NZ ACC earner levy calculator

Estimate the employee earner levy

This calculator estimates the ACC earner levy on annual liable employment earnings for the 2026/27 tax year. It uses a GST-inclusive rate of 1.75% and maximum liable earnings of $156,641. The formula applies the rate to the smaller of your entered earnings and that cap. It therefore increases with earnings up to the cap and stays unchanged above it.

The result is only the earner levy component. It is not your total PAYE deduction and not a full ACC invoice for a self-employed person or employer. PAYE also contains income tax, while self-employed and employer levies can involve other components and classifications. If you are checking a salary payslip, use this figure alongside the income-tax calculation rather than adding it to a total that already includes ACC.

Five useful reference points

At zero liable earnings, the model returns zero. At $50,000, 1.75% gives $875. At $100,000, the estimate is $1,750. At the $156,641 cap, the unrounded calculation is $2,741.2175, displayed as $2,741.22. A $250,000 salary produces the same capped annual amount in this model. Those reference points make the cap's effect easier to inspect than a single percentage shown without an earnings limit.

For example, increasing a salary from $100,000 to $110,000 increases the annual earner levy estimate by $175. Increasing it from $200,000 to $210,000 does not increase this capped component. Income tax can still increase in both cases. The cap is specific to this levy calculation and should not be interpreted as a cap on all payroll deductions.

Why the tax year matters

The 2026/27 settings differ from the previous year. Reusing an older percentage or earnings cap can produce a discrepancy even if the multiplication is correct. This page's rates are stored in a versioned file with source links and a review date. Use the tax year matching the earnings you are checking rather than assuming the latest displayed rate applies to an earlier payslip or tax return.

The public ACC levy table presents some rates excluding GST, while payroll references can show the inclusive employee rate. Do not apply GST again to the 1.75% used here. The tool has already selected the inclusive rate for this employee estimate. Comparing unlike inclusive and exclusive figures can look like a rate error when the difference is actually the presentation basis.

Enter liable earnings consistently

For an ordinary salary scenario, begin with the annual employment earnings that are liable to the earner levy. The calculator does not determine the treatment of each pay component. If the income includes unusual payments or a mixture of employment and other income, confirm what belongs in the levy base before entering a total. A label such as income or payout is not enough to establish liability.

Do not enter net pay after tax or employee KiwiSaver. The levy calculation uses the appropriate earnings base before those cash deductions. If you only have a bank statement showing net deposits, obtain gross-pay records instead of trying to reverse the calculation with a guessed tax rate. The same net deposit can result from several different combinations of gross pay and deductions.

Annual estimate versus payroll withholding

This page rounds the annual estimate to cents. Payroll systems work with payment periods and may apply their own required rounding and year-to-date handling. Dividing the annual figure by 52 or 12 is useful for a budget, but it is not a guarantee that every payslip will contain precisely that amount. Irregular pay and multiple employment sources can complicate a comparison.

When reconciling a difference, first check the tax year, gross liable earnings and whether the amount you are comparing already includes income tax. Then look at the cap and any year-to-date adjustments. Avoid comparing an annual capped result directly with a single large pay period without considering the rest of the year's earnings. The annual view and the payroll view answer related but different questions.

Scope for contractors and employers

A contractor should not use this result as a complete forecast of an ACC bill. Work-related cover, business classification, liable income rules and other invoice components require additional information. An employer's levy obligations are also separate from the employee deduction modelled here. This narrow tool is useful precisely because it makes its one component explicit instead of presenting a falsely complete total.

If an ACC invoice appears inconsistent, use the invoice's breakdown and current ACC guidance to identify which levy component is in dispute. Confirm the earnings year, classification and earnings amount used in the invoice. This calculator can help check a straightforward earner-rate multiplication, but it cannot determine whether the other components or classification are correct.

Using the result responsibly

Save the earnings input, tax year and rate with any exported or copied result. For a salary budget, combine it with income tax and your actual other deductions. For a formal query, provide the source records rather than only a screenshot of the final number. The most useful comparison is one in which both calculations use the same base, period and levy component.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• ACC confirmed levy rates and caps
• IRD inclusive earner levy rate