Filling out the T4 slip

On this page

• Employee who worked in more than one province or territory
• How to report special situations on T4 slips
• Customized T4 slips
• Guidelines for completing T4 slips
• Identification and pre-numbered boxes
• Other information

Employee who worked in more than one province or territory

If you had an employee who had more than one province or territory of employment during the year, prepare a separate T4 slip for the earnings and deductions that apply to each province or territory.

How to report special situations on T4 slips

Read the detailed instructions for the boxes listed below, and also go to Special situations, if you paid amounts in those special situations:

• Retiring allowances
• Salary deferral arrangements
• Placement or employment agency workers
• Barbers and hairdressers
• Indians
• Employees with power saws or tree trimmers
• Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program
• Employees outside Canada
• Taxi drivers and drivers of other passenger-carrying vehicles
• Fishing income
• Salary overpayments

Customized T4 slips

For those who fill out a large number of slips, we accept certain slips other than our own. Follow the guidelines for the production of customized forms or see the current version of Information Circular IC97-2R, Customized Forms.

Guidelines for completing T4 slips

• Clearly fill out the slips.
• Report, in dollars and cents, all amounts you paid during the year, except pension adjustment amounts, which are reported in dollars only.
• Report all amounts in Canadian dollars, even if they were paid in another currency. See What are the average exchange rates?.
• Do not enter hyphens or dashes between numbers.
• Do not enter the dollar sign ($).
• Do not show negative dollar amounts on slips; to make changes to previous years, send the CRA amended slips for the years in question.
• If you do not have to enter an amount in a box, do not enter "nil"—leave the box blank.
• Do not change the headings of any of the boxes.

Identification and pre-numbered boxes

Employer's name

Enter your operating or trade name in the space provided on each slip. This should be the same information that appears on your statement of account. If you would like to, you may also add your business address in this space.

Employee's name and address

Enter the employee's last name, followed by the first name and initial (all in capital letters). If the employee has more than one initial, enter the employee's first name followed by the initials in the "First name" space. If you enter only the employee's initials, enter them at the beginning of the "First name" space.

Do not enter the title of office or courtesy title of the employee such as Director, Mr., or Mrs.

Enter the employee's address, including the province, territory, or U.S. state, Canadian postal code or U.S. zip code, and country.

Year

Enter the four digits of the calendar year in which you paid the remuneration to the employee.

Box 10 – Province of employment

Before you decide which provincial or territorial abbreviation to use, you need to determine your employee's province or territory of employment. This depends on whether you required your employee to report for work at your place of business.

For more information, go to Which provincial or territorial tax tables should you use?.

Enter one of the following abbreviations:

List of provinces and territories and their abbreviations

Province or territory	Abbreviation
Alberta	AB
British Columbia	BC
Manitoba	MB
New Brunswick	NB
Newfoundland and Labrador	NL
Northwest Territories	NT
Nova Scotia	NS
Nunavut	NU
Ontario	ON
Prince Edward Island	PE
Quebec	QC
Saskatchewan	SK
Yukon	YT
United States	US
Other Enter ZZ if an employee worked in a country other than Canada or the United States, or if the employee worked in Canada beyond the limits of a province or territory (for example, on an offshore oil rig).	ZZ

For any employee who had more than one province or territory of employment in the year, fill out separate T4 slips. For each location, indicate the total remuneration paid to the employee and the related deductions, such as CPP/QPP contributions, EI premiums, PPIP premiums, and income tax.

Box 12 – Social insurance number

Enter the employee's SIN, as provided by the employee.

Make sure the SIN you enter on the T4 slip for each employee is correct. An incorrect SIN can affect an employee's future Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan benefits if their record of earnings is not accurate. Also, if you report an incorrect SIN on the T4 slip that has a pension adjustment amount, the employee may receive an inaccurate annual RRSP deduction limit statement and the related information on the employee's notice of assessment will be inaccurate.

For more information about social insurance numbers and information slips, go to Failure to obtain your employee's social insurance number (SIN), Information Circular 82-2, Social Insurance Number Legislation that Relates to the Preparation of Information Slips or visit Service Canada.

Box 14 – Employment income

Enter in box 14 the total employment income before deductions. Include the following:

• salary and wages (including pay in lieu of termination notice);
• bonuses;
• vacation pay;
• tips and gratuities;
• honorariums;
• director's fees;
• management fees;
• executor's and administrator's fees received to administer an estate (as long as the administrator or executor does not act in this capacity in the regular course of business);
• director's fees paid to non-resident directors for services rendered in Canada (a non-resident director is not considered to be employed in Canada when he or she does not attend any meetings or perform any other functions in Canada);
• commissions, taxable allowances, the value of taxable benefits (including any GST/HST or other applicable taxes), and any other payments you paid to employees during the year. These amounts may also have to be reported in the "Other information" area at the bottom of the T4 slip;
• payments made from a wage-loss replacement plan (WLRP) if you had to deduct CPP contributions or EI premiums. For more information, see Wage-loss replacement plans;
• amounts paid under a supplementary unemployment benefit plan (SUBP) such as employer-paid maternity, parental, and compassionate care top-up amounts, whether they are registered with Service Canada or not;
• payments out of an employee benefit plan (EBP) and amounts that a trustee allocated under an employee trust. If the trustee allocates the income, but you do not pay it immediately, include it in the income of the employee. Do not report it when you make the payment. For more information, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-502, Employee Benefit Plans and Employee Trusts, and its special release; and
• amounts that are greater than $1,000, which are paid to emergency volunteers (such as firefighters, ambulance technicians, or search and rescue volunteers) by a government, a municipality, or a public authority. If you paid the individual other than as a volunteer for the same or similar duties, the whole amount is taxable and should be included in box 14. Report the exempt amount (up to $1,000) in the "Other information" area of the T4 slip, using code 87.

Certain Canadian Forces personnel and police officers can claim a deduction from taxable income for the amount of employment income earnings (including taxable allowance). See the explanation under Code 43.

Include amounts you paid to a member of a religious order who has taken a vow of perpetual poverty. Even if you did not have to deduct CPP, EI, or income tax from the payments, you still have to include these amounts in box 14.

Boxes 16 and 17 – Employee's CPP or QPP contributions

Enter the amount of Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) contributions you deducted from the employee's pensionable earnings in box 16 or box 17, depending on the province or territory of employment. For example, if you reported Quebec in box 10, then report the QPP contributions you deducted in box 17. Leave both boxes blank if the employee did not contribute to either plan.

Do not report the employer's share of CPP or QPP contributions on the T4 slip.

To verify an employee's CPP contributions at year-end before you fill out and file the T4 slip, see Calculation of Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions (multiple pay periods or year-end verification). For CPP rates and maximums, go to CPP contribution rates, maximums and exemptions.

There are situations when you do not have to deduct CPP contributions from the payments and benefits you give your employee. For example, the employee is age exempt or works in a type of employment or receives a benefit that does not require CPP deductions. For more information, go to the Special payments chart.

Employment in Quebec

Different contribution rates apply for employees working in Quebec. For information about QPP rates and maximums, see Guide TP-1015.G-V, Guide for Employers: Source Deductions and Contributions, or visit Revenu Québec.

More than one T4 slip for the same employee

If an employee contributed to CPP and QPP during the year, you have to prepare two T4 slips as follows:

• one showing the province of employment as Quebec, the employee's QPP pensionable earnings in Quebec and the QPP contributions you deducted; and

• one showing the applicable province or territory of employment (other than Quebec), the employee's CPP pensionable earnings and the CPP contributions you deducted.

CPP overpayment

If, during the year, you deducted more CPP contributions from the employee's earnings than you should have and you could not reimburse the overpayment:

• Do not adjust the amounts you report on the T4 slip. We will credit the excess CPP contributions to the employee when he or she files his or her income tax and benefit return.
• Fill out Form PD24, Application for a Refund of Overdeducted CPP Contributions or EI Premiums, to apply for a refund of your CPP overpayment. Send it to your tax centre with your paper-filed T4 information return or mail it separately if you have filed your return electronically.

Make this request no later than four years after the end of the year in which the CPP overpayment occurred.

For more information about CPP overpayments, see CPP overpayment and recovering CPP contributions.

Box 18 – Employee's EI premiums

Enter the amount of EI premiums you deducted from the employee's earnings. If you did not deduct premiums, leave this box blank.

Do not report the employer's share of EI premiums on the T4 slip.

To verify an employee's EI premiums at year-end before you fill out and file the T4 slip, see Calculation of employee employment insurance (EI) premiums. For more information about deducting EI premiums, go to EI premium rate and maximum.

There are situations when you do not have to deduct EI premiums from the payments and benefits you give your employee. For example, the employee works in a type of employment or receives a benefit that is exempt under the Employment Insurance Act. For more information, go to Special payments chart.

Employment in Quebec

The requirements for deducting EI and Provincial Parental Insurance Plan (PPIP) premiums for employees in Quebec are different. For information about deducting PPIP premiums, see Guide TP-1015.G-V, Guide for Employers: Source Deductions and Contributions, or visit Revenu Québec.

EI overpayment

If, during the year, you deducted more EI premiums from the employee than you should have and you could not reimburse the overpayment:

• Do not adjust the amounts you report on the employee's T4 slip. We will credit the excess EI premiums to the employee when he or she files his or her income tax and benefit return.
• Fill out Form PD24, Application for a Refund of Overdeducted CPP Contributions or EI Premiums, to apply for a refund of your EI overpayment. Send it to us with your paper-filed T4 information return or mail it separately if you have filed your return electronically.

Make this request no later than three years after the end of the year in which the EI overpayment occurred.

For more information about EI overpayments, see EI overpayment and recovering EI premiums.

Box 20 – RPP contributions

Enter the total amount the employee contributed to a registered pension plan (RPP). If the employee did not contribute to a plan, leave this box blank. Do not include amounts transferred directly to an RPP from an employee's registered retirement savings plan (RRSP).

Enter any deductible retirement compensation arrangement (RCA) contributions you withheld from the employee's income. Do not include amounts that are not deductible. If the amount in box 20 includes RPP contributions and deductible RCA contributions, attach a letter informing the employee of the amounts.

If the amount you report includes current contributions and past service contributions for 1989 or earlier years, enter, in the "Other information" area, the following codes along with the corresponding amount:

• code 74 for past service contributions while the employee was a contributor; and
• code 75 for past service contributions while the employee was not a contributor.

To determine if the employee made past service contributions while a contributor or while not a contributor, see archived Interpretation Bulletin IT-167, Registered Pension Plans – Employee's Contributions.

Include instalment interest in box 20. This includes interest charged to buy back pensionable service.

Indian – If you paid amounts to Indians, see Indians.

Box 22 – Income tax deducted

Enter the total income tax you deducted from the employee's remuneration and retiring allowances. This includes the federal, provincial (except Quebec), and territorial taxes that apply. If you did not deduct tax, leave the box blank.

Do not include any amount you withheld under the authority of a garnishee or a requirement to pay that applies to the employee's previously assessed tax arrears.

Box 24 – EI insurable earnings

Box 24 must always be completed even if there are no insurable earnings.

Enter the total amount of insurable earnings you used to calculate the employee's EI premiums that you reported in box 18, up to the maximum insurable earnings for the year ($50,800 for 2016). If there are no insurable earnings for the entire reporting year and box 18 is blank, enter "0" in box 24. In many cases, boxes 14 and 24 will be the same amount.

Reporting the correct EI insurable earnings in box 24 will reduce unnecessary pensionable and insurable earnings review (PIER) reports for EI deficiency calculations, especially if the employee worked both inside and outside of Quebec.

If you paid amounts to the employee for employment, benefits, or other payments that should not have EI premiums deducted (for more information, go to Special payments chart), do not report those earnings in box 24.

Do not include the unpaid portion of any earnings from insurable employment that you did not pay because of your bankruptcy, receivership, or non-payment of remuneration for which the employee has filed a complaint with the federal, provincial, or territorial labour authorities.

Special rules may apply when filling in box 24 in certain situations. For more information, go to Special situations.

More than one T4 slip for the same employee

When you give the same employee more than one T4 slip for the year, you should report the insurable earnings amount for each period of employment in box 24 of each T4 slip.

For more information on insurable earnings, go to Employment insurance (EI).

Box 26 – CPP/QPP pensionable earnings

Box 26 must always be completed even if there are no pensionable earnings.

Enter the total amount of pensionable earnings paid to your employee, up to the maximum pensionable earnings for the year ($54,900 for 2016), even if you did not withhold CPP/QPP contributions on all or any of those earnings. This may happen if you give a non-cash taxable benefit to an employee but do not pay cash earnings during the year. If there are no pensionable earnings for the entire reporting year and boxes 16 and 17 are blank, enter "0" in box 26. In many cases, boxes 14 and 26 will be the same amount.

Reporting the correct CPP pensionable earnings in box 26 will reduce unnecessary pensionable and insurable earnings review (PIER) reports for CPP deficiency calculations, especially if the employee worked both inside and outside of Quebec.

For more information, go to Special situations.

CPP

Include the following types of remuneration in Box 14 – Employment income. However, do not include in Box 26 – CPP/QPP pensionable earnings:

1. Remuneration paid to the employee:
   • before and during the month the employee turned 18;
   • after the month the employee turned 70;
   • during the months the employee was considered to be disabled under the Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan;
   • after an eligible employee, who is 65 to 70 years of age, gave you a signed copy of Form CPT30, Election to Stop Contributing to the Canada Pension Plan, or Revocation of a Prior Election with parts A, B and C completed;
   • before an eligible employee, who is 65 to 70 years of age, gave you a signed copy of Form CPT30 with parts A, B, and D completed.
     Note
     Information about when you should have started or stopped deducting CPP contributions and examples of how to prorate the maximum CPP contribution for the year to make sure you have deducted the correct amount can be found at Checking the amount of CPP you deducted.
2. Amounts paid to the employee for employment, benefits, or other payments, and no CPP contributions had to be deducted. For more information, see Special payments chart.
3. Amounts for a clergy member's residence from which you did not deduct CPP contributions (if the clergy member gets a tax deduction for the residence, CPP contributions are not required).

Subtract any of the amounts noted above from the amount in box 14, and enter the difference in box 26. Do not change the amount in box 14.

QPP

Fill in box 26 when you deduct QPP from the employees earnings, regardless of their province or territory of residence.

More than one T4 slip for the same employee

When you give the same employee more than one T4 slip for the year, you should report the pensionable earnings amount for each period of employment in box 26 of each T4 slip.

Benefits and earnings taxable only in Quebec

Revenu Québec considers certain benefits and earnings to be pensionable earnings for employees working in Quebec. These include:

• employer-paid private health benefit plan premiums; and
• assumed earnings—persons 55 years of age or older whose hours of work are reduced by reason of phased retirement may choose, with their employers, to make contributions to the QPP on all or part of the amount of the reduction in remuneration.

For more information, see Guide TP-1015.G-V, Guide for Employers: Source Deductions and Contributions, or brochure IN-253-V, Taxable Benefits, which you can get from Revenu Québec.

The following examples show how to fill in boxes 14 and 26 of the employee's T4 slip when you provide a benefit or earnings to an employee that is only taxable in Quebec. For information on how to complete the RL-1 slip, consult Guide RL-1.G-V, Guide to Filing the RL-1 Slip: Employment and Other Income.

Box 28 – Exempt (CPP/QPP, EI, and PPIP)

For more information about CPP and EI deductions, see Special payments chart. For more information about QPP and QPIP deductions, see Guide TP-1015.G-V, Guide for Employers: Source Deductions and Contributions, or brochure IN-253-V, Taxable Benefits, which you can get from Revenu Québec.

CPP/QPP (Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan)

Leave this box blank if you:

• reported a retiring allowance and no other type of income;
• reported an amount greater than "0" in boxes 16, 17, or 26;
• reported "0" in box 26 and the employee gave you a copy of a completed Form CPT30, Election to Stop Contributing to the Canada Pension Plan, or Revocation of a Prior Election; or
• reported "0" in box 26 and the employee worked in one of the employment types listed as letters "C" to "O" on the back of Form CPT20, Election to Pay Canada Pension Plan Contributions.

Otherwise, enter an "X" or a check mark if you did not have to withhold CPP contributions from the earnings for the entire reporting period.

EI (employment insurance)

Leave this box blank if you reported an amount greater than "0" in box 18 or 24. Enter an "X" or a check mark in the "EI" box only if you did not have to withhold EI premiums from the earnings for the entire reporting period.

PPIP (provincial parental insurance plan)

Leave this box blank if you reported an amount in box 55 or 56. Enter an "X" or a check mark in the "PPIP" box only if you did not have to withhold PPIP premiums from the earnings for the entire period of employment in the province of Quebec.

Box 29 – Employment code

Enter the appropriate code in this box if one of the following situations applies. Otherwise, leave it blank.

Do not fill in Box 14 – Employment income, if you are using employment code 11, 12, 13, or 17.

11 – Placement or employment agency workers

12 – Taxi drivers or drivers of other passenger-carrying vehicles

13 – Barbers or hairdressers

14 – Withdrawal from a prescribed salary deferral arrangement plan

15 – Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program

16 – Detached employee – Social security agreement

17 – Fishers – Self-employed

Box 44 – Union dues

Use this box only if you and the union agree that the union will not issue receipts for union dues to employees. Keep the certificate of agreement on file in case we ask to see it.

Enter in box 44 the amount you deducted from employees for union dues. Include amounts you paid to a parity or advisory committee that qualify for a deduction. Do not include initiation fees. Also, do not include strike pay that the union paid to union members in this box.

For more information, see archived Interpretation Bulletin IT-103, Dues paid to a union or to a parity or advisory committee.

Box 46 – Charitable donations

Enter the amount you deducted from the employee's earnings for donations to qualified donees in Canada.

Box 50 – RPP or DPSP registration number

Enter the seven-digit registration number we issue for a registered pension plan (RPP) or a deferred profit sharing plan (DPSP) or the seven-digit plan identification number we issue for an unregistered foreign pension plan under which you report a pension adjustment (PA). Do this even if your plan requires only employer contributions.

However, if you make contributions to union pension funds, you have to indicate the union's plan number, which the union has to give you.

If an employee is a member of more than one plan, insert only the number of the plan under which the employee has the largest PA.

Box 52 – Pension adjustment

If you have a registered pension plan (RPP) or a deferred profit sharing plan (DPSP), enter, in dollars only, the amount of the employee's pension adjustment (PA) for the year. If you have to prepare more than one T4 slip for the employee because the employee worked for you in more than one province or territory of employment, report the PA proportionately on each T4 slip. If you cannot apportion the PA, report it on one slip.

If an employee participates in one or more RPPs or DPSPs, you have to calculate his or her PA using the total amount of all pension credits accumulated by the employee under all these plans for the year.

If an employee is on a leave of absence and is still accruing pensionable service or credits under the plan, you must report the PA on a T4 slip. This is true even if the employee has no employment income in the tax year. Administrators of multiple employee plans (MEPs) should report the PA for the employee on leave on a T4A slip.

Leave box 52 blank if the employee participated in your RPP or DPSP and one of the following applies:

• the calculated PA is a negative amount or zero;
• the employee died during the year; or
• the employee, even if he or she is still a member of the plan, no longer accrues new pension credits in the year (for example, the employee has accrued the maximum number of years of service in respect of the plan).

Special rules concerning the PA

Special calculation rules apply, in some circumstances, to employees who:

• left your employment during the year;
• are on, or return from, a leave of absence;
• participate in a salary deferral arrangement; or
• work for you part-time.

For more information on how to calculate the PA, see Guide T4084, Pension Adjustment Guide. If you need more help calculating a PA, see your pension plan administrator or call our Registered Plans Directorate at 1-800-267-3100 or 613-954-0419 (in Ottawa).

Unregistered retirement plans or arrangements

An individual's RRSP deduction limit is affected if they are entitled to benefits under any of the following three types of unregistered retirement plans or arrangements:

• a specified retirement arrangement (SRA);
• a government-sponsored retirement arrangement (GSRA); and
• a foreign pension plan.

For more information about the PA for these types of plans or arrangements, see Guide T4084, Pension Adjustment Guide, or call our Registered Plans Directorate at 1-800-267-3100 or 613-954-0419 (in Ottawa).

Box 54 – Employer's account number

Enter the 15-character account number that you use to send us your employees' deductions. This number is your payroll program account number that appears at the top of your PD7A statement of account. Your payroll program account number should not appear on the two copies of the T4 slip that you give to your employees.

Box 55 – Employee's PPIP premiums

Enter the provincial parental insurance plan (PPIP) premiums that you deducted for employees working in Quebec.

Box 56 – PPIP insurable earnings

For employees working in Quebec, enter the total amount used to calculate the employee's PPIP premiums, up to a maximum of $71,500 for 2016.

Leave the box blank if:

• there are no insurable earnings;
• the insurable earnings are the same as the employment income in box 14; or
• the insurable earnings are over the maximum for the year.

Other information

The "Other information" area at the bottom of the T4 slip has boxes for you to enter codes and amounts that relate to employment commissions, taxable allowances and benefits, deductible amounts, fishers' income, and other entries if they apply.

The boxes are not pre-numbered as they are in the top part of the slip. Enter the codes and amounts that apply to the employee.

Codes you can use are:

List of codes and the T4 slip boxes to which they apply

Code	Descriptions
Code 30	Board and lodging
Code 31	Special work site
Code 32	Travel in a prescribed zone
Code 33	Medical travel assistance
Code 34	Personal use of employer's automobile or motor vehicle
Code 36	Interest-free and low-interest loans
Code 37	Employee home-relocation loan deduction
Code 38	Security options benefits
Code 39	Security options deduction – 110(1)(d)
Code 40	Other taxable allowances and benefits
Code 41	Security options deduction – 110(1)(d.1)
Code 42	Employment commissions
Code 43	Canadian Forces personnel and police deduction
Code 66	Eligible retiring allowances
Code 67	Non-eligible retiring allowances
Code 68	Indian (exempt income) – Eligible retiring allowances
Code 69	Indian (exempt income) – Non-eligible retiring allowances
Code 70	Municipal officer's expense allowance
Code 71	Indian (exempt income) – Employment
Code 74	Past service contributions for 1989 or earlier years while a contributor
Code 75	Past service contributions for 1989 or earlier years while not a contributor
Code 77	Workers' compensation benefits repaid to the employer
Code 78	Fishers – Gross income
Code 79	Fishers – Net partnership amount
Code 80	Fishers – Shareperson amount
Code 81	Placement or employment agency workers – Gross income
Code 82	Taxi drivers and drivers of other passenger-carrying vehicles – Gross income
Code 83	Barbers or hairdressers – Gross income
Code 84	Public transit pass
Code 85	Employee-paid premiums for private health services plans
Code 86	Security options election
Code 87	Emergency services volunteer exempt amount
Code 88	Indian (exempt income) – self-employment

Date modified:

2016-12-22