RSU tax calculator (2026)

In 2026, on a $120,000 Ontario salary, a $20,000 RSU vest costs $8,682 in total ($5,200 federal tax + $3,482 provincial tax, and no CPP because the annual maximum is already reached on the salary), an effective rate of 43.4%. You keep $11,318 of the vest value.

At vesting, not at grant and not at sale. When the shares are delivered, their fair market value on that date is added to your employment income for the year and taxed at your marginal rates. There is normally no tax when the RSUs are granted, and selling later does not re-tax the vest value: a later sale is a capital gain or loss measured from the vest-date value.

CPP yes, EI no, for a share-settled vest. The CRA taxable-benefits chart lists employee security options as CPP Yes and EI No for a non-cash benefit, and a vest settled in shares is a non-cash benefit, reported as pensionable earnings on the T4. In Quebec the same vest attracts no QPIP premium, because a benefit in kind is generally not QPIP-eligible salary or wages. If your plan settles in cash instead of shares, EI and QPIP withholding may apply, so check your pay stub.

Quebec's higher provincial brackets mean a bigger bill: on a $120,000 salary, a $20,000 RSU vest costs $9,258 in Quebec ($4,342 federal + $4,916 provincial, QPP already at its maximum) versus $8,682 in Ontario, an effective rate of 46.3% instead of 43.4%. You keep $10,742 in Quebec against $11,318 in Ontario.

The RSU, on the same value. A qualifying stock option can carry a 50% security options deduction, so only half the benefit is taxed, while an RSU carries no equivalent deduction: the whole vest value is taxed as salary at your full marginal rate. That is why a $20,000 vest can cost more tax than a $20,000 option benefit of the same size. This calculator models RSUs only; stock options follow separate rules, modelled on the stock options tax calculator.

Not always. Your employer usually sells some shares at vesting to cover withholding, but withholding is a prepayment under the payroll tables, not your final tax, and a large vest can push income into a higher bracket. The calculator above shows the final annual tax, so compare it with what was withheld: on a $75,000 Ontario salary, a $5,000 vest costs $1,623 in total ($984 federal + $439 provincial + $200 CPP), and any shortfall against withholding is a balance owing when you file.

Only the change since vesting is taxed. Shares kept after vesting have a cost base equal to the value already taxed as employment income, so selling for more produces a capital gain on the growth only, with half of a capital gain taxable, and selling for less produces a capital loss. The gain or loss is not modelled on this page: the capital gains tax calculator shows the tax on a later sale, using the vest-date value as the cost base. Confirm the cost base with your plan administrator, because broker records can disagree with it.