They can do that?!
Ryan* resigned from his job in March. He requested to see the payslip in advance of receiving his final paycheck to ensure that nothing was amiss. His company sent him his payslip and informed him that they would be deducting the remaining residence tax for the year from it. He was relieved that he would have a bit of time before he would need to organize his residence tax payments, but also annoyed by this sudden deduction. He asked the union if this was an illegal deduction or not out of curiosity. The union’s answer was “no”.
How can such a deduction be allowed? It’s due to the way that resident taxes are handled through companies. Payments handled by companies are split across all 12 months to give a consistent rate and are deducted on a set schedule. Whereas if you pay through the municipality, it will likely be split into quarterly installments instead. The government requires consistency on these payments for the full year. Therefore, if you leave between January 1st and May 31st, your company must deduct the remaining balance on resident taxes from your final paycheck to make the payments on your behalf.
We recognize that each workplace is unique and may have different agreements in place. If you have questions about your payslip, ask for a consultation by filling out the form here: https://generalunion.org/consult/
*Name has been changed to protect privacy