Free Tax Refund Checklist: What to Gather Before You Estimate

1. Gather income records

Collect your employment records, business-income summary, investment income and any benefits or pension income that may be taxable. Enter only the income type requested by the calculator and use the annual amount where the tool asks for one.

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.