Basic Personal Amount
Montant personnel de base in French
Quick definition
The basic personal amount (BPA) is the slice of income every Canadian can earn federally tax-free each year. It is delivered as a non-refundable tax credit: it can reduce your federal tax to zero, but never below zero.
A credit, not a deduction
The BPA does not come off your income; it comes off your tax. You calculate federal tax on your full taxable income, then subtract a credit equal to the BPA multiplied by the lowest federal rate, which is 14% in 2026 (as of July 2026). For most people that works out to $16,452 x 14%, or about $2,303 of federal tax wiped out.
Because it is non-refundable, the credit can only reduce tax you actually owe. If your income is so low that your federal tax is already under $2,303, the unused portion simply disappears; the government does not send you the difference.
The 2026 numbers
For 2026, the federal BPA is $16,452 for most people (as of July 2026), the figure our Tax Calculator uses. There is a high-income phase-out: the amount is gradually reduced for taxable incomes above $181,440, falling to $14,829 once taxable income exceeds $258,482. Even top earners keep that floor amount; nobody's BPA goes to zero.
The phase-out means high earners lose up to about $227 of credit value (the $1,623 difference times 14%). It also means deductions that lower taxable income, such as RRSP contributions, can do double duty in the phase-out zone: they save tax at your marginal tax rate and claw back some BPA at the same time.
Why low incomes pay no federal tax
Someone earning under roughly $16,000 in 2026 pays no federal income tax at all: the tax on that income at 14% is fully cancelled by the BPA credit. This is the practical meaning of the BPA. It sets the floor below which the federal government does not tax personal income, and it is why a student with a part-time job or a retiree with modest income often gets every dollar of federal withholding refunded at tax time.
Payroll: the TD1 form and the second-job trap
When you start a new job, you fill out federal and provincial TD1 forms. These tell your employer how much BPA (and other credits) to factor into the tax withheld from each paycheque. Claim the full BPA and your employer withholds as if your first $16,452 were tax-free.
The trap: if you hold two jobs at once and claim the BPA on both TD1s, both employers shelter the same $16,452, but you only get it once on your return. The result is under-withholding all year and a surprise tax bill in April. On the TD1 for the second job, check the box for more than one employer and claim zero.
Related non-refundable credits
The BPA is the biggest of a family of non-refundable credits that recognize personal circumstances.
- Spouse or common-law partner amount: claimable when you support a spouse or partner with little or no income.
- Age amount: an additional credit for those 65 and older, income-tested.
- Disability amount: for those with a severe and prolonged impairment certified on form T2201.
Non-refundable vs. refundable
The distinction matters. A non-refundable credit like the BPA can only bring tax to zero. A refundable credit, like the GST/HST credit, is paid out even to people who owe no tax at all. That is why a person with no income still receives quarterly GST/HST credit payments but gets no cash from an unused BPA.
In Canada
Every province and territory has its own basic personal amount, applied against provincial tax at its own lowest rate. The amounts vary widely across the country, so where you live changes how much total income you can earn completely tax-free. Your provincial TD1 form (TD1AB, TD1ON, and so on) handles the provincial side of payroll withholding.
Québec runs its own income tax system with its own return (the TP-1) and claims its own montant personnel de base there, with its own value distinct from the federal one. Québec workers fill out a TP-1015.3 form instead of a provincial TD1, and the second-job warning applies to it just the same.
Worked example
Noah, a student in Ontario, earns $14,500 from a part-time job in 2026. His employer withheld $600 of federal tax over the year. At tax time, his federal tax before credits is $14,500 x 14% = $2,030, and his BPA credit is $16,452 x 14% = about $2,303 (as of July 2026). The credit exceeds the tax, so his federal tax is zero (not negative: the extra $273 of credit is simply unused) and the full $600 withheld comes back as a refund.
Related terms
Reviewed by Alexandre Bernier, CFP®, CIM®, PFP®·Updated July 2026