Form T1213, the Request to Reduce Tax Deductions at Source, is how you ask the Canada Revenue Agency to let your employer withhold less income tax from each paycheque. You list the deductions and non-refundable credits you expect to claim, attach proof, and send it in. If the CRA agrees your tax bill will genuinely be lower, it issues a letter of authority telling your employer to reduce your withholding for the year. The money reaches you across your regular pay instead of arriving as a refund after you file.
When T1213 Is the Right Form
The CRA runs two forms for payroll withholding, and they do different jobs. The TD1 Personal Tax Credits Return handles standard credits most employees claim automatically: the basic personal amount, tuition, disability, and so on. You fill out a TD1 when you start a job and update it when your situation changes.
The T1213 covers everything else that lowers your tax bill but isn’t on the TD1.1Canada Revenue Agency. T1213 Request to Reduce Tax Deductions at Source RRSP contributions, childcare, support payments, investment loan interest, and similar items belong here. File the wrong form and either your employer can’t act on it or the CRA sets it aside.
Deductions and Credits That Qualify
You can ask for reduced withholding for any deduction or non-refundable credit that reliably lowers your tax and isn’t captured by the TD1. The common categories:
- RRSP contributions, whether through payroll deduction or direct deposits to your financial institution
- Childcare expenses you pay so you or your spouse can earn income, attend school, or conduct research
- Deductible spousal or child support paid under a court order or written agreement2Canada Revenue Agency. Deductions From Your Pay
- Interest on money borrowed to earn investment income, such as a loan used for stocks or mutual funds in a non-registered account
- Employment expenses your employer requires you to pay, such as a home office or work vehicle costs
- Large recurring charitable donations
- Ongoing medical expenses above the medical expense credit threshold
The CRA is looking for predictability. It wants to see that you will actually incur these amounts this year, not that you might. Speculative or one-off possibilities rarely clear the bar.
Documents You Have to Attach
The CRA will not approve a T1213 on your word. Every deduction needs a matching document, and incomplete files are the main reason requests stall or come back denied.
For RRSP contributions, attach contribution receipts or a letter from your financial institution confirming your planned deposit schedule. A statement from your employer’s plan administrator works for payroll contributions.
Support payment claims need a copy of the court order or written separation agreement establishing the obligation. Proof that you sent money is not enough on its own; the CRA needs to see the legal basis.
Investment loan interest claims need a statement from your lender showing both the purpose of the loan and the interest paid or expected for the year. A generic line-of-credit statement without a clear investment purpose will not do.
Childcare expenses require receipts or a written statement from the provider. If the caregiver is an individual rather than a licensed facility, their Social Insurance Number must appear on the statement.1Canada Revenue Agency. T1213 Request to Reduce Tax Deductions at Source
Employment expenses have an extra step. Your employer must first sign a T2200 Declaration of Conditions of Employment confirming that you are required to pay those costs.3Canada Revenue Agency. T2200 Declaration of Conditions of Employment Without it, the CRA has no way to verify the claim.
Charitable donations need official receipts from registered charities. Medical claims should include receipts, pharmacy printouts, or insurance statements showing amounts not covered by a plan.
How to File It
You can submit the T1213 by mail or online. Paper requests go to the Sudbury Tax Centre.4Canada Revenue Agency. Increase or Reduce Income Tax Deducted at Source The address is Sudbury Tax Centre, 1050 Notre Dame Avenue, Sudbury ON P3A 5C2. A written letter that includes the same information and documents is accepted in place of the form itself.
The faster route is the CRA’s Submit Documents Online service, which lets you upload the form and attachments through My Account.5Canada Revenue Agency. Submit Documents Online You will need a My Account login to use it.
When to File for the Full Year
The CRA will not start processing requests for the upcoming tax year until December 1 of the preceding year. Submit too early and your paperwork sits in a queue; submit too late and you lose months of reduced withholding while it moves through review.
Filing by early November is generally what gets you a letter of authority before January. If your employer’s payroll department has it before the first pay run of the new year, you get twelve months of benefit. Every pay period you miss is money withheld that you won’t see until you file your return.
A mid-year submission is still worth doing if your situation changes. The letter will apply to the remaining pay periods of the calendar year. It is not retroactive to earlier months, but it improves your cash flow for the rest of the year.
The Letter of Authority and What Your Employer Does With It
If the CRA approves, it issues a letter of authority stating either the amount of income your employer can pay without withholding tax or a specific dollar reduction to apply against your normal deductions. That letter is the only thing your employer acts on.
A verbal request or a copy of the T1213 itself is not enough. Only the letter of authority triggers the change.4Canada Revenue Agency. Increase or Reduce Income Tax Deducted at Source Your employer keeps it on file with your employee records and reduces the tax deducted at source by the amount specified. They do not send a copy back to the CRA.
Get the letter to your payroll department as soon as it arrives. The adjustment starts on the next pay cycle after they process it, so any delay costs you money in unnecessary withholding.
You Have to Reapply Each Year
A letter of authority covers only the tax year it was issued for. When that year ends, your employer goes back to standard withholding. If your RRSP contributions, support payments, or other deductions carry into the next year, file a new T1213 and go through the approval process again.
This is where people get caught out. Take-home pay is higher all year, then January’s paycheque drops noticeably because the old letter expired. Building the T1213 submission into your year-end routine, aiming for early November, keeps the reduction running without a gap.
If Your Deductions Don’t Happen as Planned
Reduced withholding is based on what you projected. If those deductions do not materialize, you could owe tax at filing time. That is the trade-off for keeping more of each paycheque.
The usual scenarios: you meant to contribute a certain amount to your RRSP and couldn’t afford it, a support payment obligation ended, or you left a job where you had significant employment expenses. In each case your employer withheld less than your actual situation warranted, and the CRA will want the difference.
If you realize partway through the year that your deductions will fall well short of what you claimed, contact payroll and ask them to revert to standard withholding. You are not locked in for the year. Catching it early limits what you might owe and helps you avoid interest on a balance owing.
Old Age Security Recipients Use a Different Form
If you receive Old Age Security rather than employment income, the standard T1213 is not the form for you. The CRA has a separate T1213OAS designed to request a reduction in the OAS recovery tax, sometimes called the OAS clawback.6Canada Revenue Agency. T1213OAS Request to Reduce Old Age Security Recovery Tax at Source Pensioners who expect their net income to fall below the clawback threshold use it to stop Service Canada from withholding the recovery tax from monthly payments. The process mirrors the T1213: submit the form with documentation, receive a letter of authority, and pass it along, in this case to Service Canada.