T4 slips: What they are and when employers need to file them

Published Friday 19 September 2025

Table of contents

• What is a T4 slip?
• Who must prepare and send T4s to employees?
• What’s on a T4 tax form?
• How to file your T4s with the Canada Revenue Agency
• Ways to avoid common T4 filing errors and penalties
• Tips to simplify T4 employment reporting
• Use Xero to stay compliant with your T4 filing
• FAQs on T4 slips

Key takeaways

• T4 slips are official tax documents Canadian employers must issue to their employees and to the Canada Revenue Agency.
• T4s report income, deductions, and contributions for tax purposes.
• You need to file T4s with the CAR by February 28 each year, along with a T4 Summary.
• Xero’s payroll features help you simplify your Canadian business’s year-end reporting.

What is a T4 slip?

A T4 slip is the official statement of all remuneration paid to an employee during a calendar year. It shows wages, earnings, or salary as included in the business payroll, and their tax and other deductions.

The T4 information slip plays a vital role in Canada’s tax system. Employers use it to report to the government how much income your employees earned, the tax withheld and remitted, and what deductions you applied.

It’s also the form your employees need to use when they file their annual tax return.

Employees may receive their T4 slip in several different ways and formats:

• By email provided the employer has written consent from employee before sending
• By employer’s secure portal with secure printer
• In paper format – either in person or by mail (2 copies required)

Here’s info from the government on providing T4s to your staff.

Key information to include on a T4 slip

The T4 slip must include all employment income paid to the employee, deductions, and other relevant information:

Employment income:

• Salaries or wages
• Bonuses, tips and gratuities
• Commissions
• Vacation pay

Deductions:

• Federal and provincial income tax withheld
• Canada Pension Plan (employee contribution only)
• Employment Insurance (EI)
• Other mandatory deductions

Other relevant information:

• Taxable benefits or allowances
• Pension adjustments
• Gross and insurable earnings on self-employed fishers
• Deductions withheld during the year

Who must prepare and send T4s to employees?

Any business or organization that pays employment income in the form of salaries, wages, commissions, fishing income, or any other income must issue T4 slips to their:

• Full- and part-time employees
• Seasonal workers
• Commissioned employees

You must also provide a T4 if:

• You provide group term life insurance
• You deduct Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or QPP, EI, Provincial Parental Insurance Plan (PPIP), or income tax from your employees’ pay
• You pay your employees more than $500 in one calendar year.

You don’t need to issue T4s to independent contractors (freelancers), vendors/suppliers, or business partners – they’re not classified as employees.

What’s on a T4 tax form?

There are two main areas on the T4 to complete – one for basic identification information, the other for salary, deductions, and taxes.

Identification

Include these details:

• Employer’s legal name, the operating or trading name if it differs from legal name, and address
• Employee’s name and address, including province or territory of employment (Box 10) and postal code
• The employee’s social insurance number (SIN) (Box 12)
• The calendar year for which you are reporting the employee’s income

Salary, deductions, and taxes

Here are the boxes included on your T4 form:

Box 14

Employment income – this is the total income paid before deductions, including wages, salary, bonuses, commissions and vacation pay.

Box 16

The employee's CPP contributions. This box shows the employee’s share only of the CPP deduction and does not include the employer’s contributions.

But you must deduct the second additional CPP contributions (CPP2) from your employees and enter this amount in box 16A if box 10 shows a province other than Quebec. If you report an amount in this box, you will have to report it in box 26.

Box 18

Employee's employment insurance (EI) premiums are the amount you deduct each year from the employee’s share of EI premiums. I

If you report an amount in this box, you also have to report insurable earnings in box 24. As with Box 16, do not report the employer’s share of EI premiums on the T4 slip.

Box 22

The total income tax deducted from the employee’s pay, including applicable federal, provincial (except Quebec), and territorial taxes. If there are no deductions, leave this box blank.

Box 24

EI insurable earnings – the amount used to calculate your employee’s EI premiums reported in box 18, up to the maximum insurable earnings for the year. The amounts in Boxes 14 and 24 are often the same.

Box 26

CPP/QPP pensionable earnings – usually the same as Box 14 (employment income), this is the amount used to calculate the employee’s CPP/QPP and CPP2/QPP2 allowable contributions for the year.

Box 28

Exempt codes – this box specifies where an employee may be exempt from things like CPP contributions, EI premiums, or PPIP premiums for the whole reporting period.

Box 29

Employment codes apply to workers with specific codes tied to their employment, such as placement or employment agency workers, taxi drivers, barbers or hairdressers, participants in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program.

Here’s more information for employers about the T4 slip from the Government of Canada.

How to file your T4s with the Canada Revenue Agency

You must complete, distribute, and file your T4s with the CRA by February 28 after the previous tax year, or the next business day if that day falls on a weekend or a public holiday.

You also need to create a T4 for each province and each territory in which the employee earned income.

Along with your T4s, you need to submit the T4 Summary (TFSUM), which represents the total of information you reported on all the T4 slips you prepared for each employee for the calendar year. The T4 Summary provides the totals for all employment income, CPP contributions, EI premiums, and income tax deducted, for all employees.

1. Choose your filing method

You can file with the CRA offers both electronically and on paper options – electronic filing is much faster.

If you file electronically, you can:

• Get rapid confirmations
• File securely
• Make changes
• Allow another authorized source, such as a tax preparer, to file for you
• Send returns for the previous 10 years

If you file more than five information returns in a calendar year, you must file all of them electronically – the CRA might penalize you if you don’t.

Here are some electronic filing options:

Online

To file online as an individual, you must register for CRA’s online services. If you are not yet registered, you will need to create an account. Once your online registration is complete, CRA will send you a security code by mail within 5–10 days (15 days if you are outside Canada or the United States).

You can file your T4 without a web access code using CRA’s online services at the CRA’s My Business Account. If you are an authorized representative or an employee, you can file through Represent a Client on the same page.

Web Forms

If you have a web access code, you can file T4 returns online using Web Forms, which lets you file up to 100 slips, and:

• File original, additional, amended, and cancelled slips directly from the CRA website
• Create an electronic information return
• Validate data in real time, with prompts to correct errors before filing your slips
• Calculate the totals for the summary
• Save and import information
• Print slips and summary
• Send encrypted returns over the internet

Internet file transfer

Internet file transfer (XML) lets you use third-party software to submit an XML file of up to 150 MB online. But if you’re not using commercial software, you’ll need to create your own XML file, which can take time.

If you file T4 returns electronically, don’t send a paper copy of the T4 slips or T4 Summary to the CRA.

Paper filing

If you’re filing for five or fewer employees, you can file a paper return using a Form T4 slip in a PDF or PDF fillable/saveable format.

You need to fill out one copy of the T4 slip needed for each employee and include it with your T4 Summary when you file. Mail the T4 return to the address on the T4 Summary. Keep a copy of both the T4 slips and summary for your records.

2. Confirm the filing deadlines

Confirm with the CRA that the filing deadline is February 28 and make sure you file by then . This includes the distribution of T4s to your employees. You must submit both your T4 return and T4 summary by this date.

If you’re late in filing or distribute your T4s late, the CRA may penalize you based on the number of T4 returns you file late, with a minimum penalty of $100. 3.

3. Submit your T4s and the T4 summary form

For individuals:

To submit your T4 and T4 summary forms electronically:

• Log into My Account or Represent a Client
• Select Submit document and follow the instructions
• Enter the tax year and reference number found in the upper right corner of the letter you received
• Upload the files from your hard drive.
• Review the information on screen
• Click Confirm to submit
• Record the confirmation number for your records

Ways to avoid common T4 filing errors and penalties

Here are some best practices to make sure your T4s are correct before you submit them.

Verify employee information

Check to ensure that each employee’s personal details, such as name, address, and SIN, are correct, and exactly as they appear on your payroll system.

Note the calendar year for which you are reporting the employee’s income, too.

Double-check your deductions

To avoid having to file a correction, it’s important to check your deductions are accurate. Common errors in calculating deductions include:

• Under-deducting CPP contributions or EI premiums
• Over-deducting CPP contributions or EI premiums
• Under-deducting or over-deducting income tax

If you’ve under-deducted CPP or EI, you’re responsible for remitting the balance due for both the employer's and employee's shares or be subjected to a pensionable and insurable earnings (PIER)review.

To prevent this, create a year-end checklist with all the information you will need, including income amounts and deductions. Review the T4s several times against this checklist to make sure it’s correct before you file.

Check that any year-end adjustments for income, deductions, or contributions are reflected on the T4s.

Correct mistakes promptly

Fortunately, T4 slips can be amended, added, or deleted in both paper or electronic format after filing the original return.

You don’t need to amend your T4 slip if:

• The only change is to the employee’s address
• You receive a pensionable and insurable earnings review (PIER) report – just respond directly to the PIER report with your changes

You can amend T4 slips online or on paper, regardless of how they were originally submitted.

Tips to simplify T4 employment reporting

Make your T4 preparation and reporting easier by keeping accurate payroll records all year round and by streamlining your processes with digital tools. Here are some tips to help you.

Use an integrated payroll system

An integrated payroll software system has several advantages. It automates pay runs and calculations, saving you time and reducing errors.

Keep accurate records

By keeping accurate records throughout the year, you’ll stay on top of any changes to each employee’s payroll file, like a salary increase that might need you to increase the income tax deductions or CPP contributions. Organized and up-to-date records help you avoid year-end surprises and make the T4 season less stressful.

Offer electronic T4 mail options

Electronic T4 delivery gets your T4s to your employees instantly, saving you time and money.

If sending T4s by email, get your employees’ or the recipients’ consent first.

You can also distribute T4 slips through the employer or payer’s secure portal without written consent from the employee. The employee will also need a secure portal from which to print the slips securely and must be provided with the option for paper copies if they request them.

Use Xero to stay compliant with your T4 filing

Proper T4 management is essential to your overall business financial health. Try Xero for simplified payroll and T4 management with a 30-day free trial.

FAQs on T4 slips

Here are common questions and answers about T4 slips for small businesses.

What happens if an employee doesn't receive their T4 slip?

Employers are legally required to issue a T4 slip to each employee. If you’ve tried to issue a T4 slip to an employee or former employee and it’s returned to you, keep copies in the employee’s or recipient’s file. If the address on file is incorrect, record why the copies were not sent and what you did to find out the correct address.

Keep this information with the slip copies in the employee’s or recipient’s file, and include the slip with the information returned when filing the T4. Employees who can’t get a T4 slip from their employer can get it from CRA, if the employer has filed a T4 return and summary.

How do I handle T4 slips for employees who left during the year?

If an employee is no longer working for your company (or is deceased), you still need to issue a T4.You can mail the T4 to their last known address or send it by email (with the employee’s permission). For a deceased employee, any income and deductions would have to be reported on a T4 slip for the year in which they apply.

Here’s more on payments after death from the government.

Can I issue T4 slips before the February deadline?

Sure. You can issue T4s anytime after December 31 of the tax year for which you are reporting, as long as you do so by February 28. Issuing T4s before the deadline gives you the chance to correct any errors and lets your employees get a head start on their income tax.

What's the difference between a T4 and a T4A slip?

T4s are for employment income, while the T4A slip (also known as the Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other income) is used to report any income that doesn’t belong on a T4. This includes self-employed income, pensions, lump-sum payments, annuities, or other income, and paid amounts from retirement compensation agreements.

Employees who also receive self-employed income receive a T4 from their employer but will need to report their self-employed income on a T4A.

Here’s government information about the T4A

How long should employers keep copies of T4 records?

According to the CRA, employers should keep their T4 documentation for 6 years from the end of the last tax year they apply to. For example, you should keep T4s filed for 2025 until the end of 2031.