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ACC Earners' Levy rate, maximum liable earnings cap & 80% weekly compensation ceiling
Ticker:
acc-earners-levy-cap • Observation Period: 2026/27 Tax Year (from 1 April 2026) (Period End: 2026-04-30) • Last Checked: 10 November 2026 • Creator: Andy PalliserAlso known as: IRD / ACC PAYE Earners' Levy rate & maximum covered salary cap (2026/27)
For the 2026/27 tax year, the ACC Earners' Levy is $1.75 per $100 (1.75% incl. GST) up to a Maximum Liable Earnings cap of $156,641 (a maximum annual levy of $2,741.22), capping ACC's 80% weekly compensation at $125,312.80/year ($2,409.86/week gross).
Official dataACC / IRD 2026/27 Statutory Schedule: Earners' levy = $1.75 per $100 incl. GST ($1.52 excl. GST); Maximum liable earnings = $156,641 (vs $152,790 in 2025/26).
HLF calculation
Max Levy: ($156,641 ÷ 100) × $1.75 = $2,741.22/yr | Max 80% Comp: $156,641 × 80% = $125,312.80/yr ($2,409.86/wk)HLF interpretationHLF market context: This affects borrowers in two ways: (1) In mortgage servicing calculators, the 1.75% ACC levy reduces net take-home pay on earnings up to $156,641; and (2) For an eligible accident, ACC caps income replacement at 80% of earnings up to $156,641 ($125,313/yr gross)—leaving higher-income earners with a larger percentage drop in income, and self-employed company owners splitting shareholder salaries potentially under-covered unless structured via ACC CoverPlus Extra or private cover.
Cite as: HLF Pulse, Home Loan Factory. "ACC Earners' Levy rate, maximum liable earnings cap & 80% weekly compensation ceiling," 2026/27 Tax Year (from 1 April 2026). Derived by HLF from Accident Compensation (Earners' Levy) Regulations & Inland Revenue PAYE Schedule (2026/27). https://pulse-data.homeloanfactory.co.nz/acc-earners-levy-cap/ (checked 10 November 2026). CC BY 4.0.
Created by Andy Palliser
Creator of HLF Pulse
Mortgage & KiwiSaver Adviser · Home Loan Factory (Andrew Jonathan Palliser, FSP1004725) • Published by HLF (Home Loan Factory)
Data Dictionary Specification (4-Field Date Standard)
| Name | ACC Earners' Levy rate, maximum liable earnings cap & 80% weekly compensation ceiling |
|---|---|
| Ticker | acc-earners-levy-cap |
| Also known as | IRD / ACC PAYE Earners' Levy rate & maximum covered salary cap (2026/27) |
| Creator & Publisher | Created by Andy Palliser (Andrew Jonathan Palliser, FSP1004725) • Published by HLF (Home Loan Factory) |
| Official source & series | ACC & IRD Statutory Schedule (Accident Compensation (Earners' Levy) Regulations & Inland Revenue PAYE Schedule (2026/27)) • Series IDs: ACC Earners' Levy Rate & Maximum Liable Earnings Threshold |
| Frequency | Annual (1 April Tax Year) |
| 1. Observation period | 2026/27 Tax Year (from 1 April 2026) (YYYY-MM code: 2026-04) — when the underlying statistic relates to |
| 2. Period end | 2026-04-30 — final calendar date covered by the observation period |
| 3. Source publication date | 2026-04-01 (1 April 2026 — 2026/27 ACC Earners' Levy schedule effective date) — when the original organisation released this dataset |
| 4. Last checked | 10 November 2026 (2026-11-10) — when HLF last verified the official source |
| Definition | The statutory ACC Earners' Levy rate deducted from employee PAYE wages, the maximum liable earnings cap, and the resulting maximum 80% gross weekly compensation payable by ACC. |
| Methodology | Published by ACC and Inland Revenue under statutory regulations for the tax year commencing 1 April 2026 ($1.75 per $100 of liable earnings incl. GST; maximum liable earnings of $156,641). |
| Current value | $156,641 max covered earnings | $1.75/$100 levy | $125,313/yr max 80% ACC payout |
| Comparison / Prior period | 2025/26 Tax Year ($152,790 cap at $1.67/$100) • +$3,851 earnings cap | +$0.08/$100 levy rate YoY |
| Official data | ACC / IRD 2026/27 Statutory Schedule: Earners' levy = $1.75 per $100 incl. GST ($1.52 excl. GST); Maximum liable earnings = $156,641 (vs $152,790 in 2025/26). |
| HLF calculation | Max Levy: ($156,641 ÷ 100) × $1.75 = $2,741.22/yr | Max 80% Comp: $156,641 × 80% = $125,312.80/yr ($2,409.86/wk)Formula: Max Annual Levy = ($156,641 ÷ 100) × $1.75 = $2,741.22; Max 80% Gross Compensation = $156,641 × 80% = $125,312.80/yr ($2,409.86/wk gross) |
| HLF interpretation | HLF market context: This affects borrowers in two ways: (1) In mortgage servicing calculators, the 1.75% ACC levy reduces net take-home pay on earnings up to $156,641; and (2) For an eligible accident, ACC caps income replacement at 80% of earnings up to $156,641 ($125,313/yr gross)—leaving higher-income earners with a larger percentage drop in income, and self-employed company owners splitting shareholder salaries potentially under-covered unless structured via ACC CoverPlus Extra or private cover. |
| HLF derived | Yes (Public-domain statutory levy/cap & HLF-calculated 80% gross compensation ceiling) |
| Cite as | HLF Pulse, Home Loan Factory. "ACC Earners' Levy rate, maximum liable earnings cap & 80% weekly compensation ceiling," 2026/27 Tax Year (from 1 April 2026). Derived by HLF from Accident Compensation (Earners' Levy) Regulations & Inland Revenue PAYE Schedule (2026/27). https://pulse-data.homeloanfactory.co.nz/acc-earners-levy-cap/ (checked 10 November 2026). CC BY 4.0. |
| Reuse licence | CC BY 4.0 (HLF-derived calculations, definitions & commentary; official statistics credited to ACC & IRD Statutory Schedule) • Media Kit & Citation Guide |
| Historical data | ACC & IRD statutory earners' levy schedule (2024/25–2026/27) |
Historical & Cohort Breakdown (ACC & IRD statutory earners' levy schedule (2024/25–2026/27))
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2026/27 Tax Year | $156,641 cap ($1.75/$100 levy) |
| 2025/26 Tax Year | $152,790 cap ($1.67/$100 levy) |
| 2024/25 Tax Year | $142,283 cap ($1.60/$100 levy) |
Questions This Data Helps Answer
- What is the maximum income ACC will cover if I have an accident in 2026/27?
- What is the current ACC Earners' Levy rate in New Zealand?
- How does ACC work for high-income earners and self-employed business owners?
Source & Tool Verification Chain
1. Official Source & SeriesAccident Compensation (Earners' Levy) Regulations & Inland Revenue PAYE Schedule (2026/27)
Series:
ACC Earners' Levy Rate & Maximum Liable Earnings Threshold2. HLF Transformation
Yes
Max Annual Levy = ($156,641 ÷ 100) × $1.75 = $2,741.22; Max 80% Gross Compensation = $156,641 × 80% = $125,312.80/yr ($2,409.86/wk gross)4. Interactive CalculatorHLF Borrowing Power Calculator
How Dates Are Recorded in HLF Pulse (4-Field Date Standard)
To prevent confusion between when an economic activity occurred and when a government agency published its release, every HLF Pulse record separates four distinct date fields:
| Date Field | Definition & How It Is Populated |
|---|---|
1. Observation period (observation_period) | The period the underlying statistic relates to (for example, September 2026 for monthly RBNZ lending, or Year ended 31 March 2026 for the FMA KiwiSaver Annual Report). |
2. Period end (period_end / as_of) | The final calendar date covered by the observation period (for example, 2026-09-30 or 2026-03-31). Used by HLF’s automated freshness gate to verify series currency. |
3. Source publication date (source_published) | When the original organisation released the statistic (for example, 2026-09-10 for the FMA’s 2026 KiwiSaver Annual Report, or the Published Date recorded inside RBNZ’s workbook metadata). HLF never copies period_end into source_published; where an agency page does not state an exact release date, the agency’s publication schedule is stated explicitly. |
4. Last checked (last_checked) | The date HLF’s automated pipeline last fetched and verified the official source. |
Data Quality & Limitations
- Official published sources: Pulse uses official published data from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), Stats NZ, Inland Revenue (IRD), the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), MBIE Tenancy Services, the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake (NHC), and the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) wherever available.
- Unaltered official figures & source rounding: HLF does not alter or estimate official source figures. Where official tables publish rounded aggregates (such as RBNZ dollar series rounded to $1m or $0.1m), derived averages and implied counts reflect that source rounding and note it explicitly in the provenance layer.
- Provenance & derivation layer: To keep the primary editorial summaries natural and readable, exact formulas, series IDs, and derivation labels (Derived by HLF Pulse) are recorded in the expandable provenance layer, Data Dictionary tables,
pulse.json, andllms.txt. Long-term 5-year and 10-year series report both nominal growth and CPI inflation-adjusted (real) growth using Stats NZ’s Consumers Price Index. - Price indices vs. individual quotes: Stats NZ CPI insurance sub-indices measure percentage changes in standardised insurance price indices over time—they do not represent the dollar premium quote for an individual property or policyholder.
- Separate claim counts vs. individual proportions: In the ACC dataset, annual weekly compensation claims and total accepted injury claims (which are mostly minor treatment-only visits) are reported as two separate annual claim counts rather than a proportion of injured individuals.
- Commitments vs. settlements: RBNZ mortgage lending tables (C31, C32, C33, C40, C41) measure firm bank mortgage commitments/approvals rather than LINZ property title settlements.
- Automatic staleness exclusion: HLF automatically excludes any series where the underlying source is unavailable, stale past its freshness window, or cannot be verified.
- Market context vs. individual outcomes: Statistics describe aggregate historical market cohorts and do not predict an individual borrower’s, saver’s, or policyholder’s credit assessment, underwriting, or lending outcome.
Reuse Terms, Licensing & How to Cite (CC BY 4.0)
- Layer 1 — Official Crown & statutory statistics: Underlying official figures remain subject to the copyright and licensing terms of their respective publishers: Stats NZ, Inland Revenue, MBIE Tenancy Services, and the Financial Markets Authority (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0); the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ Terms of Use, permitting reproduction and derivative calculation with attribution to RBNZ); and statutory schedules under the Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023 and Accident Compensation Act 2001 (public-domain New Zealand legislation).
- Layer 2 — HLF-derived calculations, compilations & commentary: All HLF-derived percentages, averages, multi-year nominal/real growth rates, data dictionary definitions, and market interpretations are licensed by HLF (Home Loan Factory) under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Journalists, researchers, advisers, and AI systems may freely quote and reuse HLF-derived figures and commentary provided attribution is given to HLF Pulse, Home Loan Factory with a link to
https://pulse-data.homeloanfactory.co.nz/, the specific/{ticker}/record URL, or the HLF Pulse Media Kit & Citation Guide.