Cross-Border Tax Calculator

It estimates your combined tax when you have income in both countries by adding US income (converted to Canadian dollars at the exchange rate you set) to your Canadian income, then applying a foreign tax credit so the same income is not taxed twice. You enter your US income in USD, your Canadian income in CAD, a USD→CAD exchange rate, your residence country, and your province. It models US federal income tax (with the standard deduction for US residents only — nonresident aliens cannot claim it) plus Canadian federal and provincial income tax, and shows CPP/QPP and EI on your Canadian wages separately — giving you a total income tax figure for both countries rather than line-by-line return amounts.

For a Canadian resident, the foreign tax credit is the lesser of the US tax you paid (converted to CAD) and the Canadian income tax attributable to your US-source income — your share of income from the US times your federal and provincial income tax. CPP and EI are not income tax, so they are left out of that limit. If the US tax is higher, Canada does not refund the extra. For a US resident, the calculator applies the reverse: US tax on worldwide income is reduced by a credit for the Canadian tax on your Canadian wages, capped at the US tax on that income.

No. You select your residence country — Canada or United States — as an input, and the calculator estimates tax on that basis. It does not run the IRS substantial presence test or the Canada-US Tax Treaty Article IV residency tie-breaker to decide your status for you. Determine your residency first (the substantial presence test and treaty tie-breaker rules are how that is settled), then run the figures with the correct residence selected.

It defaults to a USD→CAD rate of 1.35, which you can override with your own figure. The rate converts both your US income and the US tax you paid into Canadian dollars so the two countries' amounts can be combined and compared. For an actual return, the CRA generally expects the Bank of Canada exchange rate for the relevant period.

No — the calculator estimates US federal tax only, using the IRS single-filer brackets for the tax year you select. It does not model US state or city income taxes, which many cross-border workers also owe. Treat the US figure as a federal-only estimate and add any applicable state tax separately when planning.

You can choose Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, or Quebec. The Canadian side applies that province's tax alongside federal tax, with CPP (QPP in Quebec) and EI charged on your Canadian wages only. Quebec in particular runs its own provincial system, so treat cross-border estimates there as indicative and confirm with a cross-border tax professional.