Non-Capital Loss

Canada runs three systems. The federal GST is 5% for 2026 and applies nationally. Five participating provinces fold a provincial share into one harmonised rate: 13% in Ontario, 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, and 14% in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025. Others add their own tax to the 5% GST, giving 12% in British Columbia and Manitoba, 11% in Saskatchewan and 14.975% in Quebec. Alberta and the territories charge 5% only.

A non-refundable credit reduces the tax you owe to zero but no further, so any unused part is lost, carried forward, or transferred to a spouse or parent where the rule allows it. A refundable credit is paid to you even when no tax is owed, which is how benefit-style payments reach people with little or no income. Most personal credits on the federal return, including the basic personal amount, are non-refundable.

Each province sets its own top bracket, which sits on top of the federal top bracket, so the highest combined marginal rate depends on where you live, and both rates and thresholds are adjusted each year. Look up the current combined table for your province rather than relying on a single national figure. It is a marginal rate: only the income above the threshold is taxed at it, never your whole income.

A payroll information return is the annual package an employer files with the CRA reporting what it paid and what it withheld: one slip for each person paid, plus a summary that totals the slips and reconciles them against the amounts remitted during the year. For employees that is the T4 return. It is separate from the source deduction remittances made through the year, and mismatches between the two are what trigger CRA queries.