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How to Stop Paying CPP After Age 65
Under Canadian tax law, if you keep working between the ages of 60 and 65, CPP contributions are completely mandatory.
However, once you hit age 65, contributing becomes optional. By filing Form CPT30 with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), you can officially elect to stop paying into the CPP, instantly increasing your take-home pay.
Here is exactly how the rules work, who qualifies, and how to execute this strategy.
Who is Eligible to Stop CPP Contributions?
You cannot simply stop paying CPP because you want to. To legally opt out, you must meet a very specific set of criteria under the Income Tax Act:
1. Age Requirement: You must be at least 65 years of age, but under 70. Once you turn 70, CPP deductions stop automatically, and no form is required.
2. Pension Status: You must already be receiving, or have payable to you, a CPP or QPP retirement pension.
3. Employment Status: You must be earning pensionable employment income outside the province of Quebec. Quebec operates under its own QPP rules.
Note: If you are under age 65, you cannot opt out of CPP if you are working, even if you are already collecting the pension.
How to Elect to Stop CPP: The Step-by-Step Sequence
If you meet the requirements, stopping the deductions requires strict coordination between you, your employer, and the CRA.
Order matters here. If you do not give the form to your employer, they are legally required to keep deducting CPP.
1. Download and complete Form CPT30: Download the official Form CPT30, Election to Stop Contributing to the Canada Pension Plan from the CRA website. Complete Part A, Identification; Part B, Eligibility; and Part C, The Election.
2. Give a copy to your employer: Hand a signed and dated copy of the CPT30 to your employer’s payroll department. If you have multiple jobs, you must give a copy to every single employer.
3. Mail the original to the CRA: Send the original, signed copy of the form to the CRA, specifically to the Winnipeg Tax Centre as designated on the form instructions.
When Does the Stop Take Effect?
The election becomes effective on the first day of the month following the month you give the form to your employer.
For example, if you fill out the form and give it to your payroll department on June 15, your employer must stop deducting CPP on your first pay period starting July 1. You cannot retroactively reclaim CPP deducted before the form was handed in.
The One-Year Lock-In
The CRA does not allow you to change your mind constantly. You can only make one choice per calendar year.
If you file a CPT30 to stop contributing in 2026, you cannot change your mind and restart later that same year. You must wait until at least January 1 of the following year to file a revocation, using Part D of the same CPT30 form, to start contributing again.
Strategic Decision: Should You Stop or Keep Paying?
Choosing to stop contributing is not always an automatic “yes.” It depends on your financial goals.
Why you should stop: If you need immediate cash flow, or if you plan to retire fully very soon and will not work long enough to benefit from future pension increases.
Why you might keep paying: If you choose to keep contributing, every dollar you put in goes toward a Post-Retirement Benefit (PRB). This permanently increases your lifetime monthly CPP payout starting the following year. If you plan to work for several more years, the long-term increase might outweigh the immediate cash savings.
Employees vs. Self-Employed Workers: How to Apply Based on Income
How you handle the opt-out depends entirely on the type of income you earn. The process changes based on whether you receive a standard T4 paycheque or run your own business.
If you are an employee with T4 income: You must use Form CPT30. You fill out the form, hand a copy directly to your payroll department so they can adjust your deductions, and mail the original copy to the CRA’s Winnipeg Tax Centre.
If you are strictly self-employed: You do not file Form CPT30. Instead, you make the election directly on your annual personal tax return by completing Schedule 8, CPP Contributions on Self-Employment and Other Earnings. This tells the CRA at the end of the year not to charge you CPP on your business profits.
If you are both an employee and have a side business: You must file Form CPT30 for your employment job. Once you submit this form to your employer and the CRA, the election automatically extends to cover your self-employment income when you complete Schedule 8 on your year-end taxes.
Facing a CRA Payroll Dispute or PEIR Review?
Sometimes employers fail to stop deductions on time, or the CRA rejects an election due to processing backlogs. A landmark Tax Court of Canada ruling confirmed that even if the CRA experiences processing delays with your pension application, your CPT30 election remains legally valid based on your eligibility date.
At Tax Help Canada, we help business owners, shareholders, and older workers structure their payroll, optimize corporate distributions, and resolve CRA disputes cleanly.
Get in touch with us here.
The accounting and tax information provided in this post does not constitute advice and is meant to be for general information purposes only. The information is current as at the date of this post and does not reflect any changes in accounting and/or tax legislation thereafter. Moreover, the information has been prepared without considering your company or personal financial/tax circumstances and/or objectives.