ACC CoverPlus Extra Levies in NZ (2026): How They're Calculated and How to Lower Them Legally

ACC CoverPlus Extra levies come from your classification unit, your chosen cover level and a couple of flat levies stacked on top. Here is how each part is worked out, why your invoice can include a wash-up, and the legitimate ways to bring the bill down.

If you run ACC CoverPlus Extra (CPX), the levy that turns up each year can feel like a single, fixed number you have no control over. It is not. The bill is built from a few separate parts, and once you can see each one, it becomes much clearer where the figure comes from and where it can legitimately be reduced. The most common reason people overpay is not anything exotic — it is a classification or a cover level that no longer matches what they actually do or earn.

This guide walks through how a CPX levy is calculated, what each component does, why your invoice sometimes carries a "wash-up", and the lawful ways to bring it down. The figures below are for the 2025/26 levy year, the year in force as at 14 April 2026.

TL;DR: A CPX levy stacks three things: a Work Account levy set by your classification unit (scheme average $0.66 per $100), a flat Earners' levy of $1.67 per $100, and the Working Safer levy of $0.08 per $100.¹³⁸ All three are charged on your chosen CPX cover level, not your filed income, so the cover figure and a correct classification are the two real levers.⁵

How are ACC CoverPlus Extra levies calculated?

CoverPlus Extra lets the self-employed agree a fixed amount of cover with ACC up front, paid out in full if an injury stops you working, instead of ACC reconstructing your income at claim time.⁵ The trade-off is that your levy is charged on that agreed cover level rather than on whatever income you happen to file.

In broad terms, the calculation is your chosen cover level multiplied by a combined levy rate. That combined rate is made up of three separate levies added together:

• The Work Account levy, set by your industry classification — the only part that varies by what you do.¹
• The Earners' levy, a flat rate everyone pays.¹
• The Working Safer levy, a small flat rate that funds WorkSafe New Zealand.⁸

Because all three apply to the cover level you pick, the cover figure is the single biggest driver of the total. A higher agreed cover means more paid out if you are hurt — and a proportionately higher levy each year. Most of the rest of this guide is about the components behind that headline.

What is a classification unit and why does it set your rate?

A classification unit (CU) is the code ACC uses to describe what your business actually does, and it sets the Work Account levy rate.¹ Each CU reflects how much injury risk ACC associates with that activity, so a roofer, an accountant and a hairdresser sit in different units at different rates.

This matters because the spread is wide. The scheme-average Work levy is $0.66 per $100 of liable earnings, but individual CUs sit well above or below that — from a few cents to several dollars per $100.³ Two people on the same CPX cover level can pay very different Work levies purely because they are coded differently.

The Earners' and Working Safer levies do not move with your CU; they are the same rate for everyone. So when people overpay through misclassification, it is always the Work Account portion that is wrong. An incorrect CU is the most common cause of paying the wrong Work levy, and because it repeats on every annual invoice, a wrong code can quietly cost for years. Our deep guide to CoverPlus Extra goes further into how the cover itself works alongside the levy.

How does your chosen cover level change your levy?

With CPX you choose your cover level, and that figure is what the combined levy rate is applied to.⁵ It is a straight trade-off: more cover gives you more certainty about what ACC will pay if an injury stops you working, but it raises the levy in proportion.

For the 2025/26 levy year you could set CPX cover anywhere between roughly $39,492 and $122,232 a year.⁵ (Those bands move with wage inflation each April — ACC has set $40,401 to $125,313 for the year from 1 April 2026.⁵) Within that band, the number you pick should reflect the income you would genuinely lose, not the slim figure you might file in a quiet year.

It is worth keeping the cover level honest in both directions. Set it too low to save on the levy and you under-insure the income you actually rely on; set it far above your real earnings and you pay for cover ACC may not pay out in full, since weekly compensation is designed to replace lost income rather than create a windfall. The aim is a cover level that matches your real economic income.

What is the Work Account levy vs the Earners' levy?

These two levies fund different things and behave differently, and people often confuse them. The simplest way to keep them straight is by what each one covers.

Figures are for the 2025/26 levy year (1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026), correct as at 14 April 2026. The Earners' levy is capped: maximum liable earnings of $152,790 give a maximum Earners' levy of $2,551.59.² Rates and bands change each April, so check current figures before relying on them.¹

The distinction matters because the Work Account levy is the only one your classification touches. The Earners' levy funds cover for injuries that happen away from work — the weekend DIY mishap, the social game of touch — and it is the same rate for a roofer and a desk-based consultant.¹ The Working Safer levy is a small flat amount funding WorkSafe.⁸ So when you look at where a CPX levy can move, the cover level moves all three, but classification only moves the Work portion.

Here is roughly how the three stack up on a $80,000 CPX cover level, using the scheme-average Work rate:

``` SAMPLE CPX LEVY — $80,000 cover level, 2025/26 (illustrative)

Work Account CU rate x cover $0.66 x 800 = $528 (varies by CU) Earners' levy $1.67 x 800 = $1,336 (flat, capped) Working Safer $0.08 x 800 = $64 (flat)

Indicative total ~ $1,928

Change the CU and only the Work Account line moves; change the cover level and all three lines move together. ```

Illustration only, scheme-average Work levy applied; your CU rate and cover level will differ. Sources: IRD, MBIE and ACC rate tables.<sup>138</sup>

How do safety records and experience rating affect levies?

ACC operates programmes that adjust some businesses' Work levy up or down based on their injury and claims history — broadly described as experience rating. The idea is that a workplace with a strong safety record and fewer claims can pay less, while one with a poorer record can pay more. For most very small or one-person self-employed operations the effect is limited, because these programmes generally apply once a business is above a certain levy or payroll size.

The practical point for CPX holders is that classification and cover level are the parts you can influence directly and immediately, whereas experience rating is a longer-term reflection of claims history. A clean safety record is worth maintaining for its own sake, but for a sole operator the quickest wins are usually a correct CU and a cover level that fits — not chasing a rating adjustment that may not apply at your scale.

Why does your ACC invoice sometimes include a wash-up?

A wash-up happens because ACC often levies you partly in advance. For standard self-employed cover, ACC may estimate your liable earnings for the year ahead and then reconcile once your actual income is known, charging or refunding the difference — that reconciliation is the wash-up line people sometimes see.

CPX is a little cleaner here, because the levy is based on the cover level you agreed rather than on income ACC has to estimate.<sup>5</sup> But you can still see adjustments — for example if your cover level changed partway through a year, if a classification was corrected, or where standard CoverPlus and CPX periods overlap during a switch. If a wash-up looks larger than you expect, it is worth checking which year and which cover figure it relates to before assuming it is wrong. Often it is simply a timing adjustment, not an error.

What are the legitimate ways to reduce your ACC levies?

There is no trick to this, and anything that involves misdescribing your business or under-stating income you genuinely rely on is not a saving — it is a misclassification or an under-insurance that can come back to bite you at claim time. The legitimate levers are straightforward:

• Confirm your classification unit is correct. If the CU on file describes riskier work than you actually do, you are paying a higher Work levy than you should. Checking it against your real activity is the single most effective review for many people.<sup>13</sup>
• Set your cover level to your real income, not above it. CPX cover above the income you would genuinely lose costs more in levy without buying cover ACC will necessarily pay in full.<sup>5</sup>
• Use the multiple-activity rules if you do more than one thing. Where your work spans activities at different risk levels, ACC has provisions so a small amount of higher-risk work does not drag your whole rate up — worth raising if it applies to you.
• Record part-time status where it applies. Self-employed people working under 30 hours a week can be treated as part-time and levied on actual earnings rather than the full-time minimum, but you have to tell ACC.<sup>4</sup>
• Keep your details current. Telling ACC when your activity or hours change keeps the levy aligned with what you actually do, rather than an old assumption.

Each of these is about paying the rate that genuinely matches your situation — not paying less than your real risk warrants. If you draw a PAYE salary from your own company, the picture has an extra layer; our guide for shareholder-employees on PAYE and CPX covers how classification and cover interact there.

When should you review your classification and cover level?

The natural moment is when the annual CPX invoice arrives, around April, because that is when new cover bands apply and any change to your agreed amount takes effect.<sup>5</sup> Beyond that, a few situations make a review worthwhile:

• Your work has changed. A trade that has shifted toward office-based work, or vice versa, may now sit in a different CU at a different rate.
• Your income has grown. A cover level set years ago — often at or near the minimum — can quietly fall behind the income you now rely on, leaving you under-insured.
• You have taken on, or dropped, a second activity. Adding or removing a line of work can change your classification and whether the multiple-activity rules apply.
• The bill jumped and you are not sure why. A levy that moves more than your income did is worth tracing back to its components before paying it on autopilot.

Reviewing these is housekeeping that can both save money and make sure your cover still fits. For a wider view of where ACC sits among the other cover a one-person business usually needs, see our self-employed financial checklist.

How this fits the rest of your self-employed cover

Getting the levy right is the cost side of the picture. The cover side is the bigger question, and it has one limit worth holding onto: ACC only ever covers injury. If illness is what stops you working — and for many self-employed people illness is the more likely reason they end up off work for an extended period — ACC generally pays nothing. CoverPlus Extra shares that limit; it pays out only when a covered injury, not an illness, stops you working.<sup>56</sup>

That gap is usually filled with private income protection, which can be arranged to pay for illness as well as accident and to sit alongside ACC so you are not insuring the same accident risk twice. As an independent adviser, Smiths can compare income protection across the major New Zealand insurers — Partners Life, AIA, Asteron, Fidelity, Chubb and Cigna among them — and line the wait and benefit periods up with what ACC already provides. Whether a claim is paid depends on the terms, conditions, exclusions, stand-down periods and underwriting of the specific policy, and on your disclosure, so the wording matters.

Frequently asked questions

How is an ACC CoverPlus Extra levy calculated? It is your chosen cover level multiplied by a combined rate made up of three levies: the Work Account levy set by your classification unit (scheme average $0.66 per $100), the flat Earners' levy ($1.67 per $100), and the Working Safer levy ($0.08 per $100).<sup>138</sup> All three apply to the cover level you agree with ACC, not to your filed income.<sup>5</sup>

Why is my CPX levy higher than someone else's on the same income? Most often it comes down to two things: your classification unit and your cover level. The Work Account levy varies widely by industry, so a higher-risk CU pays more on the same cover, while the cover level you each chose may differ.<sup>35</sup> The Earners' and Working Safer levies are the same rate for everyone.<sup>18</sup>

Can I lower my ACC levy legally? Yes — by confirming your classification unit matches what you actually do, setting your cover level to your real income, using the multiple-activity and part-time rules where they apply, and keeping ACC updated when your work changes.<sup>145</sup> These are about paying the rate that genuinely fits your situation, not under-stating your risk.

What is a levy wash-up on my ACC invoice? A wash-up is ACC reconciling estimated levies against your actual position once it is known, charging or refunding the difference. CPX levies are based on your agreed cover rather than estimated income, so they are cleaner, but you can still see adjustments after a cover-level change, a classification correction, or a switch between CoverPlus and CPX.<sup>5</sup>

Does choosing more CPX cover always cost more in levy? Yes. Because the levy is charged on your agreed cover level, a higher cover raises the levy in proportion.<sup>5</sup> More cover gives more certainty about what ACC pays if an injury stops you working, but it is worth matching the cover to the income you would genuinely lose rather than over-stating it.

Does my classification unit affect ACC weekly compensation? No. Your CU sets the Work Account levy rate — the cost side. What ACC pays you for a covered injury is based on your CPX cover level (up to 80% of pre-injury income for standard cover), subject to ACC's rules and statutory caps.<sup>567</sup> The CU drives what you pay, not what you receive.

This article is general information only and is not personalised financial advice. It does not take into account your particular financial situation, goals or needs. Before acting, consider whether it's right for you and seek advice tailored to your circumstances. Craig Smith Business Services Ltd (FSP712931), trading as Smiths Financial, holds a Class 2 licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority to provide financial advice, and is a member of the Financial Dispute Resolution Service (FDRS). Whether a claim is paid depends on the terms, conditions, exclusions, stand-down periods and underwriting of the specific policy, and on your disclosure. ACC levy figures, classification units, cover bands, thresholds and rates are set by Government and ACC and can change; figures are correct as at 14 April 2026 — check current figures at acc.co.nz and ird.govt.nz. Written by Henry Smith, Financial Adviser; reviewed by Craig Smith, Principal Adviser. Last reviewed 14 April 2026.