Payroll remittances to CRA
What a remittance includes, when it is due, and what happens if it is late. Plus how taxifi keeps yours on schedule as part of the monthly service.
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What a payroll remittance is
When you pay an employee, you withhold income tax, CPP contributions, and EI premiums from their pay. Those amounts are not yours. You are holding them in trust for CRA, and you owe them along with the employer share of CPP and EI. Sending that total to CRA is the remittance.
That trust characterisation matters, because unremitted source deductions are treated differently from an ordinary business debt. Directors can be held personally liable for them.
When it is due
Most new and small employers are regular remitters, which means the remittance is due by the fifteenth day of the month after the month you paid your team. So wages paid at any point in March are remitted by the fifteenth of April.
As payroll grows, CRA can move an employer to accelerated remitting, where remittances are due twice a month or more often. Your remitter type is assigned by CRA and can change, which is one of the more common ways an otherwise organised business ends up late.
What being late costs
CRA charges a penalty of 3 to 10 per cent of the amount, depending on how late the payment is, and 20 per cent where the failure is repeated in the same calendar year. Daily interest applies on top. Our guide to the late payroll remittance penalty sets out the exact tiers and how the interest is compounded.
None of that is discretionary, which is why remittance timing is worth taking off your own calendar entirely.
How taxifi handles it
Because payroll runs inside the same service that keeps your books, each remittance is prepared from the run itself and sent by its deadline. Your remitter type is tracked, so a change from monthly to accelerated does not catch you out. At year-end the T4 and T4A totals reconcile to the remittances because both came from the same records.
What’s included
- Payroll run on your schedule, weekly, biweekly, or monthly
- CPP, EI, and income tax source deductions calculated
- Remittances sent to CRA on time, every period
- T4 and T4A slips prepared and filed at year-end
- Records of Employment issued when someone leaves
- Payroll posted straight into your books, with no re-keying
- A Canadian accountant behind every remittance and slip
More on payroll: Payroll services · Small business payroll · Outsourced payroll · Toronto · Payroll remittances · T4 vs. T4A
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Common questions
What is included in a payroll remittance?
The income tax, CPP contributions, and EI premiums you withheld from your employees, plus the employer share of CPP and EI. Those withheld amounts are held in trust for CRA rather than being business funds.
When are payroll remittances due?
Most small and new employers are regular remitters, with the remittance due by the fifteenth day of the month after the month the wages were paid. CRA can move larger employers to accelerated remitting, which is more frequent.
What is the penalty for a late remittance?
CRA charges 3 to 10 per cent depending on how late the payment is, and 20 per cent for repeat failures in the same year, plus daily interest. Our guide to the late payroll remittance penalty sets out the exact tiers.
Can directors be personally liable?
Yes. Because withheld source deductions are held in trust for CRA rather than being ordinary business funds, directors can be held personally liable for amounts that were not remitted.
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