Information for payers of the T5018

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What to report on the T5018 information return

How to fill out the T5018 slip

How to fill out the T5018 Summary

How to file the T5018 information return

What to report on the T5018 information return

If you are an individual, partnership, trust, or corporation involved in construction activities which provide your primary source of business income and you make payments to subcontractors for construction services, you must report amounts paid or credited (whether by cheque, cash, barter, or offset against an amount owing).

Residency determines which information slip to complete. Contract payments are reported on a Contract Payment Information Return which consists of a T5018 summary and slip, if the sub-contractor is a resident of Canada (for services provided inside or outside Canada), and on a T4A-NR information return which consists of a T4A-NR summary and slip, if the sub-contractor is a non-resident of Canada (for services provided inside Canada).

Is construction your primary source of business income?

If more than 50% of a business' income-earning activities are construction, its primary source of business income is deemed to be construction.

In many cases there are businesses that have significant amounts of construction done for them or by them, but this activity is not their principal business and the business does not have to report under the CPRS. For example, a natural gas company may do large amounts of construction to install pipelines. Its principal business is gas transmission, not constructing pipelines. It would not be required to report under the CPRS; however, if it wants to do so, we will accept the information.

Construction activities relate to the erection, excavation, installation, alteration, modification, repair, improvement, demolition, destruction, dismantling, or removal of any part of a building, structure, surface or sub-surface construction.

Examples

Examples of construction activities

• Air conditioning work
• Asphalt paving
• Carpet work
• Commercial refrigeration work (for example, the refrigerator is large and a component part of the building)
• Concrete pouring and finishing
• Demolition
• Dry and wet heating
• Drywalling
• Duct and sheet metal work
• Electrical work
• Elevator and escalator work
• Environmental control work
• Excavating and grading
• Fencing
• Finish carpentry
• Form work
• Gas pipe work
• Glass and glazing work
• Hardwood flooring installation
• Heavy equipment rental with an operator (if there is no operator, it is just rental and not a construction activity)
• Insulation work
• Masonry work
• Painting and decorating
• Pile driving
• Plastering and stucco
• Plumbing
• Precast concrete installation
• Resilient flooring and carpet work
• Roofing and shingling
• Rough and framing carpentry
• Septic system installation
• Sheet metal and built-up roofing
• Shingling
• Siding work
• Sprinkler system work
• Steel reinforcing
• Structural steel erection
• Swimming pool installation
• Terrazzo and tile work
• Tile work
• Water well drilling
• Wrecking and demolition

Examples of structures, surfaces or sub-surface construction

• Apartment buildings
• Gas and oil pipelines
• Highways, streets and bridges
• Hydroelectric power plants
• Industrial and commercial buildings
• Personal homes and residences
• Power and telecommunication transmission lines
• Waterworks and sewage systems

Examples of items that are not considered to be structures or surface/sub-surface construction

• Planes
• Satellites
• Ships

How to fill out the T5018 slip

To report payments to subcontractors for construction services, including any GST/HST and provincial/territorial sales tax, you must:

• complete the T5018 slip, Statement of Contract Payments, or
• provide a listing or printout of all payments you make to subcontractors, on a line by line basis in column format with all the information required on the slip. The listing or printout must have all the summary information, including the total payments to each of the subcontractors, the total number of subcontractors who received these payments, and the signature of an authorized person.

This also applies if you are a Canadian resident and are paying a Canadian resident for construction services performed outside of Canada.

Goods-only payments do not have to be reported. Mixed service and goods payments are reported if there is a total annual service component of $500 or more. Complete one slip for the reporting period for each subcontractor.
You can report payments on a calendar-year basis or based on your fiscal year end. Once you choose a reporting period, subsequent returns must be filed for the same reporting year unless otherwise authorized in writing by the CRA.

You can report payments on a calendar-year basis or based on your fiscal year end. Once you choose a reporting period, subsequent returns must be filed for the same reporting year unless otherwise authorized in writing by the CRA.

Payments for employee salaries are not to be reported, as these amounts are already included on the T4 slip. However, if the worker also performs construction services as a subcontractor, those subcontract amounts should be reported on a T5018 slip.

If you want to complete your T5018 slips using a personal computer, you can use the PDF fillable T5018, Statement of Contract Payments.

How to file information slips if you have multiple offices

We recognize that for practical purposes, businesses may need to file information slips from more than one location. This type of filing is acceptable only if the business number (BN) has a different account identifier for each location. For example, a contractor with offices in Québec City and Edmonton has a single BN, 123456789, but may use his payroll account number RP0001 to identify Québec and another, RP0002, to identify Edmonton. With different account identifiers, the contractor can file information slips from both offices.

Contractors' cheques in the name of multiple subcontractors

This is sometimes done to ensure that a subcontractor's sub-trades are paid in order to minimize the possibility of liens against the job. Contractors report only on those subcontractors they deal with directly. In a such case, the contractor would report the amount as a payment to the subcontractor. The subcontractor would be responsible for reporting the amount as payment to the subtrade.

Example

ABC General Contractor Inc. has a contract with XYZ Drywallers Ltd. to install drywall. XYZ has part of the work done by MNOP Plasters Inc. XYZ owes MNOP $1,000 for the work. ABC writes a cheque out to XYZ Drywallers Ltd. and MNOP Plasters Inc. in the amount of $1,000.

• ABC reports the $1,000 payment to XYZ Drywallers Ltd., since it contracted with XYZ.
• XYZ reports the $1,000 payment to MNOP Plasters Inc., since it contracted with MNOP.

Penalty for conspiring in order to avoid reporting contract payments

Any contractor that plans with subcontractors to avoid tax by concealing underground activity could face criminal prosecution, with fines and penalties of up to 200% of the tax they tried to avoid.

Identification and pre-numbered boxes

Box 20 – For the period ending

The last day of the payer's reporting period for this return.

Box 22 – Construction subcontractor payments

Enter the total amount of payments you made to the subcontractor during the period, including goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) and provincial/territorial sales tax, where applicable. If the total amount of payments to a subcontractor is less than $500, you do not have to complete a T5018 slip for that subcontractor.
If a subcontractor was paid through the bartering of goods or services, the fair market value of the bartered goods or services would form part or the entire amount that has to be reported.

Box 24 – Recipient's identification number (Account number or SIN)

Enter the recipient's 15-character account number (which consists of the nine-digit business number, a two-letter program identifier, and a four-digit reference number) or the social insurance number. Go to GST/HST Registry to verify if the subcontractor is registered for GST/HST.

Recipient's business name and address

Enter the name and address of the business or person to whom you made the payment.

Payer's name

Enter your business or individual name.

Payer's account number

Enter your 15-character account number (which consists of the nine-digit business number, RZ, and a four-digit reference number) on your copy and the copy you send to the CRA only. Do not enter your account number on the copies you give to the contractors.

Distributing T5018 slips

While it is not mandatory, we encourage you to share this information with the subcontractors by giving them a copy of the slip. Your account number is not needed on the subcontractor's copy.

Keep a copy of the slips for your records.

Verification of amounts

The accuracy of what you report will be reviewed in the usual course of audits. The feedback from this activity will help you to meet reporting requirements.

How to fill out the T5018 summary

Use the summary to report the total of the amounts that you reported on the related T5018 slips or provide a document which includes all the summary information shown below, along with your listing or printout of the payments you made to subcontractors.

• Report all amounts in Canadian dollars and cents even if amounts were paid in another currency.
• The totals you report on your summary have to agree with the totals you report on your slips. Errors or omissions can cause processing delays.

Detailed T5018 Summary instructions

For the period ending

Enter the date that applies to the calendar or fiscal year end of the reporting period you have chosen.

Payer's account number

Enter your 15-character account number (for example, 123456789RZ0001). If you do not have an account number, go to Registering your business.

Payer's information

Enter your legal name, your trade name (if it differs from your legal name), and your complete business address.

Language of correspondence

Enter an "X" in the appropriate box.

Line 80 – Total number of T5018 slips filed

Enter the total number of T5018 slips that you are including with the T5018 Summary.

Line 82 – Total construction subcontractor payments

Add the amounts in box 22 on all T5018 slips. Enter the total on line 82.

Person to contact about this return

Enter the name and telephone number of a contact person that we can call to get or clarify information you reported on the information return.

Certification

The authorized person must sign and date the T5018 Summary.

How to file the T5018 information return

When to file

The T5018 information return is due on or before the date that is six months after the end of the reporting period you have chosen.

You can report payments on a calendar-year basis, or based on your fiscal year end. Once you choose a reporting period, subsequent returns must be filed for the same reporting year unless otherwise authorized in writing by the CRA.

If you want to change the reporting period, you must send a written request to your tax centre and indicate the reason for the change.

If your business stops operating, you must file the information return within 30 days of the date your business ends.

Failure to comply

If you fail to file a T5018 information return, the penalty for each failure is $25 a day, with a minimum penalty of $100 up to a maximum of $2,500.

Late filing penalty

If you fail to file a T5018 information return by the due date, we may assess a late filing penalty. For the complete penalty structure, see Penalty for failure to file an information return by the due date.

Where to file

If you file more than 50 information returns (slips) for a calendar year you must file the return over the Internet. For more information, see Filing Information Returns Electronically (T4/T5 and other types of returns).

If you file on paper, send your completed information return to:

Ottawa Technology Centre
875 Heron Road
Ottawa, ON K1A 1A2

Forms and publications

• Form T5018, Statement of Contract Payments
• Form T5018SUM, Summary of Contract Payments

Related links

• Do you need a business number or a program account?
• Filing information returns electronically (T4/T5 and other types of returns)

Date modified:

2017-04-11