RRSP Tax Refund Estimator

How to use the RRSP tax refund estimator

1. Choose your Province or territory of residence (Dec. 31, 2026). Your province on December 31 determines the provincial tax for the whole year.
2. Enter your 2026 taxable income before the RRSP deduction: employment income, self-employment income, interest and other taxable income, minus deductions other than the RRSP.
3. Enter the RRSP contribution deducted on your 2026 return.

The tool shows the Estimated tax refund, your Marginal tax rate, the Refund as % of contribution, the Tax without the RRSP and the Tax with the RRSP. The table Tax before and after the deduction splits the saving into federal and provincial tax (and the Ontario Health Premium when it applies). How it was calculated shows each step.

How the refund is estimated

An RRSP contribution is a deduction: it lowers your taxable income. The tax saving is therefore:

Refund ≈ tax on (income) − tax on (income − RRSP contribution)

For each amount, the tool applies:

• the 2026 federal brackets: 14% up to $58,523, 20.5% up to $117,045, 26% up to $181,440, 29% up to $258,482 and 33% above;
• the federal basic personal amount credit ($16,452 × 14%, reduced gradually to $14,829 between $181,440 and $258,482 of income);
• the 2026 provincial or territorial brackets and basic personal amount credit of your province;
• in Ontario, the surtax (20% of provincial tax over $5,818 plus 36% over $7,446) and the Ontario Health Premium, which drops when taxable income falls;
• in Quebec, the provincial tax calculated as on the Revenu Québec return (14% to 25.75%, basic personal amount $18,952), and the federal Quebec abatement, which reduces basic federal tax by 16.5%.

The Marginal tax rate is the combined rate on the last dollar of your income. The refund is close to contribution × marginal rate when the contribution stays in the same bracket, and lower when it reaches down into lower brackets.

Examples

• Ontario, $80,000 of income, $10,000 contribution: $2,050 of federal tax (20.5%), $915 of Ontario tax (9.15%) and $150 of Health Premium saved, an estimated refund of $3,115, with a marginal rate of 29.65%.
• Quebec, $60,000 of income, $5,000 contribution: about $665 federal (after the abatement) and $950 provincial, about $1,615 in total.

What the estimate leaves out

This is an estimate, not tax advice. The tool ignores other credits and deductions (Canada employment amount, CPP/QPP and EI credits, pension, age, medical, tuition, donations, dividends, capital gains), low-income tax reductions such as those of B.C., Ontario and New Brunswick, income-tested benefits (GST/HST credit, Canada child benefit, Quebec solidarity credit) that can also rise when your net income falls, and alternative minimum tax. A “refund” also assumes enough tax was withheld from your pay; otherwise the RRSP reduces the balance you owe.

Contribution room and deadline

You can deduct up to your RRSP deduction limit shown on your latest notice of assessment: 18% of your 2025 earned income up to $33,810 for 2026, minus pension adjustments, plus unused room carried forward. Excess contributions over $2,000 are taxed at 1% a month. Contributions made up to March 1, 2027 can be deducted on the 2026 return. Rates were checked against the CRA, Revenu Québec and provincial finance departments in September 2026; three measures announced in 2026 (B.C.’s 5.6% lowest rate, Newfoundland and Labrador’s higher basic amount, P.E.I.’s 20% bracket) are included as announced.