ACC levy: what it is and how it’s worked out

ACC levies pay for injury cover in New Zealand. If you’re self-employed, a shareholder-employee or an employer, ACC invoices you after you’ve filed your tax return — Inland Revenue passes your income and your business code on to ACC. How much you pay comes down to three things: what you earn or pay in wages, what kind of work you do, and that year’s rates.

The three levies on an invoice

Work levy — covers injuries at work. Its rate depends on your classification unit (CU), the five-digit code for your line of work. In 2026/27 the rates run from $0.02 to $5.29 per $100 of liable income.
Earners’ levy — covers injuries outside work. A flat $1.52 per $100 in 2026/27. Employees pay it through PAYE; self-employed people and shareholder-employees not paid through PAYE see it on their invoice. Employers’ invoices don’t carry it.
Working Safer levy — collected for WorkSafe New Zealand. A flat $0.08 per $100.

All three rates are quoted before GST; GST is added on the invoice.

Sources: ACC Levy Guidebook 2026/27 (checked 30 September 2026); ACC Levy Guidebooks 2022/23 to 2026/27, levy rate tables (cross-checked against the schedules of the Work Account Levies Regulations 2022 and 2025 — 8,055 figures, no differences, checked 25 September 2026); ACC — Understand your CoverPlus invoice (last published 22 September 2025, checked 30 September 2026); ACC — Understand your WorkPlace Cover invoice (last published 22 September 2025, checked 30 September 2026); ACC — Cover for shareholder-employees (last published 18 May 2023, checked 30 September 2026)

How each levy is worked out

Each levy is your liable income × the rate ÷ 100. On $100,000 of self-employed income as a carpenter (CU 42420, $1.76 in 2026/27): Work levy $1,760.00, Earners’ levy $1,520.00 and Working Safer levy $80.00. That’s $3,360.00 before GST and $3,864.00 with it.

Two limits apply. Income above $156,641 isn’t levied in 2026/27. And if you’re self-employed and full-time — on average more than 30 hours a week — but earn less than $50,501, you’re levied as if you’d earned $50,501, less anything you earned as an employee that year.

Sources: ACC levy calculator — CoverPlus (2026/27, CU 78420, three income levels compared to the cent, checked 22 September 2026); ACC — Calculating your levies: minimum and maximum liable income levels (checked 22 September 2026); Accident Compensation (Work Account Levies) Regulations 2025 (SL 2025/17) (regs 6, 7 and 9, checked 23 September 2026); ACC — Understanding your levy invoice (last published 16 September 2025, checked 30 September 2026)

Who pays what

Self-employed and contractors: a CoverPlus invoice with all three levies, based on the income in your IR3 (or IR7 for a partnership). ACC sends these around September.
Employers: a WorkPlace Cover invoice with the Work levy and Working Safer levy on your liable payroll, from what you declared to Inland Revenue through the employer schedule.
Shareholder-employees: if the company pays you through PAYE, you’re covered under its WorkPlace Cover. If not, ACC invoices your shareholder salary for all three levies, usually in July or August.
Employees: the Earners’ levy comes out of your pay through PAYE; your employer pays the Work levy.

Sources: ACC — Cover for self-employed (last published 14 March 2024, checked 30 September 2026); ACC — Understand your CoverPlus invoice (last published 22 September 2025, checked 30 September 2026); ACC — Understand your WorkPlace Cover invoice (last published 22 September 2025, checked 30 September 2026); ACC — Cover for shareholder-employees (last published 18 May 2023, checked 30 September 2026); ACC Levy Guidebook 2026/27 (checked 30 September 2026)

Final and provisional levies

An employer’s or shareholder-employee’s invoice usually carries two amounts: a final levy that settles last year on the earnings actually declared, and a provisional levy for the current year, estimated from last year’s figures plus an adjustment for expected pay rises or inflation. What was charged provisionally is credited against the final.

Sources: ACC — Understand your WorkPlace Cover invoice (last published 22 September 2025, checked 30 September 2026); ACC — Cover for shareholder-employees (last published 18 May 2023, checked 30 September 2026); ACC — annotated sample invoice (WorkPlace Cover, shareholder-employees) (checked 30 September 2026)

The part you can check

The earnings come from Inland Revenue and the flat levies are the same for everyone. What’s specific to you is the classification unit — and it’s often picked once, at registration, and never looked at again. Carpentry (42420) is $1.76 per $100 in 2026/27; office administrative services (78540) is $0.21. On $100,000 of income that’s $1,550 a year.

If your business has changed, or the code never fitted, you can ask ACC to change it.

Sources: ACC Levy Guidebooks 2022/23 to 2026/27, levy rate tables (cross-checked against the schedules of the Work Account Levies Regulations 2022 and 2025 — 8,055 figures, no differences, checked 25 September 2026); ACC Levy Guidebook 2026/27 (checked 30 September 2026); ACC — Sort out a problem with your levy invoice (last published 16 September 2025, checked 30 September 2026)

Check whether the code on your invoice fits the work you actually do. Check your invoice — free