2026 tax year

How often you are paid, and what it changes

Pay frequency changes the size of each cheque and nothing about the tax owed for the year. The confusion it causes is worth its own page — particularly the two schedules people assume are the same.

Pay periods in a year

Number of pay periods a year for each schedule
ScheduleCheques a year
Annual1
Monthly12
Semi-monthly24
Bi-weekly26
Weekly52

Bi-weekly and semi-monthly are not the same thing. Bi-weekly is every two weeks, which is 26 cheques a year; semi-monthly is twice a month, which is 24. Two extra cheques means each bi-weekly one is smaller for the same salary — and it is why two months a year appear to carry a third payday.

Annual tax is unaffected by any of this. Withholding is calculated per period against the same yearly brackets, so dividing a salary into more pieces does not change what the brackets take from the whole. Where a difference does show up on a real payslip it is usually a per-period benefit deduction or a wage-base cap being reached at a different point in the year.

Rules reviewed through 2026-08-09.

Your salary at every schedule

Each salary page shows the same take-home figure annually, monthly and per cheque.

Paid by the hour?

Hours a week matters more than schedule when pay is hourly.

Common questions

How many pay periods are in a year?

Weekly is 52, biweekly is 26, semi-monthly is 24 and monthly is 12. Biweekly and semi-monthly are frequently confused: biweekly pays every two weeks and produces two months a year with three paychecks, while semi-monthly always pays twice a month.

Does pay frequency change how much tax I pay?

Not over the year. It changes the size of each paycheck and the amount withheld from it, because withholding tables are applied per period, but the annual liability is the same. A biweekly and a monthly employee on identical annual pay owe identical tax.