For the United States, the agreement applies to Social Security taxes related to the retirement, survivors, disability and health insurance (RSDHI) programs (i.e., Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes for employment and Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) taxes for self-employment, including the Medicare portion). Thus, if an employee is exempt from U.S. Social Security coverage and taxation under this agreement, neither the employee nor employer pays the FICA tax with respect to that employee for any period the exemption is effective. A self-employed person is also exempt from paying the SECA taxes (equivalent to the employee and employer share of the FICA tax) for any period the exemption is effective.

Poland has two major Social Security systems: the general system for non-agricultural workers, called the Social Insurance Institution (Zaklad Ubezpieczen Spolecznych [ZUS]); and the system for farmers, called the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (Kasa Rolniczego Ubezpieczenia Spolecznego [KRUS]). For both Polish systems, the agreement applies to taxes that finance:

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  retirement, survivors and disability benefits,

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  one-time indemnity,

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  work accident/occupational diseases, and

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  funeral grants