Free Tax Refund Checklist: What to Gather Before You Estimate

1. Build one row for every final income record

Start a simple worksheet with one row for each final year-end slip or income source. For Canadian employment, record T4 box 14 as employment income and box 22 as income tax deducted. For US employment, record W-2 box 1 wages, box 2 federal withholding and each state's box 17 withholding separately. Add business, investment, pension, benefit and other taxable income from the records that apply. This source-to-field step makes duplicate entries easier to spot before you open a calculator.

2. Separate tax withheld from payroll deductions

Income tax withheld is not always the same as total deductions from a payslip. Keep income-tax withholding separate from payroll contributions such as CPP/EI, National Insurance, FICA or pension contributions unless the calculator specifically asks for them.

Map Canadian records to the payment field

For a straightforward Canadian employment estimate, total the income tax deducted in box 22 of your T4 slips. Keep CPP/QPP and EI amounts separate. Add tax instalments actually paid for the same year once; do not add a reminder amount you have not paid. For example, CAD 8,000 withheld plus CAD 1,200 of instalments gives CAD 9,200 for the Canada tool’s combined tax-paid input. Do not add an annual slip total to the same pay stubs’ year-to-date total: those are two records of the same withholding. Quebec residents file separate federal and provincial returns; this combined planning input is not an instruction to put Quebec tax on federal line 43700.

Enter Canadian income and tax paid

Keep US federal and state payments separate

For US employment, Form W-2 box 2 records federal income tax withheld; box 17 records state income tax withheld. Boxes 4 and 6 are Social Security and Medicare, not federal income-tax payments. For example, USD 6,000 in box 2 plus USD 500 of federal estimated payments gives USD 6,500 for federal tax already paid. A separate USD 2,000 in state withholding belongs in the state field, not in the federal total. Match the selected state to its records; one-state estimates do not reconcile a multi-state return.

Enter separate US federal and state payments

3. Check deductions and credits

Record deductions you expect to claim, such as eligible retirement contributions, work expenses or donations. A deduction usually reduces taxable income; a credit generally reduces calculated tax. The exact rules vary by country.

4. Compare the estimate with your documents

A refund estimate is a planning result, not a filed return. Before relying on it, check the tax year, residence selection, filing status, withholding amount and whether the calculator describes an item as included or excluded.

5. Replace corrected records—do not stack them

A corrected or amended slip replaces the affected original amounts; it is not another income record to add on top. If a T4 or W-2 looks wrong, ask the issuer for a correction. Use pay stubs as a cross-check, but do not add a final slip's annual total to the same pay stubs' year-to-date total. If an official slip is missing, follow the relevant agency process rather than silently treating a rough calculator estimate as a filed-return amount.

6. Run the calculator in five controlled passes

First choose the country and tax year. Second enter income totals from the worksheet. Third enter income tax already paid without payroll taxes. Fourth add only supported deductions and credits you expect to claim. Fifth calculate and review the detailed tax and filing-balance lines before using the refund or amount owing in a budget. Change one uncertain assumption at a time and save the source document beside each input.

Learn how to read the filing balance