Accelerated remitter threshold: $25,000 AMWA, $100,000 for threshold 2

Threshold 1 and threshold 2 side by side

Your client's remitter type comes from its AMWA two calendar years earlier. As of October 2026, section 108(1.1) of the Income Tax Regulations, current to September 21, 2026, still draws the lines at $25,000 and $100,000 laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

The periods follow the date your client pays employees, not the work period. Pay dated October 15 falls in the first threshold 1 period; pay dated October 16 falls in the second laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. If a due date lands on a weekend or a CRA public holiday, a payment received or processed on the next business day is on time canada.ca.

For regular and quarterly remitters, and the full calendar of due dates, see payroll remittance due dates.

How the CRA calculates the AMWA

Add up every dollar of CPP, EI and income tax your client had to remit for the year, across all its payroll program accounts. Divide by the number of months in that year that required a remittance, to a maximum of 12 canada.ca. Regulation 108(1.2) sets the same formula and pulls in each associated corporation's amounts laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

The divisor is the gotcha for seasonal clients. A business that remitted $150,000 over six months has an AMWA of $25,000, which is threshold 1. Spread over 12 months, the same $150,000 would be $12,500 and the client would stay regular.

The CRA reviews every payroll account each November, and one remitter type covers all of an organization's payroll accounts canada.ca. If the type changes, the CRA writes to your client, usually in December, with the new due dates for the following year canada.ca.

Worked example: two associated companies in 2026

Opco and Serviceco are associated corporations under common control. Their 2026 remitter type depends on what they had to remit in 2024.

Alone, each company is a regular remitter. Combined, the group's AMWA is $318,000 divided by 12, or $26,500, so both are threshold 1 accelerated remitters for 2026. The CRA's rule is that when associated corporations total $25,000 or more two calendar years back, all of them are accelerated remitters canada.ca.

Now the October 2026 dates. Opco pays employees on October 15 and October 30. The deductions from the October 15 pay are due October 25, which is a Sunday, so a payment on Monday, October 26 is on time. The October 30 pay is due Tuesday, November 10. Serviceco runs payroll once a month on October 30, which makes it a monthly accelerated remitter, and its remittance is also due November 10.

Association follows the Income Tax Act definitions, so confirm the group before you rely on the combined number. The tests are in associated corporations in Canada.

Threshold 2 due dates and the payment method rule

A threshold 2 remitter has until the third day after each period ends, not counting Saturdays or holidays, under regulation 108(1.1)(b) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Here's how that plays out in October 2026:

Threshold 2 remitters must pay electronically or in person at a Canadian financial institution. A payment made on the due date any other way can draw a penalty of 3% of the amount due canada.ca. Under CRA administrative policy, a payment the CRA receives at least one full day before the due date counts as made at a financial institution, so no penalty applies canada.ca.

Every remitter has a second payment rule. Since January 1, 2024, any payment to the Receiver General of more than $10,000 should be made electronically, and a payer may face a penalty unless it can't reasonably pay that way canada.ca. Opco from the example above, remitting about $11,000 a period, is over that line every time.

Dropping back to regular or to threshold 1

Your client doesn't have to wait for the two year lag to catch up. Regulation 108(1.11) lets an accelerated remitter elect a lower frequency based on its AMWA for the immediately preceding calendar year laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

Say your client is threshold 1 for 2026 because of its 2024 payroll, but it downsized and its 2025 AMWA was $19,000. It can ask to remit monthly for the rest of 2026. Call the CRA at 1-800-959-5525 to request the review; the CRA confirms the result in writing canada.ca. Keep remitting on the accelerated schedule until that letter arrives.

Paying more often than required is always fine, but it never changes the remitter type on its own canada.ca.

Edge cases accountants hit

A purchase can import someone else's payroll history. When a corporation acquires all or substantially all of another employer's business property through a section 85 rollover, an amalgamation under section 87 or a winding up under subsection 88(1), the other employer is deemed associated with it for that taxation year and for each taxation year ending in the next two calendar years laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Large target payrolls can push the buyer into threshold 1 or 2 straight away.

A month with no payroll still needs a nil remittance by the due date, and you should tell the CRA when deductions will start again canada.ca.

A payment made after the due date can be charged a penalty at graduated rates plus interest, whatever the tier canada.ca. The regular and quarterly schedules are on payroll remittance due dates.