How to Fill Out Form TD1-WS: Age, Caregiver, and Basic Amounts

To fill out Form TD1-WS, work through only the sections that apply to credits you’re claiming where your estimated 2026 net income (or your dependant’s) lands inside a phase-out range, run each section’s subtraction and 15% or similar calculation, and copy the final figure onto the matching line of your TD1. The worksheet is a private calculation sheet: it never goes to your employer, and it exists solely because a handful of credits on the TD1 shrink as income rises.¹

When the Worksheet Applies to You

Most TD1 lines are fixed amounts you either qualify for or you don’t. The TD1-WS covers the four credits where the amount you can claim depends on income:

The basic personal amount (line 1 of the TD1), whose enhanced portion is reduced for higher earners.
The age amount (line 3), if you turn 65 or older by December 31, 2026.
The Canada caregiver amount for an infirm spouse, common-law partner, or eligible dependant (line 9).
The Canada caregiver amount for other infirm dependants aged 18 or older (line 10).

If your estimated net income sits below every relevant threshold, and any dependant’s income does too, skip the worksheet and enter the full credit amounts on the TD1 directly. You only need TD1-WS when a number would otherwise be reduced.

What to Have Ready

Every calculation on the worksheet turns on an income estimate, so start there.

Your estimated 2026 net income: expected earnings from employment, self-employment, pensions, investments, and rentals, minus planned deductions like RRSP contributions, union dues, and child care.
Your dependant’s estimated 2026 net income, calculated the same way, if you’re claiming either caregiver amount.

Download the current-year worksheet from the CRA’s TD1-WS page. A fillable PDF is available if you’d rather complete it on-screen than by hand.¹ Always use the version that matches the calendar year you’re filing for; the base amounts change annually with inflation.

Age Amount: Line 3 of the TD1

This section applies if you’ll be 65 or older on December 31, 2026, and your estimated net income falls between $46,432 and $107,819. Below $46,432, skip the worksheet and claim the full $9,208 on line 3. At $107,819 or higher, enter zero.²

For income in between, work through the seven lines of the age amount section:

Line 1: Enter the maximum age amount, $9,208.
Line 2: Enter your estimated 2026 net income.
Line 3: Enter the base amount, $46,432.
Line 4: Subtract line 3 from line 2. If negative, enter zero.
Line 5: The rate, 15%.
Line 6: Multiply line 4 by 15%. This is your reduction.
Line 7: Subtract line 6 from line 1. That’s your partial age amount, and it goes on line 3 of your TD1.

A worked example: with $60,000 in estimated net income, subtracting $46,432 leaves $13,568. Fifteen percent of that is $2,035. Take $2,035 off the $9,208 maximum and you claim $7,173.

Canada Caregiver Amounts: Lines 9 and 10

The caregiver sections turn on your dependant’s income rather than yours. The credit exists to offset the cost of supporting someone with a physical or mental impairment, and the amount you can claim decreases as the dependant earns more.³

Both sections use the same shape: enter the base amount printed on the worksheet, subtract the dependant’s estimated net income, and carry the result to the TD1. If the number goes negative, enter zero.⁴

Line 9 covers an infirm spouse, common-law partner, or eligible dependant. The result goes to line 9 of your TD1.
Line 10 covers other infirm dependants age 18 or older, meaning anyone not already claimed on line 9. The result goes to line 10 of your TD1.

The dollar thresholds for each caregiver calculation are printed directly on the worksheet for the applicable year, so read them off the form itself rather than relying on last year’s figures.

Basic Personal Amount: Line 1

The basic personal amount for 2026 is $16,389. The enhanced portion is clawed back for higher-income earners, so if your estimated net income exceeds the threshold shown on the worksheet, use its first section to calculate your reduced amount and enter that on line 1 of your TD1. Below the threshold, claim the full $16,389 without the worksheet.⁴

Moving the Numbers to Your TD1

Each section of the worksheet ends by telling you which TD1 line receives the result. After the calculations:

Partial basic personal amount to line 1.
Partial age amount to line 3.
Caregiver amount for an infirm spouse, partner, or eligible dependant to line 9 (zero if negative).
Caregiver amount for other infirm dependants 18 or older to line 10 (zero if negative).²

Give your employer or pension payer the completed TD1 only. Keep the worksheet for yourself.⁴ The payer uses your TD1 figures to set how much tax comes off each payment, so inaccurate estimates on the worksheet feed straight into wrong withholding — either a surprise balance owing at filing time, or too much tax held back during the year.⁵

Redoing the Worksheet When Something Changes

If your situation shifts in a way that changes an income-tested credit, redo the worksheet with new numbers, complete a fresh TD1, and give the updated TD1 to your employer or payer within seven days of the change.⁶ The seven days run from when the change affects your credit entitlements, not from when you notice.

Common triggers: getting married or separated, a dependant dying, a dependant’s income rising, turning 65 mid-year, starting a second job, or any material shift in your own expected income. When you’re unsure, re-run the calculations and compare the new figure to what your employer has on file.

Keeping the Worksheet

Although the worksheet stays with you, it’s still a supporting tax document. The CRA asks individuals to keep supporting records for six years from the end of the tax year they relate to, so a 2026 TD1-WS should sit in your records at least until the end of 2032. If you file the 2026 return late, the six years run from the filing date instead.⁷

The worksheet is your paper trail. If the CRA asks how you arrived at a partial credit rather than the maximum, it shows the math.

Provincial Worksheets Are Separate

Most provinces and territories publish their own TD1-WS to go with the provincial TD1. The layout mirrors the federal form, but the thresholds and credit amounts are different because provincial credits are set independently. If a federal calculation applies to you, check whether your province also publishes a worksheet — you may need both so that federal and provincial withholding are each accurate. The provincial versions live on the same CRA forms page as the federal one.¹

1
Canada Revenue Agency. TD1-WS Worksheet for the 2026 Personal Tax Credits Return
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Government of Canada. TD1-WS Worksheet for the 2026 Personal Tax Credits Return
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Canada Revenue Agency. Canada Caregiver Credit
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Government of Canada. TD1-WS Worksheet for the 2026 Personal Tax Credits Return
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Canada Revenue Agency. Learn About Your Taxes – The One About the TD1 Form Part 1
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Canada Revenue Agency. Get the Completed TD1 Forms From the Individual
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Canada Revenue Agency. Where to Keep Your Records, for How Long and How to Request the Permission to Destroy Them Early