Employment Insurance - Payroll Deductions

To Whom Does This Apply?

Employers and some self-employed persons.

Summary

The Employment Insurance (EI) Act specifies the withholding, remitting and reporting requirements of employment insurance premiums for employers. As an employer, you are required to:

• deduct employment insurance premiums from amounts you pay to your employees;
• remit these deductions, along with their share of Employment Insurance premiums that you have to pay throughout the year on your employees' behalf;
• report the deductions on an information return by the end of February of the following calendar year.

The EI Act also imposes penalties for non-compliance.

The Employment Insurance (Collection of Premiums) Regulations govern the following topics for insurable earnings:

• earnings from insurable employment;
• allocation of earnings;
• calculation and payment of premiums;
• allocation of earnings to pay periods.

The Regulations also specify the requirements for information returns, records, and the prescribed interest rates and refunds of overpayment. For details on various deductions and employer responsibilities, consult CRA's Web site.

The CRA offers payroll deduction tables that contain information to help you calculate Employment Insurance premiums. The tables are available on paper, diskette and electronically. You can obtain the payroll deductions tables in any of the above versions at your tax services office or tax centre.

For more information on the above, please contact a Business Enquiries of the CRA (see Related Reading: Business Window - Supplement or CRA's Web site for a list of addresses).

DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this section is of a general nature only and is not intended to constitute advice for any specific fact situation. For particular questions, the users are invited to contact their lawyer. For additional information, see contact(s) listed below.

Alberta Contact(s):
See National Contact.