How To Update A Canadian Employee's Tax Information

⚡ Purpose

Tax Information is a fundamental part of every employee profile; it's where key details like Employment Status, Tax/EI/CPP Exemptions, and Federal/Provincial Claim information live for every employee, regardless of your plan. This makes it a useful record-keeping section in its own right, separate from payroll.

For accounts using our payroll feature, this same information also determines how much Income Tax, CPP, and EI are withheld from an employee's pay each period and feeds directly into year-end tax forms like the T4 or T4A. 

Keeping it accurate ensures employees are taxed correctly and that exemptions—like CPP Exemption for Canadian employees—are applied and maintained correctly over time.

📌 | Note: If your employees complete their tax forms (like a TD1) through PUSH's Digital Onboarding or HR Tasks: Forms features, many of these fields will auto-fill directly from their completed form. You can still manually update them afterward as an Administrator.

🔐 Access required

The Tax Information in an employee profile is available to all subscription plans.

📌 | Note: Payroll automations and tax filings require the Payroll Add-On.

Who can update Tax Information?

• Super Administrators: full access to view and update all fields in the Tax Information section.
• Team Administrators can update Tax Information if the Employee CRA Info permission is enabled, and must have permissions to the relevant Employee Groups under Update Employee Information, View Employee Information, and View Employee List. If you are unable to access, please confirm your permissions with a Super Administrator.

📋 Topics covered in this article:

• Updating General Tax Information
• Frequently Asked Questions About Tax Information

📚 Related articles:

• How to Set Up Employee Defaults
• How to Run an Employee Information Report
• Managing Employee Forms, Policies, and Tasks
• How To Invite An Employee To Begin Digital Onboarding

Updating General Tax Information

The Tax Information section is located in each employee's profile and contains the core payroll tax fields applicable to that employee.

Most of these fields are set when an employee profile is first created or when an employee is invited to complete digital onboarding. We recommend reviewing this information every now and then to ensure everything stays accurate.

💡 | Tip: You can use the Employee Information Report, filtered by the Tax option, to quickly review Tax Information across all your employees at once.

1. Click the Employees tab.
2. On the left-hand navigation bar, select the appropriate Employee List: Active, Pending, On Leave, or Inactive.
3. Under Search, input the employee's name.
4. Under Edit, click the pencil icon for the employee.
5. On the left-hand navigation bar, select Tax Information, or scroll down the page to the Tax Information section.
6. Update the relevant fields (see table below).

7. Field	How to Fill It Out	Notes
   Employment Status	Click the drop-down and select Employee or Contractor.	This should align with how the team member is categorized at your business, and will also let PUSH know whether to process a T4 or T4A for them, if applicable.
   CPP Exemption Method	Click the drop-down and select Automatically Determined by Birthday or Manually Specified.	Choosing Automatically Determined by Birthday lets Push calculate CPP exemption from the employee's date of birth on file—this is what we'd recommend for most employees.  If an employee's CPP status depends on something other than age, such as a CRA election, choose Manually Specified instead.
   Exempt from CPP Deductions	Check or uncheck the box.	This should reflect the employee's own CPP eligibility. This only needs to be set directly if the CPP Exemption Method is set to Manually Specified.
   Exempt from EI Deductions	Check or uncheck the box.	This should reflect the employee's own EI eligibility. This only needs to be set directly if the CPP Exemption Method is set to Manually Specified.
   Registered Under the Indian Act	Check or uncheck the box.	This applies to Indian Act Employment (IAE) eligibility and maps exempt income to Box 71 rather than Box 14 on the employee's T4.  You may not see this option if IAE isn't set up on your account. Please reach out to our Support team if you'd like access.
   Tax Province	Click the drop-down and select the employee's province of employment.	We recommend using the CRA's guidance on determining the province of employment to confirm the correct province before selecting one here.
   Federal Claim	This will auto-populate based on the employee's completed TD1 form, if completed digitally through PUSH. Otherwise, an Administrator can manually enter the relevant details.	As an Administrator, you can click "Click HERE to use default basic federal & provincial tax credits" to set this to the default amount instead. At the beginning of each year, PUSH will automatically update the Federal Claim and Provincial Claim for any employee profile still set to the default amounts. If an employee has custom amounts instead, they're required to complete another TD1 form to update them.
   Provincial Claim	This will auto-populate based on the employee's completed TD1 form, if completed digitally through PUSH. Otherwise, an Administrator can manually enter the relevant details.	As an Administrator, you can click "Click HERE to use default basic federal & provincial tax credits" to set this to the default amount instead. At the beginning of each year, PUSH will automatically update the Federal Claim and Provincial Claim for any employee profile still set to the default amounts. If an employee has custom amounts instead, they're required to complete another TD1 form to update them.
   Additional Federal Tax Deductions	This will auto-populate based on the employee's completed TD1 form, if completed digitally through PUSH. Otherwise, an Administrator can manually enter the relevant details.	Employees sometimes request that additional income tax be withheld as a preventative measure, so they don't end up owing taxes at year-end and instead receive a refund. If left blank, this field defaults to $0.

8. Once done, click Update Employee.

Frequently Asked Questions About Tax Information

Have questions about updating Tax Information or setting up a CPP Exemption? This section provides quick answers to help you navigate the settings with confidence.

Q: Why isn't CPP being deducted from my employee's pay? 
A: This usually means the employee is marked as CPP exempt. Check the CPP Exemption Method and the Exempt from CPP Deductions box under Tax Information—refer to the table above.

Q: What's the difference between Automatically Determined by Birthday and Manually Specified? 
A: Automatically determined by birthday, let's PUSH calculate and apply the CPP exemption status based on the employee's date of birth. 

Manually Specified means you control the Exempt from CPP Deductions checkbox yourself. Use this when an employee's exemption depends on something other than age, such as a CRA election.

Q: When should I set or review an employee's CPP Exemption Method? 
A: It's typically set when an employee first joins, as part of onboarding. We also recommend reviewing it any time an employee completes an updated tax form or CRA election, or when their personal circumstances change—rather than waiting for a payroll run to flag an issue.

Q: How do I know if an employee is exempt from CPP? 
A: CPP exemption generally applies based on an employee's age (at the younger and older ends of their working life), or because the employee has filed an election with the CRA to stop contributing. 

Since exact age thresholds and eligibility rules are set by the CRA and can change, we recommend confirming an employee's status against the CRA's Canada Pension Plan (CPP) page before updating their profile.

Q: Where can I find the current CPP eligibility rules, including age limits, CPP2, and Quebec/QPP differences? 
A: These are governed directly by the CRA (and Revenu Québec for Quebec) and can change. We recommend checking the CRA's Canada Pension Plan (CPP) page or Revenu Québec for the most current rules.

Q: Can I get reminded to review an employee's CPP Exemption status? 
A: Yes. You can set up a CPP Activation reminder under Alarms, which notifies you to review an employee's CPP Exemption once they turn 18, based on the date of birth on file in their profile. 

Q: Can I set a default CPP Exemption Method so my team doesn't have to select it manually for every new employee? 
A: Yes. A Super Administrator can set a company-wide default under Employee Defaults. This ensures that when new employees join, the profile is set exactly the same way and there is no guesswork. Note that Employee Defaults does not retroactively update existing employees; it only applies to new employee profiles created after the default is saved.

Q: What is Form CPT30? 
A: Form CPT30 is a CRA election form related to CPP contributions. It is often used by employees aged 65 to 70 who want to stop contributing to the Canada Pension Plan, or who want to revoke a prior election. For details on when it's needed and how to complete or submit it, refer to the CRA's CPT30 page.

Q: Why don't I see a Registered Under the Indian Act option on an employee's profile? 
A: This setting is tied to the Indian Act Employment (IAE), typically those whose employment income is exempt from tax because their work is performed on reserve land. If you require this feature, please contact our Support team to have it turned on.

Q: I have specific questions about whether an employee qualifies for a CPP, federal, or provincial tax exemption. Who should I contact? 
A:  We'd recommend reaching out to the CRA directly or consulting a tax professional or accountant for guidance specific to your employee's situation.

Additional Information

Need further help? Refer to our Getting Help & Contacting Support article for the latest support options and ways to connect with our team.