acc
CoverPlus
Levies and Invoices
This is the third in our series of fact sheets for the self-employed. Here we
cover what levies you have to pay and how we calculate them, what ACC
does with your levies, and when and how to pay.
Levies
New Zealand is the only country in the world with an accident compensation scheme that covers
every self-employed person for personal injuries.
This means you are covered for medical, rehabilitation and compensation costs – 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, without the risk of being left to foot the bill on your own.
What is ACC’s role?
ACC’s role is to help manage this risk on behalf of all self-employed people, guaranteeing you
support in the event of an injury – especially one that is serious and requires time off work.
We do this by collecting levies that pay for the costs of treatment, rehabilitation and compensation
for all self-employed people who are injured in the year.
How are levies set?
Every year, ACC calculates the costs of injuries to self-employed people. We do this by:
• looking at what has happened in previous years
• allowing for changes in employment figures, earnings, treatment costs and inflation.
We then have to allocate this cost across each industry group, so that all self-employed people
are grouped together with other people doing the same job with a similar risk.
This ensures that the levies we collect from you are directly related to the risk of injuries occurring
within your industry.
What do I get for my levies?
If you are injured, we are responsible for:
• helping pay for your treatment, care and rehabilitation
• providing the support needed for you to return to work as soon as possible
ACC1776
• paying compensation for lost earnings if you need more than a week off work.
acc
Printed June 2005
Business Service Centre
CoverPlus
0508 426 837 ACC Website www.acc.co.nz Email [email protected]
Your levies also fund the work we do to help you and your industry prevent injuries from happening
in the first place. For more information, visit www.acc.co.nz/injuryprevention/ or see our Injury
Prevention fact sheet.
Fact Sheet
What levies do I have to pay?
Invoices
As a self-employed person, you pay CoverPlus levies each year. These are made up of:
• work levies – to pay for work-related injuries
When and what do I pay?
• earner levies – to pay for non-work injuries.
We will send you an invoice after September for your ACC levies (including residual levies), once we receive details
of your self-employed earnings from Inland Revenue.
You also have to pay:
Everything you need is provided in your invoice pack, including details of how to pay and what you can do next.
• residual levies – to pay for the ongoing costs of injuries that happened before 1 July 1999
How do I pay?
• a ‘Health and Safety in Employment’ levy – to fund the Occupational Safety and Health service. ACC collects this
levy on behalf of the Department of Labour.
You can pay your ACC levies:
How are my levies calculated?
• in full using BillPay at any New Zealand Post Shop, or
How much you pay for your levies is based on your earnings from self-employment and the type of work you do.
We base your levies on:
• in full by cheque, or
• in instalments, by monthly direct debit.
• your business industry.
You can pay by instalments (in up to 10 equal payments) if your invoice is over $500 (excluding GST). We charge an
instalment fee for this service. If you have had a previous instalment plan, and your invoice is over $500 (excluding
GST), we will automatically roll over your instalment plan after the invoice payment date.
What earnings are liable for ACC levies?
What if I am new to self-employment?
• your latest earnings from self-employment (that are liable for ACC levies)
Liable earnings is the term ACC uses to describe the part of your income from self-employment that is assessable
for your ACC levies.
Usually your liable earnings are calculated using information from your most recent IR3 return filed with Inland
Revenue.
ACC will generally send you an invoice for your levy about eight weeks after you’ve filed your first IR3 return.
However, until you make your first IR3 return, you’ll generally only be entitled to receive the minimum amount of
weekly compensation. So if you’re new to self-employment, you should seriously consider applying for CoverPlus
Extra.
The full calculation for liable earnings looks like this:
This option lets you negotiate a guaranteed level of compensation you’ll receive if you’re unable to work as the result
of an injury.
A + B + C – D = Liable Earnings
To find out more about CoverPlus Extra, call 0508 426 837.
A Income from withholding payments (Box 12B in your IR3 return)
B Plus total active partnership income (Box 18B in your IR3 return)
C Plus income from self-employment (Box 22 in your IR3 return)
Where can I get more information?
D Less expenses (Box 26 in your IR3 return)
To find out more about your ACC levies and invoices, contact the ACC Business Service Centre on freephone
0508 426 837, email [email protected] or freefax 0800 222 003.
Why is my business industry important?
Visit our website: www.acc.co.nz/productslevies/
We group business activities with a similar risk of workplace injury into classification units. These are based on the
Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) system.
There are over 500 individual industry classifications, which are grouped into 17 broad risk groups.
We use your Business Industry Code (BIC) to determine your classification unit. To find out more about BICs, visit
www.businessdescription.co.nz
How much will my levies be?
If you would like to know how much your levies will be for the year, you can use the calculators on our website to
work it out for yourself, or feel free to call us on 0508 426 837 for an estimate.
Remember that we use your earnings for the year ending 31 March to work out your levies for the following year.
You can find the calculators at www.acc.co.nz/productslevies/self-employed/what-do-i-have-to-pay/calculators/
acc
Business Service Centre
0508 426 837 ACC Website www.acc.co.nz Email [email protected]
CoverPlus
What levies do I have to pay?
Invoices
As a self-employed person, you pay CoverPlus levies each year. These are made up of:
• work levies – to pay for work-related injuries
When and what do I pay?
• earner levies – to pay for non-work injuries.
We will send you an invoice after September for your ACC levies (including residual levies), once we receive details
of your self-employed earnings from Inland Revenue.
You also have to pay:
Everything you need is provided in your invoice pack, including details of how to pay and what you can do next.
• residual levies – to pay for the ongoing costs of injuries that happened before 1 July 1999
How do I pay?
• a ‘Health and Safety in Employment’ levy – to fund the Occupational Safety and Health service. ACC collects this
levy on behalf of the Department of Labour.
You can pay your ACC levies:
How are my levies calculated?
• in full using BillPay at any New Zealand Post Shop, or
How much you pay for your levies is based on your earnings from self-employment and the type of work you do.
We base your levies on:
• in full by cheque, or
• in instalments, by monthly direct debit.
• your business industry.
You can pay by instalments (in up to 10 equal payments) if your invoice is over $500 (excluding GST). We charge an
instalment fee for this service. If you have had a previous instalment plan, and your invoice is over $500 (excluding
GST), we will automatically roll over your instalment plan after the invoice payment date.
What earnings are liable for ACC levies?
What if I am new to self-employment?
• your latest earnings from self-employment (that are liable for ACC levies)
Liable earnings is the term ACC uses to describe the part of your income from self-employment that is assessable
for your ACC levies.
Usually your liable earnings are calculated using information from your most recent IR3 return filed with Inland
Revenue.
ACC will generally send you an invoice for your levy about eight weeks after you’ve filed your first IR3 return.
However, until you make your first IR3 return, you’ll generally only be entitled to receive the minimum amount of
weekly compensation. So if you’re new to self-employment, you should seriously consider applying for CoverPlus
Extra.
The full calculation for liable earnings looks like this:
This option lets you negotiate a guaranteed level of compensation you’ll receive if you’re unable to work as the result
of an injury.
A + B + C – D = Liable Earnings
To find out more about CoverPlus Extra, call 0508 426 837.
A Income from withholding payments (Box 12B in your IR3 return)
B Plus total active partnership income (Box 18B in your IR3 return)
C Plus income from self-employment (Box 22 in your IR3 return)
Where can I get more information?
D Less expenses (Box 26 in your IR3 return)
To find out more about your ACC levies and invoices, contact the ACC Business Service Centre on freephone
0508 426 837, email [email protected] or freefax 0800 222 003.
Why is my business industry important?
Visit our website: www.acc.co.nz/productslevies/
We group business activities with a similar risk of workplace injury into classification units. These are based on the
Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) system.
There are over 500 individual industry classifications, which are grouped into 17 broad risk groups.
We use your Business Industry Code (BIC) to determine your classification unit. To find out more about BICs, visit
www.businessdescription.co.nz
How much will my levies be?
If you would like to know how much your levies will be for the year, you can use the calculators on our website to
work it out for yourself, or feel free to call us on 0508 426 837 for an estimate.
Remember that we use your earnings for the year ending 31 March to work out your levies for the following year.
You can find the calculators at www.acc.co.nz/productslevies/self-employed/what-do-i-have-to-pay/calculators/
acc
Business Service Centre
0508 426 837 ACC Website www.acc.co.nz Email [email protected]
CoverPlus
acc
CoverPlus
Levies and Invoices
This is the third in our series of fact sheets for the self-employed. Here we
cover what levies you have to pay and how we calculate them, what ACC
does with your levies, and when and how to pay.
Levies
New Zealand is the only country in the world with an accident compensation scheme that covers
every self-employed person for personal injuries.
This means you are covered for medical, rehabilitation and compensation costs – 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, without the risk of being left to foot the bill on your own.
What is ACC’s role?
ACC’s role is to help manage this risk on behalf of all self-employed people, guaranteeing you
support in the event of an injury – especially one that is serious and requires time off work.
We do this by collecting levies that pay for the costs of treatment, rehabilitation and compensation
for all self-employed people who are injured in the year.
How are levies set?
Every year, ACC calculates the costs of injuries to self-employed people. We do this by:
• looking at what has happened in previous years
• allowing for changes in employment figures, earnings, treatment costs and inflation.
We then have to allocate this cost across each industry group, so that all self-employed people
are grouped together with other people doing the same job with a similar risk.
This ensures that the levies we collect from you are directly related to the risk of injuries occurring
within your industry.
What do I get for my levies?
If you are injured, we are responsible for:
• helping pay for your treatment, care and rehabilitation
• providing the support needed for you to return to work as soon as possible
ACC1776
• paying compensation for lost earnings if you need more than a week off work.
acc
Printed June 2005
Business Service Centre
CoverPlus
0508 426 837 ACC Website www.acc.co.nz Email [email protected]
Your levies also fund the work we do to help you and your industry prevent injuries from happening
in the first place. For more information, visit www.acc.co.nz/injuryprevention/ or see our Injury
Prevention fact sheet.
Fact Sheet