Tax · Gig & freelance
Income tax instalment calculator.
A completely different CRA rule from the GST/HST registration threshold: this one is about prepaying your own income tax quarterly, because no employer withholds it for you.
Instalments are required if your net tax owing is over $3,000 ($1,800 in Quebec) in the current year AND in either of the two preceding years. Miss one condition and you're off the hook — a single unusually high year doesn't trap you.
Inputs
Result
Enter your net tax owing for the three years and press Calculate.
How the instalment rule works
CRA requires quarterly instalments only when net tax owing exceeds the threshold ($3,000 federally, $1,800 for a Quebec return, since Quebec collects its own provincial tax separately) in both the current year and at least one of the two immediately preceding years. This two-condition test means a single unusually high-income year does not, by itself, trigger instalments if your two prior years were both under the threshold.
The amount shown here uses CRA's own prior-year method: divide last year's net tax owing by four, and pay that on each of the four due dates. CRA's own guidance describes this method as fully protecting you from instalment interest, even if the current year's tax owing turns out to be higher.
Sources, last verified 24 September 2026: Canada.ca — Who has to pay tax instalments, Canada.ca — How much to pay (the three methods), Canada.ca — Instalment due dates.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as the GST/HST $30,000 threshold?
No, they're unrelated CRA rules. The $30,000 test decides whether you must charge sales tax on your revenue. This $3,000 test decides whether you must prepay your own income tax quarterly. You can easily be over one threshold and under the other.
What if I only had one high-income year?
You won't be required to pay instalments unless net tax owing also exceeded the threshold in at least one of the two years before that. A single spike year, by itself, doesn't trigger it.
Why is Quebec's threshold lower?
Quebec collects provincial tax itself through Revenu Québec rather than through CRA, so the CRA-side liability that gets tested is roughly half the combined total — hence the lower $1,800 federal threshold for Quebec filers (who also separately owe Quebec's own instalments to Revenu Québec).
Estimate only
Models the prior-year method only, not CRA's "no-calculation" reminder amount (which blends both preceding years) or the current-year estimate method. Does not model Quebec's separate provincial instalment obligation to Revenu Québec. Confirm your exact requirement and amount through your CRA My Account.