Levy consultation 2012/13

Annually, the ACC Board has a responsibility to review the levies it charges and then recommend any changes it thinks are required to the Minister for ACC. But before we reach this stage we hold a period of consultation, which is when businesses, communities and individuals throughout New Zealand are invited to provide a submission, feedback and ideas on our recommendations and other plans for the upcoming year.

Public consultation on our proposed levies for the 2012/2013 levy year began on 12 July 2011 and ended at 5pm, 16 August 2011.

The Government’s levy rates for 2012/2013

On 12 October 2011, the Minster for ACC announced the ACC levy rates for 2012/2013

The new rates for the Work Account and Earners’ Account come into effect on 1 April 2012, followed by the Motor Vehicle rates, which come into effect on 1 July 2012.

ACC Account and purpose
Who pays

Levy rate

2012/2013
(Excl. GST)

Comes into effect

Work Account: cover for injuries that occur in the workplace.

Combined average** levy rate per $100 liable earnings

$1.15

1 April 2012

Earners’ Account: cover for non-work injuries
Paid by employees (through PAYE)

Combined earners’ levy rate per $100 liable earnings

$1.70***

1 April 2012

Motor Vehicle Account: cover for motor vehicle injuries occurring on public roads
Paid by motorists (through licensing fees & petrol levy)

Combined average** levy per vehicle

$334.52

1 July 2012

* Self-employed and non-PAYE shareholders also pay the Earners’ levy (non-work claims levy).

** These are average rates. Individual rates for industry groups and motor vehicle classes may increase or decrease.

*** This figure is inclusive of GST.

For information about the Government’s decision on levy rates you can visit www.beehive.govt.nz.

What do levy changes mean for you?

From 1 April 2012, the Earners’ Account levy (paid by wage and salary earners) will decrease from $2.04 to $1.70 (including GST) and the average Work Account levy (paid by employers and self-employed) will decrease from $1.47 to $1.15 (excluding GST) per $100 of liable earnings.

This means that the levy on wage and salary earners is reduced by 17 percent – or $170 a year for someone on the average wage. The levy on employers and the self-employed is reduced by 22 percent – a saving of $1120 a year for the average small business with seven employees. Work levies for individual companies depend on their industry classification and experience rating.

Earners won’t have to do anything, the PAYE rates will be adjusted in your payroll system.

If you are a business, we have online calculators to help you forecast your levies. If you have an ACC Relationship Manager you can also contact them, or you can call our Business Service Centre on 0800 222 776 (for employers) or 0508 426 837 (for self-employed).

To help you plan your budget for 2012/2013, download the PDF below which contains Work levy rates for 2012/2013*:

Levy risk groups (LRGs) 2012/2013

ACC combines classification units into larger ‘levy risk groups’ to accurately estimate the cost and frequency of future injury claims. Find out what the LRGs are for 2012/2013.

The ACC Board’s levy recommendations for 2012/2013

See copies of the detailed recommendations and other information that accompanied the recommendations made to the Minister for ACC:

Levy timetable 2012/2013

A summary of the key stages of the levy consultation process. Find out what happens from consultation through to release of the new levy rates.

ACC levies – an overview

Information about ACC levies, what you pay, where the money goes and why levies change.

Summary of our levy proposals for 2012/2013

A summary of our proposals for 2012/2013 covering levies and other related changes.

How to make a submission

Levy consultation for the 2012/2013 year has now closed.

How can I help reduce the levies I pay?

How you can do your bit to reduce New Zealand’s injury rates – and the costs to the ACC Scheme.

Levy consultation documents for 2012/2013

Read or download the PDF version of our full formal consultation document. It contains all the details of our levy proposals and initiatives for 2012/2013.

You can access the entire document:

Full consultation document (PDF 2.2M)

Please note:
We experienced some technical issues with the previous PDF copy of this document. If you downloaded a copy of the document before 14 July 2011, you will now need to download this updated version to ensure you have the correct version.

Or just one of the sections:

Frequently Asked Questions: Levies and consultation (PDF 247K)

Answers to the questions we’re most commonly asked.

Last updated: 30 March 2012