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Gross income is what you earn before anything comes off, and net income is what’s left after deductions. On a $75,000 salary in Ontario, the take-home pay calculator shows you keep $56,925.83 a year, which is 75.9% of your gross. The rest goes to income tax, CPP and EI.
What’s the difference between gross and net income?
Gross is the number on your offer letter, the one everybody quotes at a dinner party. Net is what lands in your bank account. Between them sit taxes and payroll contributions, and sometimes benefits, union dues or pension payments as well.
Here’s where it gets confusing. “Net income” means two different things. On a pay stub, it’s your take-home pay. On a tax return, it’s a figure the CRA calls net income, found on line 23600, and it’s your total income minus certain deductions. Those two numbers are not the same, and mixing them up is how people end up puzzled by a form.
How much of a $75,000 salary do you keep?
| Item | Per year |
|---|---|
| Pay before deductions | $75,000.00 |
| Federal income tax | $8,258.60 |
| Ontario income tax | $4,446.06 |
| CPP | $4,246.45 |
| EI | $1,123.07 |
| Pay you keep | $56,925.83 |
That works out to $4,743.82 a month, or $2,189.45 every two weeks. The take-home pay calculator gives these figures, and it only counts the basic personal amount and the pension and EI credits. Your own stub may differ if you pay for benefits or have other credits.
The CPP line has two tiers in 2026, and on pay above $74,600 a second, smaller rate applies, so contributions keep going a little past the main tier.
Small, but real.
What if you know your net and need the gross?
Sometimes you know the number you want in your pocket and need to find the pay behind it. The net to gross calculator works backward from the take-home figure. It’s handy when you’re comparing a job offer quoted in take-home terms with one quoted as salary.
Paid by the hour? Convert first with the hourly to salary calculator, then look at the net.
Why does tax on gross income differ from the net figure?
Your tax isn’t charged on the gross amount. On $60,000 of employment income the income tax calculator shows taxable income of $59,435. The $565 gap is the deduction for the added CPP contributions, which the CRA lets you take on line 22215.
That’s why people who subtract one tax figure from gross and call it done get the wrong answer, since CPP and EI are separate lines with their own rules and their own limits. Tax falls on taxable income, and CPP and EI come off separately. On that $60,000, income tax is $8,320.50, CPP and EI come to $4,339.75, and you keep $47,339.75.
Gross and net for a business or side income
The words shift when you run a business. Gross income there usually means sales, and net income means what remains after expenses. A self-employed person pays tax on the net, not the sales.
Our self-employed tax calculator has two quirks we noticed. Deductions lower your income tax but not CPP, and it leaves EI out, so read its result as a rough guide. The self-employed tax calculator is still a fair first look.
Mistakes when you compare gross and net
Comparing two salaries by the gross figure alone hides differences in province and benefits. Forgetting bonuses is another. A bonus gets taxed at your top rates, so a $5,000 bonus can leave well under $5,000. Try the bonus tax calculator before you plan around it.
And the stub isn’t the final bill.
You settle up when you file, sometimes with a refund, sometimes with a balance, depending on credits your employer never saw.
Where the numbers come from
Rates and limits come from the 2026 federal and Ontario tax data and CPP and EI limits we checked on 29 September 2026. The description of net income and the CPP deduction comes from CRA pages for lines 23600 and 22215. This website has no connection with the CRA or any other government body.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between gross and net income?
Gross is what you earn before deductions. Net is what remains after tax and other deductions, though the word means something else on a tax return.
What is net income on a tax return?
It is the figure on line 23600, your total income minus certain deductions. It is not your take-home pay.
How much of a $75,000 salary do you keep in Ontario?
The take-home pay calculator shows $56,925.83 a year, or 75.9% of gross, using the basic personal amount and the pension and EI credits.
Why is my taxable income lower than my pay?
Deductions come off first. The added CPP contributions are one example, worth $565 on $60,000 of pay.
Is self-employed net income the same as sales?
No. Net is what remains after business expenses, and tax is charged on that.
All payroll and salary calculators
- How Canadian income tax works: brackets and credits
How federal and provincial Canadian income tax stack up, what marginal and average rates mean, and how credits and deductions change your bill
Information only. This page is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Tax-Services.ca is an independent publisher: we don't prepare or file tax returns or offer tax services, and we have no connection with the CRA, Revenu Québec, any government or any company named on this page. Check the figures that matter with an official source or a qualified professional.