British Columbia Take-Home Pay Calculator

British Columbia tax rates for 2026

• Basic personal amount: $13,216
• A low-income reduction worth up to $690, applied in payroll rather than at filing
• Rates changed retroactively to 1 January, so cheques after 1 July are withheld at a catch-up rate

Federal tax applies on top, at 14% to $58,523 and rising to 33% above $258,482, with a basic personal amount of $16,452 that tapers away above $181,440.

A rate cut that arrived halfway through the year

BC dropped its bottom rate from 5.06% to 5.60%—no, the other way: from 6.14% down to 5.60%. The confusion is the point. The real 2026 rate is 5.60%, backdated to 1 January.

Because it was backdated, the province had already been withholding at the old rate for six months. CRA’s answer was a prorated 6.14% for the back half of the year, recovering the shortfall a cheque at a time.

So two different numbers are both correct. 5.60% is your actual rate for the year. 6.14% is what payroll takes off your September cheque. A calculator quoting one when you are asking about the other will disagree with your pay stub, and BC is one of three provinces where that happens this year.

The BC tax reduction comes off your cheque, not your return

BC is one of only two provinces whose low-income tax reduction is applied in payroll. Everywhere else an equivalent credit only shows up when you file.

It is worth up to $690 for 2026, up from $575, and it phases out as income rises — full below about $25,570, gone above roughly $44,952. If you earn under that ceiling, your withholding is already lower than the bracket table alone suggests.

One more thing coming: BC has announced that bracket and credit indexation is paused for 2027 through 2030, resuming in 2031. That means bracket creep — the same real income drifting into higher brackets as inflation moves.