Canadian Tax Engine
The powerhouse for Canadian gross-to-net calculations.
The Canadian Symmetry Tax Engine (Canadian STE) calculates federal, provincial and territorial income taxes, the Canada Pension Plan, the Quebec Pension Plan, as well as Employment Insurance premium deductions. Annualized and cumulative calculations are also addressed for income sources such as commission, pension income, bonuses, lump-sum payments, workers’ compensation, and non-periodic cumulative payments.
How is Canadian payroll different than U.S. payroll?
When it comes to Canadian payroll, there are many similarities to the U.S. tax system, but also some critical differences. Canada has Federal, and Provincial and Territorial tax, similar to the U.S. tax system’s federal and state tax. Canada also has multi-province payroll, and benefit deductions, which are also similar to the U.S.
However, Canada’s tax tables are much more complex than those found in the states. Also more complex are Canada’s Pension plans. Finally, Quebec has its own set of rates and limits separate from the rest of the provinces and territories.
See U.S. Tax Engine.
Payroll taxes are plentiful.
Ensure you get the right taxes, the first time. The Canadian STE covers the following deductions.
Source Deductions
Other Deductions
Who will love it?
It is great to be able to ask questions and hear other questions answered on complex tax scenarios and changes.
Leverage the same market-proven technology as the Symmetry Tax Engine, in a Canadian version.
The nuts and bolts.
Web API
Track Canadian payroll tax rate changes.
All Canadian Tax Engine clients also receive the Symmetry Tax Notification Service, which includes real‑time updates when a Canadian tax changes, supporting documentation from primary sources, tax‑effective dates, and the version of the Canadian Tax Engine that the new or updated tax will be available in.
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Canadian STE common questions.
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What is a Canadian tax engine?
A Canadian payroll tax engine is a calculator that accounts for federal, provincial and territorial payroll withholding. A Canadian tax engine also accounts for multi-province processing, employer’s tax calculation, and deductions such as Canada Pension Plan, employment insurance, and various other payroll-related deductions and withholding. The Symmetry Tax Engine is the gold standard in payroll tax withholding software for both the U.S. and Canada, and essential to your gross-to-net Canada payroll calculation needs.
Who needs a Canadian tax engine?
Anyone building a Canadian payroll solution from scratch, looking to improve their existing payroll or HCM platform, or looking to expand to the Canadian market can benefit from the Canadian Symmetry Tax Engine. This includes software developers, payroll service providers, large enterprises managing their own payroll, and anyone else looking for a Canadian gross-to-net payroll withholding calculation.
What types of calculations does the Canadian STE handle?
The Symmetry Tax Engine Canada handles annualized calculations for regular wages, bonus wages, commission wages, lump-sum wages, pension wages, and workers’ compensation wages. It also handles cumulative calculations for regular wages, bonus wages, and commission wages. The STE also offers support for reduced rate for employer EI contribution and support for annual personal claims.
Does the Canadian Symmetry Tax Engine store any personal data?
No, the Canadian STE does not store any personal data or personally identifiable information. When address and wage information is passed in to the Canadian STE, the STE performs its calculations and then returns all applicable payroll taxes back without storing any of the employee data. No employee data is ever stored with Symmetry Software.
How often is the Canadian STE updated?
Our team of taxation experts and software engineers will support you with timely and accurate updates to the Canadian Tax Engine. The STE Web API is released monthly, with interim releases as needed.
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