Withholding Tax Calculator

This calculator estimates what comes off each paycheque: federal and provincial or territorial income tax, CPP or QPP, EI and (in Quebec) QPIP, plus any RRSP contribution your employer deducts. Enter your salary, pay frequency and province or territory. It uses the 2026 rates in this site’s data, like every calculator in the income tax hub.

How the estimate works

The calculator works out your income tax, CPP and EI for the whole year, the same way as the salary after tax calculator, and divides them evenly over your pay periods. Your employer instead calculates each pay with the CRA’s payroll formulas or tables (the formulas are in Guide T4127, Payroll Deductions Formulas) and the credits on your TD1 forms (in Quebec, provincial income tax, QPP and QPIP are withheld under Revenu Québec’s rules, with Form TP-1015.3-V instead of a provincial TD1), so the amount actually withheld can differ a little from this estimate. Any difference between what was withheld and the tax you owe is settled when you file your return.

The “TD1 claims” box adds federal credit amounts beyond the basic personal amount (for example tuition or a dependant), credited at the lowest federal rate of 14%. Provincial TD1 amounts are not included. The TD1 form page explains what you can claim.

What comes off each paycheque

• Income tax. Federal and provincial or territorial tax on your pay, after the credits on your TD1 forms. The brackets are on the tax brackets page.
• CPP. 5.95% of earnings between $3,500 and $74,600 a year, up to $4,230.45, then CPP2 at 4% of earnings from $74,600 to $85,000, up to $416.00. Quebec employers deduct QPP instead.
• EI. 1.63% of earnings up to $68,900, a maximum of $1,123.07 (1.30% in Quebec, where QPIP premiums of 0.43% are also deducted).
• RRSP contributions at source. An RRSP contribution your employer withholds from your pay and sends to your RRSP, whether a regular amount or a lump sum, reduces the pay that tax is withheld on, with no letter from the CRA, as long as your employer has reasonable grounds to believe you can deduct it (generally because you have confirmed it or given it a copy of your RRSP deduction limit statement); your RRSP contributions still can't be more than your deduction limit. Less tax comes off right away.

Once CPP or EI reaches its maximum, your employer stops deducting it for the rest of the year. Each employer counts only its own deductions, so if you change jobs or hold two, you can end up paying more than the maximum; the excess is worked out on your return.

Example: a salary paid every two weeks

Changing what is withheld

• Update your TD1 forms when your credits change, for example when you start paying tuition or support a dependant. See the TD1 form page.
• Ask the CRA to reduce withholding. To have less tax deducted for deductions or credits that aren't on the TD1, such as regular RRSP contributions, child care or employment expenses, charitable donations or tuition carried forward, you send Form T1213, Request to Reduce Tax Deductions at Source, to the CRA with supporting documents; if it approves, it issues a letter of authority, usually for one tax year, that you give your employer. The CRA usually won't issue one if you have a balance owing or unfiled returns, and no letter is needed for RRSP contributions your employer deducts from your pay. Non-resident employees working in Canada and non-resident directors don't use the form.
• Contribute to an RRSP through payroll, if your employer offers it, so the contribution reduces your withholding as described above.

A large refund at tax time means more was withheld than you owed during the year; a balance owing means less was. Bonuses are withheld differently. For a bonus, your employer first subtracts amounts such as registered pension plan contributions, union dues and RRSP contributions it withholds from your total pay for the year including the bonus; if what is left is $5,000 or less, it deducts 15% tax from the bonus (10% in Quebec), and otherwise it spreads the bonus over the year's pay periods, works out the extra tax that adds to each regular pay and multiplies it by the number of pay periods, taking every bonus paid in the year into account. The bonus tax calculator shows what a bonus adds to your tax.

Related calculators

• Salary after tax calculator: take-home pay by province and pay period
• Income tax calculator: the tax on your return
• Marginal tax rate calculator: the tax on your next dollar
• Payroll tax calculator: what an employer pays on top of salary
• Raise calculator and overtime calculator