Income Tax & Take-Home Pay Calculator
What you actually keep after tax in 2026, real provincial brackets for all 13 jurisdictions, CPP/EI/QPIP, dividends and capital gains, RRSP/FHSA deductions, and your true marginal rate. Not a flat-rate guess.
Rates & rules verified · July 2026Primary sources: CRA – Tax rates and income brackets · CRA – Indexation of personal amounts · CRA – CPP contribution rates and maximums · CRA – EI premium rates and maximums · Revenu Québec – Income tax rates
Where every dollar goes
Your total income split into federal tax, provincial tax, payroll (CPP/EI/QPIP), and take-home.
Tax breakdown
Line-by-line, the way your return actually stacks up.
| Component | Amount |
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How your income fills the brackets
Combined federal + provincial statutory rate on each slice of your taxable income.
| Taxable income slice | Your $ in it | Fed | Prov | Tax on slice |
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What you take home per paycheque
Net pay by pay period, after all tax and payroll deductions.
Your cheque through the year
This is a smoothed yearly average, so your real cheque will differ and that is normal. CPP and EI come off at a flat rate until you hit their yearly maximums (about $68,900 of pay for EI, $85,000 for CPP), so cheques early in the year are a little smaller and later ones jump once those stop. Your employer also withholds income tax from the TD1 form you filed (extra claims like a spouse or tuition lower it) and may deduct a pension, benefits, or union dues this tool cannot see. Any gap is settled as a refund or balance owing when you file.
Marginal rate across incomes
Combined marginal rate on employment income from $0 to $300k in your province, watch the bracket steps and payroll ceilings.
How this is calculated
Marginal vs average rate
Your average rate is (total tax + CPP + EI + QPIP) ÷ total income, the overall bite. Your marginal rate is the tax on your next dollar. This tool computes it directly as [deductions(income + $100) − deductions(income)] ÷ $100, so it captures bracket jumps, the Ontario surtax, and CPP/EI ceilings, not just the headline bracket rate.
Taxable income
employment + self-employment + capital gains × 50% + eligible dividends × 1.38 + non-eligible dividends × 1.15 − RRSP − FHSA − enhanced CPP. The enhanced part of your CPP (the portion above the 4.95% base — 5.30% for QPP — plus all of CPP2) is deducted here; the self-employed also deduct half of their self-employed CPP (the employer-equivalent share).
Federal tax
Progressive over the 2026 brackets (14% up to $58,523, then 20.5% / 26% / 29% / 33%). We subtract the basic personal amount credit (BPA × 14%, with the enhancement phased out above $181,440), the federal dividend tax credit (15.02% of grossed-up eligible, 9.03% of grossed-up non-eligible), a credit for CPP/EI premiums at 14%, and the Canada employment amount (the lesser of your employment income and $1,501) at 14%. In Quebec, federal tax is reduced by the 16.5% Quebec abatement.
Provincial tax
Progressive over each province's real 2026 brackets, minus the provincial BPA at the lowest rate and the provincial dividend tax credit. Ontario then adds a surtax (20% of provincial tax over $5,818, +36% over $7,446) and the Ontario Health Premium. Manitoba claws back its BPA between $200k and $400k of income. Yukon mirrors the federal BPA.
CPP, EI & QPIP (2026)
CPP: 5.95% on earnings between $3,500 and $74,600 (max $4,230.45) plus CPP2 at 4% from $74,600 to $85,000 (max $416). Self-employment earnings pay 2×; when you have both T4 and self-employment income, one shared exemption and one annual maximum apply (employment income uses the room first, per Schedule 8). Quebec uses QPP, not CPP: 6.30% employee / 12.60% self-employed in 2026 (base rate cut by the Nov 2025 fiscal update) to the same $74,600 ceiling (max $4,479.30), plus QPP2 at 4%. EI: 1.63% on the first $68,900 (max $1,123.07); in Quebec the EI rate is reduced to 1.30% and QPIP applies at 0.430% on employment income (0.764% on self-employment income, one shared $103,000 ceiling). T4 employment always pays EI; self-employment earnings pay EI only if you opt in.
RRSP / FHSA refund estimate
A deduction saves tax at your marginal rate, so the estimated refund is roughly (RRSP + FHSA) × marginal rate. Shown above your results when you enter a contribution.
Approximations & what this does not model
CPP is split the way the CRA does it: the base 4.95% share of your contribution is a non-refundable credit, while the enhanced portion (the 1% first enhancement plus all of CPP2) is deducted from income. We do assume net income equals taxable income for the BPA and clawback thresholds, which is exact for most wage earners. Not modelled: childcare/medical/donation/tuition credits, LIFT and other low-income supplements, spousal/dependant amounts, OAS clawback, or the alternative minimum tax. Dividend tax credit rates are the 2026 provincial/territorial values (source: TaxTips.ca, verified July 2026). Compare with the dividend income, capital gains, RRSP vs TFSA, and salary-to-hourly tools.
Common questions
What is the difference between marginal and average tax rate in Canada?
Your average (effective) rate is total tax and payroll deductions divided by total income, what you actually pay overall. Your marginal rate is the tax on your next dollar of income, which is higher because Canada's brackets are progressive. This tool computes the true marginal rate as the extra tax on $100 more income, so it captures bracket jumps, surtaxes, and CPP/EI ceilings, not just the headline bracket rate.
How are dividends and capital gains taxed in Canada in 2026?
Eligible dividends are grossed up by 38% and non-eligible dividends by 15%, then taxed at your normal rate, with a federal dividend tax credit of 15.02% (eligible) or 9.03% (non-eligible) of the grossed-up amount plus a provincial credit. Capital gains have a 50% inclusion rate for 2026, only half of a realized gain is added to taxable income (the proposed two-thirds rate was cancelled in March 2025).
How much tax will an RRSP contribution save me?
An RRSP contribution is deducted from taxable income, so it saves tax at your marginal rate. If your marginal rate is 43.4% and you contribute $10,000, you defer roughly $4,340 in tax. This tool shows your marginal rate and estimates the refund on your RRSP and FHSA deductions.
Do self-employed Canadians pay more CPP?
Yes — on self-employment earnings they pay both the employee and employer halves of CPP (up to $9,292.90 in 2026 including CPP2). If you also have T4 employment income, that income pays only the employee share, and the two streams share one $3,500 exemption and one annual maximum — the tool coordinates this the way Schedule 8 does. Self-employment earnings pay no EI unless you opt in to special benefits, but T4 employment always pays EI. Half of the self-employed CPP is deductible from income; the tool applies this deduction automatically.
Which Canadian province has the lowest income tax in 2026?
For most incomes the lowest-tax provinces are Alberta and the territories (Nunavut, Northwest Territories), thanks to low provincial rates and large basic personal amounts. Quebec has the highest provincial rates but a 16.5% federal abatement offsets part of it. Compare any income across all 13 jurisdictions by switching the province selector.