Free tool · 2026 tax year
Salary or dividends? Here is the arithmetic
Rates current at August 2026
Enter what your corporation has available to pay you, and see what happens if you take it all as salary against all as dividends. Same money out of the company, two different tax outcomes.
Nothing is sent to us. This does the sums and stops there.
What this does and does not do
What it does. Takes one number, applies the 2026 federal and Ontario rates, and shows both outcomes side by side. Corporate tax, CPP, personal tax and what is left.
What it assumes. An Ontario CCPC with active business income. Non-eligible dividends. A single owner-manager with no other income. No EI, on the basis that an owner holding more than 40% of the voting shares is generally not insurable. No passive investment income, so no grind to the small business limit. No GRIP, so no eligible dividends. Credits at the lowest federal and Ontario rates.
What it leaves out. The Canada employment amount, which slightly favours salary. Income splitting and TOSI. The Ontario Employer Health Tax, which most owner-managed corporations are under the exemption for. Anything else already on your personal return.
What it will not tell you. What you should do. A real answer needs your actual numbers, and most owners end up on a mix rather than all of either.
Rates change, and one is already scheduled to. Ontario's dividend tax credit is set to be reduced from January 2027, which shifts this comparison in favour of salary. This tool is built on 2026 rates only. If your year end falls after the change, the answer here will not be the answer then.
General information, not advice on your situation. Confirm your own position before acting on it.