Guidance on Registering for Payroll and Remitting Source Deductions

 There comes a time for many small business owners when they decide that they need to hire employees.  This is usually an excellent sign as it means a) the business is growing and b) the small business owner has learned to delegate.  It also means that additional paperwork needs to be filled out and additional taxes need to be paid.  The simplest option when deciding to augment your workforce is to have the new worker invoice the business, based on hours worked or some other formula.  Unfortunately, there are very specific rules as to who qualifies as a self employed contractor.  Essentially, if your have someone that works full time, has little flexibility with respect to the hours that they work and you provide the tools such as a desk/office, computer etc, then there is a good chance that the tax authorities will classify them as an employee.  In this case, where your worker is clearly an employee, you must register for payroll, pay them a salary and submit regular, periodic payroll reports and payments to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).  As usual, if you live in Quebec, you must submit to Revenue Quebec (MRQ) as well.