T4 and T4A Slips and Payroll Year-End Reporting in Canada
Every employer and payer in Canada closes the year with slips: T4s for employees, T4As for pensions, fees and other amounts, and a summary for each. Bestax reconciles your payroll, prepares the slips and files them with the CRA before the February deadline.
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Who Needs T4 and T4A Year-End Reporting
If you paid salary, wages, pensions or fees during the calendar year, you probably owe the CRA slips for it. The work is the same whether you ran payroll yourself, through software, or not consistently at all.
- Employers with staff on payroll who need T4 slips and the T4 Summary for the year.
- Businesses that paid self-employed individuals fees for services that must be reported on T4A slips.
- Owner-managers who paid themselves a salary through their own corporation.
- Payers of pensions, retiring allowances or other amounts that belong on a T4A.
- Employers who provided taxable benefits, such as a company vehicle or employer-paid group life insurance.
- Employers who missed a year-end, filed slips with errors, or received a CRA letter about them.
Slips must agree with what you remitted. When the totals on your slips and your remittances do not match, the CRA can review the difference and assess the employer for it.
Want the background first? Read how to prepare a T4 slip, or see our full Payroll Services.
What Our Year-End Slip Service Covers
From the payroll ledger to the copies your employees receive, we prepare each part of the year-end and check it against the rest.
- A review of the year’s payroll register, pay stubs and remittances before any slip is drafted.
- Reconciliation of employment income, CPP, EI and income tax deducted to the amounts remitted on your PD7A account.
- Calculation and reporting of taxable benefits, such as automobile benefits and employer-paid group life premiums.
- Preparation of T4 and T4A slips and their summaries, and RL-1 slips where employees work in Quebec.
- Electronic filing with the CRA, and copies of the slips for each employee or recipient.
- Amended slips when an error is found after filing, and replies to CRA questions about the year.
The CRA Rules for T4 and T4A Slips
T4 and T4A slips report what was paid and deducted in the calendar year, not the fiscal year. They are due, with their summaries, by the last day of February of the following year, and employees must receive their copies by the same date.
The CRA compares each employer’s slips with the deductions remitted during the year. Amounts withheld but not remitted, or CPP and EI that were under-deducted, are assessed to the employer, so the reconciliation is as important as the slips themselves.
Slips and summaries are due by the last day of February following the calendar year they report.
Employers filing more than five slips of one type must file them electronically.
Slip totals must agree with the summary, and the summary with the deductions remitted for the year.
Late slips draw penalties that grow with the number of slips and the days late, plus penalties for not giving copies to recipients.
Records of Employment are a separate obligation. They are filed with Service Canada when an employee’s earnings are interrupted, not at year-end.
Year-End Slips and When They Are Due
Most employers file more than one return at year-end. Each has its own recipients, and some go to a different government.
| Return | What it reports | Due date | Filed with |
|---|---|---|---|
| T4 slips and T4 Summary | Employment income, source deductions and taxable benefits for each employee | Last day of February | The CRA, with a copy to each employee |
| T4A slips and T4A Summary | Fees for services, pensions, retiring allowances and other amounts | Last day of February | The CRA, with a copy to each recipient |
| RL-1 slips and summary | Employment income and benefits for Quebec purposes | Last day of February | Revenu Québec |
| Record of Employment | Insurable earnings and hours when earnings are interrupted | Within Service Canada’s time limits after each interruption | Service Canada |
When the last day of February falls on a weekend or public holiday, slips filed on the next business day are considered on time.
What We Need to Prepare Your Slips
Year-end slips are built from the payroll records of the whole year, so we start with the register and the remittances side by side.
Missing pieces are common, especially where payroll changed hands during the year. We work from bank records and CRA statements to fill the gaps.
- Your payroll register or pay stubs for every pay period in the year.
- Your PD7A remittance records or CRA statements of account for the year.
- Names, addresses and social insurance numbers for each employee and recipient.
- Details of any benefits provided, such as vehicles, allowances or insurance premiums.
- Payments to contractors and other payees that may need a T4A.
- Last year’s slips, and any letters from the CRA about payroll.
Our Year-End Slip Process
Collect the year
We gather your payroll register, remittance records and payee details for the calendar year.
Reconcile
We match income, deductions and benefits to what was remitted, and resolve any difference before filing.
Prepare the slips
We draft T4, T4A and, where needed, RL-1 slips and summaries, and review the totals with you.
File and distribute
We file electronically with the CRA and provide copies for each employee and recipient.
Follow up
We handle amended slips, balances owing and CRA questions about the year, and set up next year to close cleanly.
Why Employers Choose Bestax for Year-End Slips
Reconciled before filed
Every slip is checked against the year’s remittances, so differences are fixed before the CRA finds them.
Benefits handled properly
We identify taxable benefits that belong on the slips, not only the salary that went through payroll.
T4 and T4A together
Employees, contractors and other payees are reported in one engagement, on the right slip for each.
Ahead of February
We start the year-end early, so slips and copies are ready before the deadline rather than on it.
One payroll team
The same accountants who reconcile your slips can run your payroll during the year.
Related Bestax Services
Payroll Services for pay runs, source deductions and remittances throughout the year.
Bookkeeping Services so payroll entries in your books match the slips you file.
Small Business Tax for owner-managers balancing salary, dividends and the corporate return.
CRA Audit & Review Support when the CRA questions your payroll or year-end slips.
What Our Clients Say
We have a small construction company with about 10 employees. Bestax set up our payroll system, handled deductions, and synced everything with CRA. The process was smooth and done within a week.
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Frequently Asked Questions
T4 and T4A slips and their summaries are due by the last day of February following the calendar year they report. Employees and other recipients must receive their copies by the same date.
A T4 reports employment income and the deductions withheld from it. A T4A reports other amounts, such as fees for services paid to self-employed individuals, pensions, retiring allowances and certain lump-sum payments.
If you file more than five slips of one type for the year, the CRA requires them to be filed electronically. Smaller filers can still choose to file electronically, and most do.
The CRA compares slips with the deductions remitted during the year. Where they differ, it can review the account and assess the employer for any shortfall, with penalties and interest. Reconciling before filing avoids most of these reviews. Our guide to payroll remittances in Canada explains how remittances work.
Yes. An amended slip is filed with the CRA showing the corrected amounts, and the employee receives a copy. If the change affects deductions, the remittance account may also need correcting.
Quebec employment is also reported to Revenu Québec on RL-1 slips with their own summary, due by the same end-of-February date. We prepare RL-1 slips alongside the federal T4s where they apply.