I worked 3 different jobs at the same time last year - why do I owe so much income tax?

When payroll deductions are calculated at each of your jobs, your salary or wages for the payroll period are annualized to determine the income tax rate.  As a result, you are paying income tax at a rate that assumes you will be earning the same amount per pay period for a year.

If you are working at 2 or more jobs in the same month, and this continues throughout the year, you will likely owe income taxes at the end of the year.  If the total income from all your jobs for the year is still within the lowest tax bracket, you will probably still owe tax, because the payroll deductions at each job are assuming you are getting the basic personal exemption.  This is determined by the TD1 forms (both federal and provincial/territorial) that you fill out for the employer when you are hired.  You can choose to not claim any exemptions from tax for earnings from your 2nd or 3rd jobs, by entering zero as the total claim amount on the TD1 forms for those employers.

Use the Canadian Tax Calculator for your province or territory to estimate the tax that you will owe at the end of the year.

For more information on federal and provincial/territorial TD1 forms, see our TD1 Forms article.

Tax tip:  Make sure you fill out the TD1 forms if you are entitled to more tax credits than just the basic personal exemption.

Revised: November 18, 2009