Information for employers: CRA and COVID-19
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Information for employers: CRA and COVID-19
T4 reporting requirements for employers
There are no additional information codes for the T4 slip relating to COVID-19 pandemic subsidies or benefits, except for the year 2020.
How to report employment income during COVID-19 pay periods in 2020
For the 2020 tax year, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) introduced additional reporting for the T4 slip, Statement of Remuneration Paid.
If you filed your T4 slips and summary for 2020 on or before December 22, 2020 you do not need to submit an amended T4.
For the tax year 2020, in addition to reporting employment income in Box 14 or Code 71, use other information codes when reporting employment income and retroactive payments in the following periods:
- Code 57: Employment income – March 15 to May 9, 2020
- Code 58: Employment income – May 10 to July 4, 2020
- Code 59: Employment income – July 5 to August 29, 2020
- Code 60: Employment income – August 30 to September 26, 2020
Eligibility criteria for the CERB, CEWS, and CESB are based on employment income for a defined period. All employers should report income and any retroactive payments, including cash and non-cash taxable benefits, made during these periods in 2020, regardless of whether or not they applied for and received CEWS.
Example
If you were reporting employment income for the period of April 25 to May 8, 2020, payable on May 14, 2020, you would use code 58.
Related forms
Temporary Wage Subsidy (TWS) reporting
If you took advantage of the temporary 10% wage subsidy in 2020, you can read about the T4 and tax reporting requirements for the TWS.
Employees report income as usual
Employees who received income supported by a wage subsidy the employer received do not need to take any special action when completing their returns.
Employment income will appear on the T4 as usual, whether the employer used the wage subsidy to pay the wages or not. Employees should report this income on the individual tax return at line 10100 according to the T4 instructions.
In 2020 only, employees may have noticed other information boxes related to CEWS (codes 57, 58, 59, or 60) on the T4 slip they received. The amounts in these boxes are for information only and do not need to be reported on their tax return.
There are no T4A slips issued for wage subsidies, as there are for COVID benefits paid directly to individuals.
- Date modified:
- 2021-03-07