Get answers to your payroll tax payment and filing questions

Learn about common tax payment and form filing questions in QuickBooks Online Payroll Core, Premium, and Elite.

Making your payroll tax payments and filing the necessary tax forms on time is an essential part of keeping you in compliance with CRA. We’ve gathered a list of the most common tax payment and tax form filing questions to help you have a successful end of the payroll quarter. 

You can turn on or off automatic tax payments and form filings. Find out more about how to pay and file payroll taxes online.

This article covers questions under 3 areas:

• Payroll tax payment questions
• Payroll tax form questions
• Payment and form issues

Payroll tax payments

How do I make a tax payment?

If you have automatic tax payments turned on:

We make your tax payments for you as long as you’ve completed your payroll setup and your electronic services are activated. 

If you have automatic tax payments turned off:

1. Go to Taxes and select Payroll tax (Take me there).
2. Select Payments.
3. Identify the tax to pay, then select Pay.
4. Follow the on-screen steps to complete your tax payment.

If you need more info, see Pay and file payroll taxes online. 

Why aren't my tax payments electronic?

For electronic tax payments, you’ll need to make sure your payroll setup is complete. 

1. Go to Payroll and select Overview (Take me there).
2. Complete any To Do tasks related to: 
   • Missing federal or provincial tax info
   • Verifying your company bank account
   • Authorizing Intuit as a third-party payer

If your To Do tasks are complete, it may take several days to activate electronic payment and filing services. Contact us to confirm your account status.

I made a tax payment already. Why is it still showing due?

If you made a tax payment outside of your payroll, you’ll need to manually enter the payment so it’s recorded in QuickBooks and will no longer show as due:

1. Go to Taxes and select Payroll tax (Take me there).
2. Select Payments.
3. Identify the tax entry you need to update.
4. Select Mark as paid from the dropdown ▼ near Pay.
5. Select an appropriate option:
   • No, I’ll pay and post this transaction either in or out of QuickBooks. 
   • Yes, I want this payment synced with my QuickBooks accounts.
6. Depending on the option selected, fill out the details as required.
7. Select Mark paid, then Done.

How can I be sure the amount of my tax payment is right?

QuickBooks calculates your tax payments based on tax rates and paycheques you’ve processed that are dated within the tax liability periods assigned to you by the CRA.   

You can confirm the amount of taxes accrued in a payroll details report using your tax liability period as the date range.

1. Go to Reports (Take me there).
2. From the Payroll section, select the Payroll Details report.
3. From the time period dropdown ▼, select Custom. 
4. Enter the dates to match your liability period. 
5. Review the report to make sure all paycheques are there, then review the employee and employer tax amounts. 

When do I need to have the money in my account?

To prevent any issues, we recommend having the money to cover your payroll taxes in your bank account at the time you submit each payroll.

Can I delay my tax payments?

You can delay your tax payments up to your due date. You can’t change how frequently you pay them since that is determined by the CRA. 

To delay your tax payments up to your due date:

If you have automatic tax payments turned on:

Contact us for assistance.

If you have automatic tax payments turned off:

1. Go to Payroll and select Overview (Take me there).
2. Select Run payroll and follow the steps to run your payroll.
3. Once you've run your payroll, you'll see a reminder pop-up to pay your taxes.
4. Select Later to make the tax payment on the due date.

Can I delete a pending tax payment?

If you have automatic tax payments turned on:

Contact us for help with the pending tax payment. 

If you have automatic tax payments turned off:

You may be able to delete the pending tax payment. 

If you can’t delete the payment, you can cancel your plan or change your bank account once the payment is processed. 

How do I change the bank account my tax payments come from?

1. Go to Settings ⚙ and select Payroll settings.
2. In the Bank accounts section, select the edit icon ✎.
3. Follow the steps to update your bank account.

Payroll tax forms

How do I file my tax forms?

If you have automated tax filings turned on:

We make your tax filings for you as long as you’ve completed your payroll setup and your electronic services are activated.

If you have automated tax filings turned off:

1. Go to Taxes and select Payroll tax (Take me there).
2. Select the Filings tab.
3. Follow the on-screen steps to complete your tax filing.
   Note: Automatically filed forms aren't listed. Select Archived forms and filings to view a copy of the forms after they've been filed.

Learn more about how to pay and file payroll taxes online.

How do I see what forms were filed? How do I view a past tax form?

To view the your previously filed tax forms:

1. Go to Taxes and select Payroll tax (Take me there).
2. Select the Filings tab.
3. Select Archived forms and filings and select the type of form you want to save or print.

Why aren't my tax forms electronic?

For electronic tax filings, you’ll need to make sure your payroll setup is complete. 

1. Go to Payroll and select Overview (Take me there).
2. Complete any To Do tasks related to: 
   • Missing federal or provincial tax info
   • Verifying your company bank account
   • Authorizing Intuit as a third-party payer with your province

If your To Do tasks are complete, some provinces may take several weeks to activate electronic payment and filing services. Contact us to confirm your account status.

The information on my forms looks wrong. How can I be sure my tax form is correct?

Payroll tax forms are generated from paycheque information dated in that quarter. Review your paycheques to see if there are any errors. Use the reports inside QuickBooks Online to help you:

1. Go to Reports (Take me there).
2. From the Payroll section, select the Payroll Summary or Payroll Details report.
3. Change the date range to reflect the quarter you are creating the forms. 
4. Review the reports to determine if there are any paycheque errors.

Payroll tax payment and form issues

My tax payment form was rejected. What do I do?

There could be lots of reasons as to why your tax payment form was rejected, including incorrect account numbers, timing, and amounts. If your form has been rejected, contact us for support.