Alberta Government
 

Income Tax - Payroll Deductions

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

Last Verified: 2006-02-17

Act: Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 1, 5th Supp.
Regulation: Not applicable.

To Whom Does This Apply?

Employers.

Summary

Under the Income Tax Act, an employer is required to withhold any amounts relating to income tax from an employee's pay cheque. As an employer, you are holding these deductions in trust for your employees; therefore, you are expected to keep these funds separate from the operating funds of your business.

If you do not withhold these amounts, or do not remit them to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) when required, you will be subject to certain penalties.

If you are self-employed, you do not have tax deducted from your income.

The CRA offers payroll deduction tables that contain information to help you calculate Income Tax deductions. These are available on paper or diskette from your tax services office or tax centre. You may also download them directly from the CRA Web site.

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.


National Contact(s):
Canada Revenue Agency
Toll-free (information): 1-800-959-5525 (Business Enquiries and Registrations)
Toll-free (publications): 1-800-959-2221 (Forms and Publications)
Web site: http://www.cra.gc.ca/menu-e.html