TD1 Form Guide: Canadian Withholding Setup
TD1 is the Canadian equivalent of the US W-4. Complete 2026 guide for Canadian small business.
April 24, 2026 1 min readby TinSuite Team
canadian tax canadian-td1-form payroll
Every new hire fills out a TD1 (federal) and TD1 provincial form to determine income tax withholding. It accounts for basic personal amount and other non-refundable credits.
Essential details
- Must be completed on day of hire
- 2026 federal basic personal amount: $16,129
- Each province has its own TD1 (TD1-AB, TD1-BC, TD1-QC, etc.)
- Quebec uses TP-1015.3-V instead of TD1 provincial
- Employee can claim additional credits (age, disability, dependents)
- New TD1 required if employee circumstances change mid-year
How to file correctly
1. Collect the data from your payroll records — don't reconstruct at year-end
2. Use official CRA forms — free downloads from canada.ca
3. File electronically when required (50+ slips)
4. Distribute copies to recipients by the deadline
5. Keep records for 6 years — CRA audit window
Common mistakes
- Missing the distribution deadline (last day of February for most slips)
- Using wrong box for income type
- Forgetting to remit source deductions monthly (PD7A)
- Not reconciling year-end to the T4 Summary
- Quebec employees: not filing the separate RL-1 slip
How TinSuite handles this
- Auto-generates T4, T4A, T5, RL-1 slips from your payroll data
- CPP, EI, and income tax calculated automatically
- Quebec-specific forms (QPP, QPIP) supported natively
- PD7A remittance reminders and calculations
- Bilingual EN/FR-CA interface
Start free trial → · See full Canadian payroll guide