Payroll remittances: trust money on a clock.
The CRA treats withheld payroll deductions differently from every other tax debt — because until remitted, that money was never yours. Here is the calendar, and why this is the one deadline never to float.
Updated August 2026 · Reviewed by the VertAcc accounting team · Ottawa, Canada
The default calendar: the 15th
Most employers are regular remitters: source deductions from a month’s pay are due to the CRA on or before the 15th of the following month. Pay your team in March; the withheld tax, CPP and EI — plus your employer shares — must reach the CRA by April 15. Weekend or holiday due dates roll to the next business day.
| Remitter type | Who it applies to | Deductions due |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | Small employers with good compliance history | 15th of the month after each quarter |
| Regular | The default for most employers | 15th of the following month |
| Accelerated (threshold 1 & 2) | Larger payrolls, by average monthly withholding | Up to four times per month, on the CRA’s schedule |
Your remitter category is set by the CRA from your average monthly withholding amount — it tells you in writing, and it can change as your payroll grows.
Why this deadline is different in kind
The amounts you withhold from a paycheque are deemed to be held in trust for the CRA. That classification has teeth: penalties land fast and scale with lateness, the CRA pursues these balances more aggressively than ordinary tax debt, and directors can be held personally liable for unremitted source deductions — the corporate veil does not reliably cover trust money. Using withheld payroll tax as short-term working capital is the most dangerous cash-flow habit a small business can have.
A useful mental model: the day you run payroll, the withheld amounts already belong to the CRA — you are only holding them. Businesses that move remittances to a separate account on payday never have a remittance crisis.
The rest of the payroll year
Remitting is the monthly rhythm; the year closes with T4 slips and the T4 Summary, due the last day of February for the prior calendar year. Ontario employers may also carry Employer Health Tax and WSIB obligations on their own calendars. Each is mechanical when the books are current — and a compounding mess when they are not, which is where a payroll service tracked to every due date earns its keep. Behind already? Start with what lateness actually costs — payroll’s version is stricter than income tax’s.
The short version of working with us
VertAcc is an Ottawa accounting firm that writes its own software. Bookkeeping, tax, payroll and year-end run on a fixed monthly fee — no hourly meter, calls never billable, and the accounting platform is included with setup done free. If your books are behind or a deadline on this page is already past, that is ordinary work for us, not a judgement.