Sodra and health insurance (PSD) for the self-employed in Lithuania 2026

This guide is about individual activity (individuali veikla): working for yourself as a private person, registered with VMI, the State Tax Inspectorate. Income tax is covered in the individual activity tax guide.

What you pay Sodra

Sodra is the State Social Insurance Fund. It collects two contributions from the self-employed, both worked out on the same base.

• VSD, state social insurance. It builds your Sodra pension record and covers sickness and maternity benefits.
• PSD, compulsory health insurance.

The base is 90% of your taxable profit from individual activity, before VSD and PSD themselves are deducted. It is capped at 43 times VDU, the average monthly wage: €99,422.45 for 2026.

Contribution	Rate on the base	Most you pay in 2026
VSD	12.52%	€12,447.69
VSD with the extra 3% pension contribution	15.52%	€15,430.36
PSD	6.98%	€6,939.69

The extra 3% applies only if you have chosen to pay into a pension accumulation fund.

The PSD minimum

If no job or other source covers your health insurance, PSD has a floor. It is 6.98% of MMA, the minimum monthly wage, which is €1,153.00 in 2026.

Amount	2026
Minimum for each month of activity	€80.48
Minimum for a full year	€965.75
Most you pay on the capped base	€6,939.69

The yearly minimum is 6.98% of 12 times MMA. It is a cent less than 12 × €80.48, because Sodra rounds once for the year rather than every month.

The minimum applies even in a month with no profit, as long as your activity is registered. If 6.98% of your base comes to more, you pay that instead.

Example: €10,000.00 of profit

These figures come from the same calculation as the individual activity tax calculator: 12 months of activity in 2026, actual expenses and no extra 3% pension contribution.

Line	No other health insurance	Insured through a job
Sodra base (90%)	€9,000.00	€9,000.00
VSD (12.52%)	€1,126.80	€1,126.80
PSD at 6.98%	€628.20	€628.20
PSD you pay	€965.75	€628.20

Without other insurance, 6.98% comes to less than the yearly minimum, so you pay the minimum.

When the minimum does not apply

You do not pay the monthly minimum if someone already pays PSD for you, or you pay it another way. Sodra gives these examples:

• you also work under an employment contract;
• you are a civil servant or an officer;
• you receive sickness, maternity or childcare benefit;
• you are insured by the state, for example because you have the required pension record or you study full time.

Only the minimum goes away. PSD of 6.98% on your individual activity base still applies.

Your first year: VSD relief

Sodra says you may skip VSD “in the first year of self-employment” if you start self-employment for the first time after 2018⁠-⁠01⁠-⁠01, or if 10 years have passed since the last day of your previous self-employment. You do not need to tell Sodra. Check with Sodra which period counts as your first year.

• It is a choice. For the months you do not pay VSD, your individual activity builds no record for the old-age pension or for sickness, maternity, childcare and other benefits.
• It covers VSD only. PSD, including the minimum, still applies.

Sodra also lets you skip VSD if you receive a social insurance old-age, disability or incapacity pension, receive a social assistance pension or compensation (except an orphan’s social assistance pension), or have reached pension age.

When to pay

• The monthly PSD minimum is due by the last day of each month.
• The difference for the year, once your profit is known, is due at the start of May of the following year. Sodra’s pages give different dates, so check the exact day with Sodra.

These are payment deadlines. They do not tell you when your health insurance starts, which we have not checked for foreigners with a temporary residence permit. See what this guide does not cover.

Working in several EU countries: the A1 certificate

An A1 certificate shows that you are covered by state social insurance in only one country for the period on it. If Sodra issues it, you pay social insurance only in Lithuania, including on the work you do abroad. You usually need one if you are employed or self-employed in more than one EU country, or employed in one and self-employed in another. The EU rules are in Regulation (EC) No 883/2004.

• You apply yourself, through your personal Sodra account, with documents that show your activity in Lithuania and abroad. If you are not a Lithuanian citizen, add a certified copy of your ID.
• Sodra’s Vilnius branch (Laisvės pr. 28, LT-04340 Vilnius) issues A1 certificates and decides within 20 working days of receiving all documents.
• Tell Sodra about any change within 5 working days.

Health insurance in one country only

You can be health-insured in only one EU country at a time. If you are socially insured in another EU or EEA state, Switzerland or the UK, Sodra accepts proof of that when it recalculates a PSD debt. The documents are listed in the next section.

If you leave Lithuania

If you leave for more than 6 months, declare your departure so that PSD stops being calculated. You can do this at the eldership (seniūnija) or municipality where your residence is declared, or at a Lithuanian embassy or consulate. It takes effect no earlier than the day you submit it.

If you leave without declaring and stop paying PSD, your health insurance stops and Sodra starts counting a debt. After you return, you cannot get free treatment until it is paid.

Sodra can recalculate the debt if you give it one of these:

• an A1 certificate;
• another certificate from the competent institution showing you were socially insured in an EU or EEA state, Switzerland or the UK;
• a P45 or P60, from the UK or Ireland.

Other documents, and insurance in other countries, do not remove the PSD obligation.

Help in English

• Sodra: the Sodra website is mostly in Lithuanian, and we found no English phone line.
• VMI: for the tax side, call +370 5 260 5060 and press 9 for consultations in English. Monday to Thursday 8:00⁠–⁠17:00, Friday 8:00⁠–⁠15:45; on the second Friday of the month until 12:00.
• International House: VMI specialists also consult at International House in Vilnius and Klaipėda.

What this guide does not cover

• Whether self-employment you had in another country counts when Sodra decides if this is your first year. Ask Sodra.
• Sodra for farmers or members of a company, and Sodra rules for the business certificate beyond its months of PSD.
• Unemployment insurance and how much pension or benefit your contributions buy.
• The exact date for paying the yearly difference. Check with Sodra.
• When your health insurance starts if you hold a temporary residence permit, and whether you should pay PSD in advance for that. Check with Sodra.
• Whether the basis on which your residence permit was granted allows self-employment. Ask the Migration Department.