What is a T4 slip?
A T4 slip (Statement of Remuneration Paid) is the official CRA form that employers use to report employment income and source deductions for each employee at year-end. It summarizes how much the employee earned and how much was deducted for CPP, EI, and income tax during the calendar year.
Every employer who paid employment income, commissions, taxable benefits, or other remuneration to an employee must issue a T4 for that employee and file a copy with the CRA. This applies even if the employee earned below the basic personal amount and paid no income tax.
T4 slips cover the period January 1 to December 31 of the previous calendar year. They must be filed with the CRA and distributed to employees by the last day of February.
Key T4 boxes explained
The T4 slip has over 80 boxes, but most small businesses only need to complete a handful of them. Here are the ones that apply to almost every employer.
If you pay taxable benefits (vehicle allowances, group benefits, etc.), additional boxes may apply. Consult the CRA Employers' Guide T4001 for a full list.
The T4 Summary
In addition to individual T4 slips for each employee, employers must also file a T4 Summary (CRA form T4SUM) with the CRA. It's a one-page form with numbered boxes, like a T4 slip, but there's only one per employer and it goes to the CRA only, never to employees. It reports the totals across all your slips, plus your employer share of CPP and EI, which doesn't appear on the individual slips.
Boxes 80 to 86 are where the CRA checks your work. They compare what you should have remitted against what you actually remitted. If there's a gap, the CRA will follow up with a bill or a refund.
If you file electronically, you never fill out the T4SUM form itself. The Summary totals are a section inside the same T4 XML file as your slips. If you file on paper, you complete the printable T4SUM and mail it with the slips. Either way, keep a copy for your records.
T4A slips: contractors and other payments
A T4A (Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income) is a separate slip used for payments that don't qualify as employment income. For most small businesses, the relevant use case is payments to contractors or self-employed individuals.
If you paid $500 or more in fees for services to an unincorporated individual (a sole proprietor, not a corporation) during the calendar year, you are generally required to issue a T4A. This includes freelancers, consultants, and tradespeople operating as sole proprietors.
Employees on payroll. CPP, EI, and income tax are deducted. Issued to all employees regardless of income.
Contractors and other non-employment payments. No CPP or EI deducted. Required at $500+ in fees for services.
Payments to incorporated contractors (a company, not a person) do not require a T4A. If unsure, check with your accountant or the CRA guidance on T4A for contractors.
How to file T4 slips with the CRA
Electronic filing (required for 6+ slips)
If you're filing more than 5 T4 slips for the year, the CRA requires you to file electronically. There are two ways to do it:
- Upload a T4 XML file through the CRA's Internet File Transfer service. The XML file comes from your payroll software (including PayCub) and holds every slip plus the T4 Summary in one file.
- Use CRA Web Forms to type in each slip by hand on the CRA website. It works, but it's slow if you have more than a few employees.
You can reach both through the CRA's electronic filing page, either by logging into My Business Account or by using the web access code the CRA mails you. Filing electronically is faster, more accurate, and gives you a confirmation number.
Paper filing (5 or fewer slips)
If you're filing 5 or fewer slips, you can mail paper T4 slips and a paper T4 Summary to the CRA. However, even if you're allowed to file on paper, electronic filing is faster and recommended.
Distributing slips to employees
Every employee must receive their T4 slip by February 28. You can deliver T4s by mail, email, or through an employee portal. If delivering electronically, employees must consent to receiving their T4 digitally. PayCub generates individual T4 PDFs for each employee, ready to distribute.
Amended T4s
If you discover an error after filing, you can amend T4 slips electronically (with an amended XML file or through CRA Web Forms) or on paper. File an amended T4 for the affected employee only and mark it as amended. Do not refile all slips.
Using the CRA fillable T4 form
The CRA provides a fillable PDF version of the T4 slip that you can complete manually. This is an option for employers with very few employees who prefer not to use payroll software, or who need to issue a T4 outside of their normal payroll system.
Get the current-year T4 fillable PDF from the CRA website. Search "T4 fillable" on canada.ca or go directly to the CRA forms page. Make sure you are using the form for the correct tax year.
Enter the employee's name, SIN, province of employment, and all applicable box amounts. Totals must match your payroll records for the year.
The T4 Summary (form T4SUM, also available as a fillable PDF) consolidates the totals from all employee slips, plus your employer CPP and EI. Complete this separately.
If filing by paper, mail the completed slips and Summary to the CRA before February 28. The CRA won't accept fillable PDFs electronically. To file electronically, you need a T4 XML file from payroll software, or you can re-enter everything in CRA Web Forms.
Each employee receives two copies of their T4 slip (Copy 1 for their records, Copy 2 for their tax return, though both are identical). Deliver by mail or email (with consent) by February 28.
The CRA fillable form works for one-off situations but can be tedious if you have multiple employees. Payroll software automatically populates all boxes from your payroll data, eliminating manual entry and the risk of transcription errors.
Generating T4 slips in PayCub
If you've run payroll in PayCub throughout the year, your T4 slips are essentially already done. PayCub pulls from your pay run data to populate every required box automatically, then exports a CRA-ready T4 XML file with every slip and the T4 Summary included. There's no manual entry and no spreadsheet to reconcile.
How it works in PayCub
Every pay run you process in PayCub automatically records the gross pay, CPP, EI, and income tax for each employee. No extra steps required during the year.
At year-end, navigate to Reports and open the T4 section. PayCub compiles your full year of payroll data into completed T4 slips.
Check each employee's slip for accuracy. All the key boxes are auto-populated: Box 14, 16, 17, 18, 22, 24, and 26. Make any adjustments needed.
Download individual T4 PDFs for each employee to distribute by February 28.
Download the T4 XML file from PayCub. It contains every employee's slip plus the T4 Summary. Upload it through the CRA's Internet File Transfer service (via My Business Account or your web access code), and you'll get a confirmation number.
T4 FAQ
T4 slips must be filed with the CRA and distributed to employees by February 28 of the year following the calendar year being reported. If February 28 falls on a weekend, the deadline moves to the next business day.
Yes. You must issue a T4 for any employee you paid employment income, regardless of how much they earned. Even if no income tax was deducted (because earnings were below the basic personal amount), a T4 is still required.
The CRA charges a late filing penalty based on the number of T4 slips filed late and how many days late they are. Penalties start at $100 minimum and increase with the number of slips and days overdue. Filing on time is always the right move.
No. T4 slips are for employees only. For payments of $500 or more to unincorporated contractors (sole proprietors), you issue a T4A instead. Payments to incorporated businesses do not require a T4 or T4A.
Yes, but only with the employee's written consent. If an employee has not consented to electronic delivery, you must provide a paper copy. CRA guidance requires consent to be explicit and voluntary.
Employees receive two copies of their T4 (they are identical). One is for their records and one is to attach to their paper tax return if filing by mail. If filing online, employees just enter the T4 information and do not attach the slip.
A T4 slip is issued per employee and shows that individual's income and deductions. The T4 Summary (form T4SUM) is a single form filed with the CRA only. It shows the combined totals from all your T4 slips, plus your employer CPP and EI, and compares everything against what you remitted during the year. Both must be filed by February 28.
It's the file format the CRA uses for electronic T4 filing. One XML file holds every T4 slip plus the T4 Summary, so you upload a single file through the CRA's Internet File Transfer service instead of entering slips one by one. PayCub exports a CRA-ready T4 XML file from your pay run data.
Use the province where the employee worked on the last day of the calendar year, or the province where they most recently worked if employment ended before year-end. If there are complications, the CRA guidance on province of employment applies.
Skip the manual work
T4s ready in PayCub
Run payroll in PayCub all year and your T4s are essentially done. Every pay run populates Box 14, 16, 18, 22 and more automatically, then you export one CRA-ready XML file to upload.
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