RRSP Tax Refund Calculator (2026)

See what an RRSP contribution really puts back in your pocket. You get the tax it saves, your true out-of-pocket cost, and the refund cheque if you enter the tax withheld from your pay. Buttons set the amount that drops you into a lower bracket or wipes out a balance owing.

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About $15,300 from this year's salary. Your real limit is on your Notice of Assessment. It uses last year's income, minus any pension adjustment from a workplace plan, plus unused room.
Tax withheld, RRSP room and other income
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Box 22 on your T4. With this, we show your actual refund cheque.
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Leave 0 and we estimate it from this year's salary. The RRSP room calculator works it out properly
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You get back from the CRA$2,965.00Putting in $10,000 saves 29.6% in tax, so it really costs you $7,035. If your employer took off the right amount, your refund is about $2,965.
Tax refund $2,965Real cost to you $7,035
Income tax without the contribution$15,551.06
Income tax with the contribution$12,586.06
Tax saved$2,965.00
Real cost after the refund$7,035.00
Rate on your next dollar of pay, before → after29.6% → 29.6%
For the same real cost you could put in$14,214.64
Deadline. Contribute by March 1, 2027 to deduct it on your 2026 return. Anything you put in from January 1 to March 1, 2027 can go on either the 2026 or 2027 return. Room you use now comes off the $33,810 limit. Unused room carries forward forever.
Show the math

Tax saved is the income tax on $85,000.00 minus the income tax on $75,000.00. Both use the 2026 federal and Ontario brackets, credits, surtaxes and reductions. The slice table re-runs that in $250 steps and groups the slices by the rate they saved at. That shows you where a bracket boundary falls. Your refund cheque is the tax withheld minus the tax after the deduction. If payroll took off too little, the contribution cuts what you owe instead. The rate on your next dollar of pay can be lower than the rate the contribution saves at. An extra dollar of salary also attracts CPP and EI, and those generate their own tax credits, while a deduction does not. You pay tax when you withdraw later. This is a deferral, not a gift.

How this calculator works

An RRSP contribution is a deduction. It lowers your taxable income by the amount you put in. The tax saving is the tax without the deduction minus the tax with it. A “marginal rate × contribution” shortcut misses a drop into a lower bracket, the Ontario surtax and health premium steps, and the federal basic personal amount phase-out for high earners. The calculator runs the full 2026 federal and provincial calculation both ways.

The real cost of a contribution is what you put in minus the tax it saves. That is the number to compare with a TFSA contribution, which gets no deduction but is never taxed on the way out.

Worked example: $85,000 in Ontario, $10,000 contribution

LineAmount
Income tax on $85,000$15,551.06
Income tax on $75,000 (after the deduction)$12,586.06
Tax saved$2,965.00
Effective refund rate29.6%
Marginal rate at $85,00029.6%
Real cost of the $10,000 contribution$7,035.00

Here the whole $10,000 sits inside one bracket, so the saving is the marginal rate times the contribution. When a contribution crosses a bracket edge, the Ontario surtax line or a health premium step, the slices save at different rates.

Assumptions

  • Single filer with only the basic personal amount, Canada employment amount and CPP/EI credits.
  • The whole contribution is deducted on the 2026 return. If you carry some forward, that saving lands in a later year.
  • Room is estimated from this year’s income only. The tool cannot see your carried-forward room or pension adjustments.

How to get the refund (or skip waiting for it)

Claim the deduction on your return and the refund follows. Or stop the over-withholding at source and get it every pay.

  1. RRSP contribution deadline and limits ↗
  3. Form T1213, request to reduce tax deductions at source ↗
  4. CRA My Account ↗
Common questions

Frequently asked questions

How much of an RRSP contribution do I get back?
Roughly your marginal tax rate times the contribution. At $85,000 in Ontario the marginal rate is about 29.65%, so $10,000 saves about $2,965. If the contribution drops you into a lower bracket, the part below the line saves less.
Is the RRSP refund free money?
No. The tax is deferred, not avoided. Every dollar you take out of an RRSP or RRIF later is taxed as income. It pays off when your tax rate at withdrawal is lower than your rate today. See the RRSP vs TFSA vs FHSA tool.
What is the RRSP deadline for the 2026 tax year?
March 1, 2027, sixty days after the end of the year. Contributions made from January 1 to March 1, 2027 can be deducted on either the 2026 or the 2027 return.
How much RRSP room do I have?
New room is 18% of last year's earned income, up to $33,810 for 2026, minus any pension adjustment from a workplace plan, plus unused room from earlier years. The exact figure is on your Notice of Assessment and in CRA My Account.
What happens if I over-contribute?
There is a lifetime $2,000 cushion with no penalty, but no deduction either. Beyond that, the excess is taxed at 1% per month until you withdraw it.
Should I reinvest the refund?
Yes, if you want the RRSP to keep pace with a TFSA after tax. Reinvesting the refund, or contributing the grossed-up amount shown in the results, is what makes the comparison fair.
How much should I contribute to drop into a lower bracket, or to owe nothing?
Use the buttons under the amount. One sets the contribution that brings your taxable income down to the next bracket. The other, once you enter the tax already withheld, sets the amount that makes your tax equal what was withheld, so you neither owe nor get a refund. Contributing past a bracket line still saves tax, just at the lower rate.
My group RRSP already comes off my pay. Do I still get a refund?
Usually not for that part. Payroll contributions reduce the tax withheld each cheque, so the saving already happened. Enter them as 'already contributed' so the room check is right. The refund shown applies to any extra you add yourself.
Should I deduct the contribution this year or carry it forward?
Deduct in the year with the higher marginal rate. If you expect a raise next year, contribute now to start the tax-free growth, but carry the deduction forward. This matters for students, people on parental leave, and anyone expecting a big raise. The CRA tracks undeducted contributions on your Notice of Assessment.
Can I get an RRSP loan to make a bigger contribution?
You can, and the refund can repay part of it. But you pay interest, and the benefit is only the tax deferral on the extra amount. It makes most sense when the loan is short and your marginal rate is high.

Tax-saving strategies that use this calculator

Sources

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from one of these primary sources. Data last verified .

  1. CRA T4127 Payroll Deductions Formulas, 123rd Edition, effective July 1, 2026 (Rev. 26/06)
  2. CRA – CPP contribution rates, maximums and exemptions
  3. CRA – Second additional CPP (CPP2) contribution rates and maximums
  4. ESDC – EI maternity and parental benefits: how much you could receive
  5. CRA – EI premium rates and maximums
  6. CRA – Indexation adjustment for personal income tax and benefit amounts
  7. Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.), s. 150(1)(d) and s. 156.1(4): filing deadlines and balance-due day
  8. Canada Employment Insurance Commission – Canada Employment Insurance Commission confirms 2027 Employment Insurance premium rate (September 14, 2026)
  9. CRA, Canadian income tax rates for individuals, current and previous years
  10. Government of Alberta, Personal income tax
  11. Government of British Columbia, Personal income tax rates (2026)
  12. Government of British Columbia, B.C. tax reduction credit
  13. Manitoba Finance, Personal income taxes
  14. CRA, T4032 Payroll Deductions Tables, New Brunswick (January 2026)
  15. Government of New Brunswick, Personal income tax
  16. Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Finance, Personal income tax
  17. Newfoundland and Labrador, Bill 16 (2026), An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, 2000
  18. Nova Scotia Finance and Treasury Board, Personal income tax indexation update for 2026
  19. Nova Scotia Income Tax Act (consolidated), s. 35 low income tax reduction
  20. CRA, T4032 Payroll Deductions Tables, Northwest Territories (January 2026)
  21. Government of Nunavut, January 2026 Tax Rate Sheet
  22. CRA, T4032 Payroll Deductions Tables, Nunavut (January 2026)
  23. Ontario Ministry of Finance, Personal income tax rates and credits (2026 dataset)
  24. Prince Edward Island Income Tax Act (consolidated 2026)
  25. Revenu Québec, TP-1015.F-V (2026-01) Formulas to Calculate Source Deductions and Contributions
  26. Retraite Québec, Québec Pension Plan Figures 2026
  27. Gouvernement du Québec (Québec.ca), Taux de cotisations au Régime québécois d'assurance parentale (RQAP) — page updated 19 March 2026
  28. Ministère des Finances du Québec, Parameters of the Personal Income Tax System for 2026 (November 2025)
  29. Government of Saskatchewan, Personal income tax
  30. CRA, T4032 Payroll Deductions Tables, Yukon (January 2026)
  31. CRA, How contributions affect your RRSP deduction limit
  32. CRA, MP, DB, RRSP, DPSP, ALDA, TFSA limits, YMPE and the YAMPE
  33. CRA, Important dates for individuals
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Data verified for tax year 2026: Updated By Nishant Malik, founder of GlassLayer