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webTOD - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
General Information
What is webTOD?
Why is it called webTOD?
Who can benefit from using webTOD?
Does webTOD cost anything to use?
Do I need to install webTOD on my computer to be able to use it?
What are the minimum system requirements to be able to use webTOD?
Do I need to register to use webTOD?
What version of webTOD should I use?
Who developed webTOD?
Is webTOD approved by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)?
I think I found a bug! Who should I tell?
Using webTOD
How do I start the webTOD calculator program?
I clicked on the 'Start Calculator' link, but nothing happened - what's wrong?
What minimum information is required before I can calculate a payroll deduction?
The employee has a residence in one province but goes to work in another - which province do I use for the province of employment?
How do I know what the employee's Federal TD1 - Total Claim Amount is?
How do I know what the employee's Provincial/Territorial TD1P - Total Claim Amount is?
The employee is under the age of 18 (or over the age of 69) - will webTOD still calculate a CPP deduction?
The employee is a shareholder of the employer - will webTOD still calculate an EI deduction?
I need to calculate payroll deductions on vacation pay that is being paid out to an employee - how do I use webTOD to do this?
webTOD calculation results - Statement of Employee Payroll Earnings & Deductions
When I click on the 'Calculate Deductions' button, nothing happens - what's the problem?
Why does webTOD require me to enable 'pop-ups' for it to operate properly?
Can I add comments to the Statement of Employee Earnings and Deductions?
I need to add additional deductions to the Statement of Employee Earnings and Deductions - how can I do this?
webTOD vs TOD
Why should I use webTOD instead of TOD?
What are the main differences between webTOD and TOD?
Why does webTOD calculate deductions that differ slightly from TOD and the CRA Payroll Deduction Tables?
Mailing list
What information will I receive when I subscribe to the webTOD mailing list?
How do I subscribe to the mailing list?
How do I un-subscribe from the mailing list?
Will my email address be given to anyone else?
General Information
This section provides answers to the most general questions about webTOD - what it is and what it does:
webTOD is a web-based Canadian Payroll Tax Deduction calculator. It can be used to calculate payroll tax deductions on all types of employment income, including regular salary & wages, pension income, bonuses, retroactive pay increases and commission income. Canadian payroll tax deductions include Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions, Employment Insurance (IE) premiums, Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) premiums, and Federal and Provincial/Territorial Income Tax withholdings. PLEASE NOTE: Beginning with v2006A-Q, webTOD WILL calculate Provincial Income Tax withholdings for the province of Quebec. Quebec administers its own income tax collection independant from the Canada Revenue Agency.
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The name webTOD is an acronym for Web Tables On Diskette. The Tables on Diskette (TOD) reference is derived from the Canada Revenue Agency software product (first distributed on diskette) that provided employers with a computerized version of the Payroll Deduction Tables which previously had been available only in print.
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Who can benefit from using webTOD?
webTOD can be used by Canadian employers (and/or their accountants):
- to calculate payroll deductions for employee paycheques.
- to print a statement of employee earnings and deductions that can be given to the employee along with their net paycheque.
- to check payroll deduction calculations produced by their current payroll software.
- to calculate payroll deductions for temporary or part-time employees who the employer does not wish to set up in their existing payroll software.
- to check their employer's calculation of payroll deductions on their payroll cheques.
- to calculate the expected net amount of an upcoming paycheque.
- to determine the change in total payroll deductions that would result from a change in their TD1 and/or TD1P claim amounts, or from a change in RSP/RPP deductions, etc.
- to verify the accuracy of their software's Canadian payroll tax deduction calculations.
- as a demonstration of the functionality and accuracy of the Canadian Payroll Tax Library (CPTL) programs, a library of Canadian payroll withholding tax calculation functions available for licensing to payroll application software developers. The CPTL programs, which are available as Windows DLL and/or Linux shared library modules, allow Canadian payroll software developers to out-source their Canadian payroll tax deduction module requirements, saving development and maintenance costs, and ensuring ongoing and up-to-date compliance with all federal and provincial payroll tax guidelines and requirements. For more information, click here.
Does webTOD cost anything to use?
webTOD is FREE to use. We do not charge a license or usage fee for webTOD. You are free to use webTOD as often as you like at our web site. If you would like to add webTOD as a feature on your web site, we do offer private-branded website licenses for a reasonable annual fee. Please contact us for more information.
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Do I need to install webTOD on my computer to be able to use it?
No. If you have a web browser and an Internet connection on your computer, you do not need to install anything else on your computer to be able to use webTOD. Simply enter www.webtod.ca into your web browser and click on the webTOD calculator link to start the application.
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What are the minimum system requirements to be able to use webTOD?
To use webTOD, you will require a personal computer with an Internet connection and any popular web browser. We have tested webTOD successfully with Microsoft Internet Explorer v6.0+ and with Mozilla Firefox v1.0+.
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Do I need to register to use webTOD?
No - you do not need to register to use webTOD. webTOD is free to use by anyone anonymously, if they so choose. We do offer an optional webTOD mailing list which you can register for, to receive regular updates and news about webTOD and other payroll-related information.
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What version of webTOD should I use?
The version of webTOD you should use depends on the payment date for the payroll you wish to calculate payroll deductions for. CRA usually publishes updates for payroll deduction formulas twice a year, effective January 1 and July 1, and webTOD is updated accordingly. New versions of webTOD are usually published on our web site a week or two prior to the effective dates for changes to payroll deductions.
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webTOD was developed in 2004 by Kevin Kortje, a Canadian Chartered Accountant with over 25 years of experience in software development, Canadian taxation and accounting systems. Initially, the webTOD application was developed and used primarily as an independant testing platform for verifying the accuracy of payroll deduction calculations in a custom payroll software application being developed for a client of Middle Earth Technologies Ltd. We had previously been using CRA's TOD software to provide independant verification of calculated deductions, but found that the TOD software did not handle some of the more complex payroll calculation examples documented in CRA's publication T4127 - Payroll Deductions Formulas for Computer Programs. The webTOD application was developed entirely in PHP, a popular HTML-embedded scripting language, with some client-side Javascript code used for HTML form input validation and screen formatting. webTOD also incorporates the WebFX Tab Pane utility Created by Erik Arvidsson (http://webfx.eae.net).
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Is webTOD approved by the Canada Revenue Agency?
webTOD is based entirely on CRA's published guidelines for Canadian Payroll Deduction Formulas for Computer Programs. It is not CRA's policy to approve or certify independant software provider's implementations of their guidelines. We have tested webTOD extensively and guarantee its accuracy and compliance with CRA's requirements.
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I think I found a bug! Who should I tell?
First, you should make sure that you can reproduce the bug - i.e. that the bug 'event' will occur consistently each time you do the same set of steps before the bug 'event' occurs. If you can reproduce the bug event consistently, you should then document in detail the exact sequence of steps you followed right up to the occurence of the 'bug'. Next, you should check the webTOD support forum to see if the bug is already known and a suggested workaround is available. We have found that many reported 'bugs' are actually just related to incorrect web browser settings - such as active pop-up blocker software that has not been configured to allow webTOD to operate properly. If the bug you think you have discovered is not already discussed in our support forums, you can then report the bug to us - by posting it in our webTOD support forum, or sending us an email. Make sure that you include all the details of what steps you went through up to the occurrence of the bug. Also, please include information about the web browser that you are using (name and version no.), your operating system (name and version), and any 'add-on' software that may be affecting the operation of your web browser, such as pop-up blocker toolbars and internet security tools (e.g. Norton). Finally, please make sure to include a full description of any error message that appeared on your screen - i.e. the 'exact' text of the error message that appeared. If you have indeed found a bug in webTOD, we will make every effort to fix it as soon as possible.
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Using webTOD
This section provides answers to questions about using webTOD:
How do I start the webTOD calculator program?
Point your web browser at www.webtod.ca, then click on the 'Start Calculator' link. The webTOD calculator screen should appear in a new browser window.
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I clicked on the 'Start Calculator' link, but nothing happened - what's wrong?
The problem may be that you have 'pop-up blocker' software installed, and this software is blocking the webTOD calculator window from appearing. You may need to configure your pop-up blocker software to allow pop-ups for our web site so that the webTOD calculator window can be displayed. Most pop-up blocker software has configurable options for allowing pop-ups on user-selected sites.
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What minimum information is required before I can calculate a payroll deduction?
For each type of payroll deduction calculation (Regular Salary/Pension/Bonus/Retroactive Pay/Commission), there are different required information fields that must be completed by the user before a payroll deduction calculation can be done. For all types of income except Commissions, the user must specify a Pay Period definition - i.e. weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, etc. For ALL calculations, the user must also specify the employee's 'Province of Employment', Federal TD1 - Total Claim Amount and Provincial/Territorial TD1P - Total Claim Amount. For Commission income, the user must specify additional information from the commissioned employee's federal TD1X form. Any required information for a payroll deduction calculation will be highlighted in a yellow field with a bolded blue text label beside it. The user must ensure that valid information is provided in these required fields before clicking on the 'Calculate Deductions' button.
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The employee has a residence in one province but goes to work in another - which province do I use for the 'Province of Employment'?
The employee's 'Province of Employment' is the province where the employee is required to show up for work, regardless of the employee's province of residence. Payroll deductions are always based on the province of employment, even though the employee's income tax return for the year will calculate the final income tax liability based on their province of residence as at December 31.
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How do I know what the employee's Federal TD1 - Total Claim Amount is?
All employees are required to file a Federal TD1 form with their employer. The Total Claim Amount will be the amount shown on this form, as claimed by the employee. If the employer does not have a Federal TD1 form on file for the employee, then the default Basic Claim Amount (Claim Code 1) should be used for payroll deduction calculations.
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How do I know what the employee's Provincial/Territorial TD1P - Total Claim Amount is?
All employees are required to file a Provincial/Territorial TD1(P) form with their employer. The Total Claim Amount will be the amount shown on this form, as claimed by the employee. If the employer does not have a Provincial/Territorial TD1(P) form on file for the employee, then the default Basic Claim Amount (Claim Code 1) should be used for payroll deduction calculations.
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The employee is under the age of 18 (or over the age of 69) - will webTOD still calculate a CPP deduction?
Employees under the age of 18 or over the age of 69 are exempt from CPP contributions. CPP exemptions also exist for certain other types of employees (see CRA website for details). To exempt an employee from CPP, check the 'CPP Exempt' box on the 'Exemptions' tab of the webTOD calculator before calculating the deductions.
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The employee is a shareholder of the employer - will webTOD still calculate an EI deduction?
Employees who are also shareholders or owners of an employer are not eligible for EI coverage, and as such should not have EI premiums deducted from payroll amounts. EI exemptions also exist for certain other types of employees and/or employment situations (see CRA website for details). To exempt an employee from EI, check the 'EI Exempt' box on the 'Exemptions' tab of the webTOD calculator before calculating the deductions.
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I need to calculate payroll deductions on vacation pay that is being paid out to an employee - how do I use webTOD to do this?
If the vacation pay being paid covers only one (1) pay period for which the vacation time-off is being taken:
- Select the 'Regular Salary' calculator.
- Enter the vacation pay amount for the pay period in which the vacation time-off is taken in the 'Paid vacation' field.
- Enter the amount of any Gross Salary/Wages paid for time actually worked during the pay period.
If the vacation pay being paid covers more than one (1) pay period for which the vacation time-off is being taken:
- Select the 'Regular Salary' calculator.
- Split the vacation pay into amounts pertaining to each pay period for which the vacation time-off is taken.
- Perform a separate calculation for each pay period over which the vacation pay is being paid, as described in the previous example.
If the vacation pay is being paid as one lump-sum amount in lieu of vacation time not taken:
- Select the 'Bonus' calculator.
- Enter the employee's regular salary/wages for one pay period in the 'Gross Salary/Wages' field (leave the 'Paid vacation' amount as 0.00).
- Enter the lump-sum amount of vacation pay in the 'Current bonus payable' field.
- Check the box 'Show Bonus only on Pay Advice'.
webTOD Calculation Results - Statement of Employee Payroll Earnings & Deductions
When I click on the 'Calculate Deductions' button, nothing happens - what's the problem?
The problem may be that you have 'pop-up blocker' software installed, and this software is blocking the webTOD calculation results window from appearing. You may need to configure your pop-up blocker software to allow pop-ups for our web site so that the webTOD calculation results can be displayed. Most pop-up blocker software has configurable options for allowing pop-ups on user-selected sites.
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Why does webTOD require me to enable 'pop-ups' for it to operate properly?
webTOD uses Javascript, a browser-based scripting language, to perform various data validation checks on the information you enter into the webTOD calculator before sending the information to our webTOD server. When you click on the 'Calculate Deductions' button, instead of sending the data directly to the webTOD server through an html form POST, the webTOD calculator uses a Javascript program to ensure that there are no problems with the data you entered. If the information you entered passes these validation checks, the Javascript program will send the data to the webTOD server and open a new browser window for the server to display the calculation results in. The use of Javascript data validation on the 'client-side' (browser) reduces the processing load on the webTOD server and also reduces the amount of network traffic between the browser and the server, allowing the webTOD server to perform more efficiently (and do more calculations for everybody!).
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Can I add comments to the Statement of Employee Earnings and Deductions?
Yes - you can add your own comments that will be printed on the Statement of Employee Earnings and Deductions by clicking on the 'Comments' tab in the Current Period Payroll Amounts section of the calculator.
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I need to add additional deductions to the Statement of Employee Earnings and Deductions - how can I do this?
The current version of webTOD does not yet include functionality that would allow you to add additional user-defined deductions to the Statement of Employee Earnings and Deductions, other that the pre-defined deductions you will find on the 'Deductions' tab in the Current Period Payroll Amounts section of the calculator. We plan to include this functionality in the new webTOD+ version of the calculator which is currently in development.
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webTOD versus TOD
Why should I use webTOD instead of TOD?
We think webTOD is much simpler to use than TOD and unlike TOD, you can use webTOD on ANY number of computers without having to download and install any software. And you never need to worry about whether you are using the most up-to-date version of the software - we always update it for you when CRA publishes new tax tables and/or guidelines. If you need to quickly calculate Canadian payroll deductions on a computer that does not have the TOD software installed but has Internet access and any commonly used web browser, all you have to do is remember the webTOD address - www.webtod.ca
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What are the main differences between webTOD and TOD?
The biggest difference between webTOD and TOD is, of course, webTOD is a web/browser-based online application, while TOD is an application that must be downloaded, installed, and then run locally on a PC. Another significant difference is the accuracy of calculation results - webTOD uses CRA's actual formulas for calculating payroll deductions with accuracy to the penny, while TOD will return the same payroll deduction calculations for a 'range' of income amounts. Another important difference is that webTOD includes Quebec payroll deduction calculations, and TOD does not.
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Why does webTOD calculate deductions that differ slightly from TOD and the CRA Payroll Deduction Tables?
The short answer is that webTOD produces results that are technically more accurate than the results provided by the TOD software or the CRA Payroll Deduction tables. webTOD calculations are based on formulas published and approved by CRA for computer calculations of payroll deductions and use the EXACT amount of income that you input into webTOD for those calculations, whereas TOD calculations and the CRA Payroll Deduction Tables are both based on the mid-point values of income ranges. In most cases, the difference in results between webTOD and TOD will be ONLY in the amount of income tax to be withheld, and the difference will be very small - usually less than $1.
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webTOD mailing list
Users of webTOD can subscribe to the webTOD mailing list to keep up-to-date on all webTOD developments, including new versions, bug fixes, and important CRA announcements affecting payroll calculations. To subscribe to the mailing list, click here.
What information will I receive when I subscribe to the webTOD mailing list?
webTOD mailing list subscribers will receive emails informing them of each update to the webTOD application, including new year and mid-year updates corresponding to CRA's updated payroll deduction tables and calculation rules. Subscribers will also receive occasional emails with relevant news about Canadian payroll deductions, including new legislation and CRA administrative policies. On occasion, we may also send out tips on using webTOD and provide answers to frequently asked questions which don't already appear on this page.
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How do I subscribe to the mailing list?
You can subscribe to the webTOD mailing list simply by entering your email address on the webTOD mailing list subscription page, and clicking on the 'Subscribe' button. A confirmation email will be sent to the email address that you enter, and you must confirm that you wish to have your email address added to the webTOD mailing list by clicking on the link provided in the confirmation email. If you do not click on the confirmation email link within 24 hours of receiving it, you will NOT be added to the mailing list.
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How do I un-subscribe from the mailing list?
You can un-subscribe from the webTOD mailing list at any time, simply by clicking on the un-subscribe link at the bottom of any emails you receive from the list, or by clicking on the un-subscribe link you will find here.
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Will my email address be given to anyone else?
Absolutely not. If you subscribe to the webTOD mailing list, your email address will NOT be given to any 3rd party. As a subscriber to the webTOD mailing list, you will only receive emails related to the webTOD Canadian Payroll Tax Deduction Calculator. We adhere to Canadian privacy law and NEVER give out your email address to 3rd parties. For the complete text of our Privacy Policy, click here.
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