article 4 and any other benefits that apply to you.
• General tax system. Under paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Article 7, the base is taxable income — profit from business activity. For a month with such income, the contribution must be at least the minimum. For a month with no income, the law gives you the right to determine the base independently; if you use that right, the contribution must also be at least the minimum.

If your employer’s contribution is below the minimum and you plan not to accrue SSC for yourself, check which specific provision supports that decision, taking your tax system and income into account. If the application of Part 6 of Article 4 and Article 7 is disputed, obtain a written position from the State Tax Service based on your circumstances.

What to do if your employer paid nothing

Ask your employer to check the accrual, reporting, and payment for the specific month. If a contribution was due, the employer must meet its own obligation. Your payment as a sole proprietor does not settle the employer’s salary-related liability.

For your own SSC, check Article 7 and any separate exemptions. If no other benefit applies, a sole proprietor under the simplified system follows the minimum-contribution rule. A sole proprietor under the general system determines the contribution with regard to business profit; for a month without profit, independently determining the base is a right.

If your employer later pays at least the minimum contribution for that month, check your own accruals and payments again. This can help identify any amount you paid for yourself for a month that now meets the exemption condition.

Example: checking three months

The following are illustrative amounts actually paid by an employer for an employee who is also a sole proprietor. They are not a salary calculation or a universal rule for calculating an employer’s contribution.

If, after checking, the sole proprietor must pay the minimum contribution for February and March, the quarterly amount will be UAH 1,902.34 × 2 = UAH 3,804.68. This calculation applies on the assumption that the minimum base applies for both months and no other exemption is available.

Other exemptions to take into account

If your employer’s contribution is insufficient, check whether you have a separate ground for not paying SSC for yourself.

If, as an SSC payer, your registered location or place of residence is in a temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, paragraph 9-3 of Section VIII of Law No. 2464-VI exempts you from the obligations under Article 6 and suspends the application of Articles 25 and 26 for the period of the relevant special legal regime. This ground requires you to check both the status of the territory as temporarily occupied and your registered location or place of residence. Being in an area of hostilities does not, by itself, establish this exemption.

• Pension or disability. Part 4 of Article 4 exempts sole proprietors who receive an old-age or service pension, are persons with disabilities, or have reached the age specified in Article 26 of the Law on Compulsory State Pension Insurance and receive a pension or social assistance in accordance with the law. Voluntary participation for these individuals is governed separately.
• Military service, if applicable to you. Paragraph 9-2 of Section VIII of Law No. 2464-VI covers conscription during mobilisation, assignment to perform mobilisation duties in wartime establishment positions, and contract service; paragraph 9-18 covers the conscription of persons from among reservists during a special period. Sole proprietors who are not employers are exempt from the obligations under Part 2 of Article 6 for the entire period of the relevant service. The basis is information received by the State Tax Service from the Unified State Register of Conscripts, Persons Liable for Military Service and Reservists. If the information is missing or was not received by the State Tax Service, submit an application and a copy of your military ID or another document from a state authority containing information about your conscription; for contract service, submit a copy of the contract. Under these paragraphs, enforcement measures under Article 25 are also suspended for the period of the relevant service. If any obligations that arose before or during your service remain outstanding because of your service, exemption from liability requires you to file reports within 150 calendar days and pay the SSC due within 180 calendar days from the date of demobilisation, discharge from service, or the end of treatment or rehabilitation.

The general wartime right not to pay SSC for yourself under paragraph 9-19 of Section VIII is suspended in 2026 by paragraph 3 of the Final Provisions of the Law on the State Budget of Ukraine for 2026. The fact that martial law is in force is not, by itself, enough to apply this exemption in 2026.

How to keep proof and avoid paying the contribution twice

Keep documents by month so you can match your employment, your employer’s contribution, and your own SSC decision:

• available documents showing your work at the shop — employment contract, order, or directive;
• OK-5 certificates, and OK-7 certificates if needed, together with information from the PFU;
• monthly calculations from your employer and proof of payment linked to your individualised data;
• your own tracking table, tax returns, filing receipts, and payment documents;
• documents supporting another exemption, if you rely on one.

Before making a quarterly payment, total only the months for which you have determined your own SSC. Part 8 of Article 9 of Law No. 2464-VI requires a sole proprietor to pay the contribution accrued for the quarter before the 20th day of the month following the quarter.

Check the monthly data again before filing your reports. Do not include your own accrual for months covered by the exemption because your employer paid enough. Information about your own SSC is submitted as part of the relevant tax return: for the general tax system, this is required by paragraph 177.11 of the Tax Code; for the single tax, by paragraphs 296.2 and 296.3.

If you have already paid SSC for yourself for an exempt month, contact the State Tax Service to reconcile your accruals and payments. If needed, correct your reports and arrange for the mistakenly paid amount to be credited or refunded. Part 13 of Article 9 of Law No. 2464-VI provides for an erroneous payment to be credited toward future SSC payments or refunded under the established procedure. First establish whether the payment was in fact erroneous.

What to do if the State Tax Service sends a demand for arrears

Compare the months listed in the demand with your employer’s payment documents and any other exemptions. Submit supporting documents to the State Tax Service. A request to reconcile your records does not replace an appeal against the demand. Under the general rule in Part 4 of Article 25, arrears, penalties, and interest must be paid within ten calendar days of receiving the demand, or the demand must be appealed in time. For demands based on documentary audits, take into account the special procedure in paragraph 9-24, described below.

If you are required to pay your own SSC and pay late, Article 25 provides for a penalty of 20% of the amount not paid on time and late-payment interest of 0.1% of the arrears for each day of delay, from the first day after the payment deadline through and including the day of actual payment. For additional assessments of SSC that was not accrued on time, the penalty is 10% of the additionally assessed amount for each full or partial reporting period, but no more than 50% of that amount in total. No limitation period applies to the assessment and collection of arrears, penalties, or interest. The general wartime rules in paragraphs 9-21 and 9-22 on not applying penalties and not charging interest cover periods before 1 August 2023; they do not apply to violations in 2026. Separate exemptions from liability apply on their own terms.

Under Part 4 of Article 25 of Law No. 2464-VI, a complaint to a higher-level tax authority must be filed within ten calendar days following the day you receive the demand, with notice to the authority that issued it. The law also provides for court appeals. Self-assessed SSC liabilities cannot be appealed — an erroneous self-accrual must be corrected by amending the reports.

Paragraph 9-24 of Section VIII applies to SSC assessed following documentary audits that were resumed or started from 1 August 2023 and completed before the day martial law ends or is cancelled. If you pay the SSC assessed by the audit within 30 calendar days starting the day after receiving the demand, the penalties applied to that amount are deemed cancelled and no interest is charged. The SSC, penalty, and interest amounts specified in the demand or decision are considered not yet agreed until paid in full, but no longer than 30 calendar days starting the day after receiving the demand or decision. The time limits in Article 25 apply subject to this special period. SSC paid under this procedure cannot be appealed. Before paying, check the audit dates, the grounds for the demand, and evidence of your exemption.

Takeaway for a sole proprietor working in a shop

For each month in 2026 for which your employer actually paid at least UAH 1,902.34 in SSC for you, do not accrue SSC for yourself. Keep proof of payment for each month. If the contribution was lower or absent, find out why, check for other exemptions, and determine your obligations under your tax system. If you independently determine the base under Part 6 of Article 4, your own contribution must be at least the full UAH 1,902.34. Check the data again before quarterly payment and filing your tax return. Account for your salary and your own business income separately, and meet your business tax obligations under your tax system.

Official sources

• Law of Ukraine “On the Collection and Accounting of the Single Contribution to Compulsory State Social Insurance” No. 2464-VI: paragraphs 1 and 4 of Part 1, Parts 4 and 6 of Article 4; paragraphs 1–3 of Part 1 of Article 7; Parts 5 and 13 of Article 8; Parts 2, 8, 10, and 13 of Article 9; Part 4 of Article 25; paragraphs 9-2, 9-18, 9-19, and 9-24 of Section VIII.
• Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2026” No. 4695-IX: Articles 8 and 32, paragraph 3 of the Final Provisions.
• Tax Code of Ukraine No. 2755-VI: paragraphs 177.1, 177.2, 177.6, 177.7, and 177.11; paragraph 292.1; paragraphs 296.2 and 296.3; subparagraphs 1.1, 1.2, and 1.4 of paragraph 16-1 of Subsection 10 of Section XX.
• Labour Code of Ukraine No. 322-VIII: Article 21.
• Civil Code of Ukraine No. 435-IV: Article 50.
• State Tax Service explanation of 02.02.2026 on the SSC exemption for sole proprietors: application of Part 6 of Article 4 of Law No. 2464-VI when the employer pays enough or less than the minimum.
• PFU: “OK-5 certificate: how to obtain it online on the Pension Fund of Ukraine electronic services web portal”: certificate contents and how to obtain it.
• PFU: “How to check insurance contribution payments online”: checking individualised records and using OK-5 and OK-7 certificates.