Quarterly Tax Instalment Calculator 2026

For the self-employed: whether CRA expects tax instalments from you this year, how much to pay by each due date, and how much to set aside from every payment, from your income so far.

✓ 2026 rates · verified Oct 21–29, 2026

Confirmed for 2027: outside Quebec, the self-employed CPP rate (both halves) drops from 11.9% to 11.5% on earnings up to $76,700, and the CPP2 ceiling rises from $85,000 to $87,400. The calculators move to 2027 rates from January 1, once the rest of the 2027 figures are published. Sources: Finance Canada (Bill C-30), CRA’s YMPE table.

Why the self-employed pay quarterly

On a job, your employer takes tax and CPP off every paycheque. When you work for yourself nobody does, so once your tax bill is big enough CRA asks you to pay it during the year in four instalments instead of all at once in April. The amount includes both halves of CPP on your business income (11.9% of your net income between $3,500 and $74,600).

Do I have to?

You have to pay instalments for 2026 if your net tax owing is more than $3,000 in 2026, and was also more than $3,000 in 2025 or 2024. In Quebec the amount is $1,800, because Quebec collects its own income tax. The province you live in on December 31 decides which applies.

“Net tax owing” is your federal and provincial income tax less the tax already withheld and some refundable credits (CRA’s chart, lines 1 to 21). CPP and EI aren’t part of the test, but they are part of what you pay: CRA’s chart adds them before dividing by four.

The due dates

March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15. When a date falls on a weekend or holiday, a payment CRA receives on the next business day is on time. If you miss one or pay too little, CRA charges instalment interest on the shortfall from the due date; paying early or extra on a later date earns credit interest that offsets it (CRA). Your balance for the year is due April 30, 2027, and your return by June 15, 2027.

• If CRA’s reminder shows only September and December (often the first year you’re required to pay), CRA’s chart has you pay 75% of the year’s amount on September 15 and 25% on December 15.
• Farmers and fishers whose main income is farming or fishing make one payment, on December 31: 66% of the year’s amount.

CRA’s three options

• Reminders (no calculation): pay the amounts on the reminders CRA mails you, based on your last assessed returns. The easiest, and no instalment interest if you pay them in full and on time, even if your income changes.
• Prior-year: last year’s net tax owing plus last year’s CPP and EI premiums, in four equal payments. Safe from interest, and lower than this year’s amount when your income is growing.
• Current-year: this year’s estimate, which is what this calculator works out. Lower when your income drops, but if the estimate turns out too low, CRA charges interest on the difference.

How this is calculated

1. The year’s income: income and expenses so far × 12 ÷ the months they cover, or so far plus your own estimate for the rest.
2. Tax, CPP and EI on that year, from the same engine as the self-employed tax calculator (the same numbers to the cent).
3. Net tax owing = income tax − tax withheld on a job. Over $3,000, and over it last year or the year before: instalments are required.
4. The year’s instalments = net tax owing + CPP + EI premiums. Less what you’ve paid, spread over the dates still ahead, each rounded up to the dollar so the plan never falls short.

Worked example

An Alberta consultant checks on October 28, 2026. From January to September they billed $60,000 and had $9,000 of expenses; no other income, nothing paid yet. Their 2025 net tax owing was $8,500, and their 2025 CPP on self-employment (line 42100) $6,400.

Net tax owing is over $3,000 this year and was last year, so instalments are required. Three dates have passed unpaid, so the December amount is the whole year’s, and CRA may charge interest on the three missed parts. Set aside about 25.3% of every payment from here on. The prior-year option would have been ($8,500 + $6,400) ÷ 4 = $3,725.00 a quarter. With three dates missed, no option avoids interest now; paying sooner reduces it.

What this calculator assumes

• A sole proprietor (not incorporated) living in the chosen province or territory all year; every province and territory but Quebec for now.
• The basic personal amounts, CPP and EI credits only, as on the self-employed tax calculator. Refundable credits (such as the Canada workers benefit) and a social benefits repayment change net tax owing and aren’t included.
• A job’s CPP and EI are withheld as usual; its income tax as entered, or the usual withholding if left blank.
• No instalment interest is calculated.

Rates for tax year 2026, verified October 21 to October 29, 2026 · Page updated October 29, 2026