A postdoc’s income may come from a personal award (postdoctoral fellowship), the supervisor’s research grant (considered employment income), or a combination of both.
All postdoctoral fellowships (personal awards) and employment income are taxable at the federal level. Following (CRA) regulations, the University must deduct applicable federal income taxes from each payment to the postdoc.
Employment income is also taxable at the provincial level, and the University must deduct applicable provincial taxes from each payment to the postdoc under regulations. However, postdocs whose sole source of income is a postdoctoral fellowship (personal award) are not subject to provincial tax deductions as they are not considered employees. Postdoctoral fellowships are reported as scholarship income to Revenu Québec. This applies to Group B postdocs paid through ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ.
Postdocs paid through ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Payroll Systems (Groups B and C) are subject to source deductions applicable to their situation and receive income tax slips from the university to include with their income tax return. Consult this page for more information on applicable source deductions based on postdoctoral category.
Note that if you hold a postdoctoral fellowship (personal award) that is paid directly to you by the awarding agency (some Group A postdocs), taxes are likely not deducted at source. You must therefore budget accordingly to make the necessary tax payments.
International postdocs may be eligible for a Québec tax exemption at the provincial level. Consult this page for more information.
The deadline for filing tax returns is April 30th of each year for the previous taxation year (01-Jan to 31-Dec). Postdocs paid by ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ can access to obtain their tax slips (usually issued in February). Consult the for more information.
Income tax slips issued by ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, as applicable:
- Federal T4: employment income
- Federal T4A: other income (e.g. postdoctoral fellowships)
- Provincial Relevé 1: employment and other income (e.g. postdoctoral fellowships)
Postdocs not paid by ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ must contact their employer (e.g. affiliated institute or hospital) to obtain their tax slips.
ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ is not authorized to provide advice on income tax matters to individual postdocs or comment on individual tax declarations or tax files. Any individual requiring tax information or advice is urged to consult their personal tax advisor.