TD1 and Multiple Employers: When Is the Total Claim Amount $0?

When should an employee with two jobs enter $0 on the TD1?

CRA's rule is narrower than “second job equals zero.” If an employee has more than one employer or payer at the same time, has already claimed personal tax credit amounts on another TD1, and the employee's total income from all sources will be more than the personal tax credits already claimed, CRA instructs the employee to:

1. check “More than one employer or payer at the same time” on page 2;
2. enter 0 on Line 13, Total Claim Amount, on page 1; and
3. leave Lines 2 through 12 blank.

The employee makes that declaration. The employer's job is to obtain the completed TD1, review it for reasonableness, and use the Total Claim Amount from the form when calculating source deductions.

CRA explains the rule in its employer guidance for completed TD1 forms and in the T4001 Employers' Guide.

Does the employee need CRA approval first?

No. A normal TD1 is given to the employer, not submitted to the CRA for advance approval. The employee completes the form based on their tax situation, and the employer uses it to determine payroll withholding.

After receiving a TD1, CRA tells employers to use the Total Claim Amount for the withholding calculation and keep the completed form with the employee's records. CRA specifically says not to send it a copy as part of the normal process.

The current federal form is available from CRA's 2026 TD1 Personal Tax Credits Return page.

What documentation should the employer keep?

The key record is the TD1 completed by the employee. The format can differ, but the declaration should come from the employee rather than being created by the employer based only on knowledge that the employee has another job.

For an electronic TD1, CRA gives a self-service portal or password system as examples of ways to authenticate the employee because there is no handwritten signature. The electronic process must also include an employee certification confirming that the information is accurate and complete.

Is an employee email saying “I have another job” enough?

An email or conversation can tell the employer that a TD1 may need to be updated, but it is not a replacement for the completed TD1 record CRA tells employers to obtain and keep. The clean payroll workflow is to ask the employee to complete a new TD1 reflecting the change, then calculate future withholding from that submitted form.

CRA says employees should provide a new TD1 within seven days of a change that may reasonably be expected to change their personal tax credits for the year. A new TD1 is also the proper way to change a previously submitted electronic TD1; the employer should not edit the old declaration in place.

What does Claim Code 0 mean?

Claim Code 0 means no personal claim amount is being allowed in the payroll tax calculation. It does not mean “no income tax.” In fact, removing personal tax credits from the calculation will generally increase the income tax withheld from that employment compared with using the standard basic personal amount.

CRA's 2026 T4032 payroll tables describe Claim Code 0 as representing no claim amount and state that the code may be used when an employee has indicated multiple employers and entered 0 on the front of the TD1. Payroll systems may store the employee's exact Total Claim Amount rather than asking the employer to choose a claim code manually; the underlying withholding concept is the same.

See CRA's current T4032 Payroll Deductions Tables for the tables applicable to each province and territory.

Is “Additional tax to be deducted” the same thing?

No. These are two separate TD1 instructions.

An employer should not use an arbitrary “additional tax” amount as a substitute for an employee who has actually submitted a $0 Total Claim Amount. Likewise, a $0 claim does not automatically mean the employee has requested an extra fixed amount of tax per pay.

What if the employee never gives the employer a completed TD1?

This is an important distinction. CRA does not tell employers to infer a $0 claim because they happen to know the employee has another job. If the individual does not provide a completed TD1, CRA says the employee's tax deductions should include only the basic personal amount estimated based on their income.

So there are two different payroll states:

• Completed TD1 says $0: calculate withholding using the employee's submitted $0 Total Claim Amount / applicable Claim Code 0 treatment.
• No completed TD1 received: follow CRA's no-TD1 rule rather than treating the employee as though they had submitted a multiple-employer $0 declaration.

Example: a weekend job after personal credits were claimed elsewhere

Suppose Maya has a full-time job where she has already submitted a TD1 claiming her personal tax credits. She then starts a weekend job with another employer. Maya expects her combined income from both jobs to exceed the personal tax credits already claimed.

1. Maya completes a TD1 for the new employer.
2. She checks the multiple-employer box on page 2.
3. She enters $0 as the Total Claim Amount on Line 13 and leaves Lines 2 to 12 blank.
4. The weekend employer uses that submitted claim amount to calculate withholding.
5. The employer keeps Maya's completed TD1 in her payroll records rather than sending it to CRA.

If Maya later leaves the full-time job and her tax-credit situation changes, she can submit a new TD1 to the weekend employer. The new form, not an employer assumption about her other job, becomes the basis for future withholding.

Employer checklist

1. Ask for the employee's completed TD1 when employment starts or the employee reports a relevant change.
2. Do not decide the claim amount for the employee simply because you know they have another job.
3. Review the form for reasonableness. CRA warns employers not to knowingly accept a TD1 containing false or deceptive information.
4. Use the submitted Total Claim Amount when calculating federal and applicable provincial or territorial income tax deductions.
5. Keep the TD1 with the employee's records. Do not routinely send it to CRA.
6. Preserve electronic submissions. If you operate an electronic TD1 process, keep the authentication, certification, date, and immutable submitted record required by CRA.