Filling out the T4A slip

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Guidelines for filling out T4A slips

Identification and pre-numbered boxes

Guidelines for filling out T4A slips

When filling out T4A slips:

• Fill out the slips clearly.
• Report, in dollars and cents, all amounts you paid during the year except for pension adjustment amounts, which are reported in dollars only. Go to Code 034 – Pension adjustment.
• Report all amounts in Canadian dollars, even if they were paid in another currency.
• Do not show hyphens or dashes between numbers or names.
• Do not enter the dollar sign ($).
• Do not put negative dollar amounts on slips. To make changes to previous years, send us an amended T4A slip for the year in question. Go to Amending, cancelling, adding, or replacing T4A slips.
• 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

Recipient's name and address

Enter the last name of the person to whom you made the payment, followed by the first name and initials. Directly below the name, enter the person's address, including the province, territory, or U.S. state, Canadian postal code or U.S. zip code, and country.

Payer's name

Enter your operating or trading name in the space provided on each slip.

Year

Enter the four digits of the calendar year in which you made the payment to the recipient.

Box 012 – Social insurance number

Enter the recipient's social insurance number (SIN). If you do not have the SIN, enter nine zeros.

Make sure the SIN and name you enter on the T4A slip for each recipient are correct. If the individual does not give you his or her SIN, you should be able to show that you try to get it. For example, if you contact an individual by mail to ask for his or her SIN, record the date of your request and keep a copy of any correspondence that relates to it.

If you do not try to get a SIN, you may be charged a penalty of $100 for each failure. If you cannot get a SIN from the recipient, file your information return, without the SIN, on or before the last day of February following the calendar year to which the information return applies. For more information, see Failure to obtain your employee's social insurance number (SIN).

For more information, see Information Circular IC82-R2, Social Insurance Number Legislation that Relates to the Preparation of Information Slips or visit the Service Canada Web site.

Box 013 – Recipient's account number (15 characters)

If the recipient of the reported amount is a business (sole proprietor, partnership, or corporation), enter the recipient's account number.

Box 016 – Pension or superannuation

Enter the taxable part of annuity payments you paid to an employee, retired employee, or survivor or spouse of an employee out of, or under, a superannuation or registered pension fund or plan, including disability benefits paid as a life annuity.

Special situations

• You may have paid superannuation or pension benefits to a Canadian resident under an unregistered pension plan for services that the person rendered in a period throughout which the person did not reside in Canada. If you paid the benefits periodically, report the amount in box 016. These payments cannot be transferred to a registered pension plan (RPP) or a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP).
• Do not include benefits from an unregistered pension plan in box 016. Instead, include them in the "Other information" area using code 109.
• Include disability benefits paid as a life annuity out of a superannuation or pension plan in box 016. Include any other disability benefits paid out of a superannuation or pension plan in the "Other information" area, using code 125.
• If you made payments out of an employee benefit plan that are not payments of superannuation or pension benefits, these should be reported on a T4 slip. For more information, see RC4120, Employers' Guide – Filing the T4 Slip and Summary for further information.
• Do not include amounts paid out of a retirement compensation arrangement. Use a T4A-RCA slip, Statement of Distributions from a Retirement Compensation Arrangement (RCA), for these amounts.

Box 018 – Lump-sum payments

In box 18, enter the taxable part of a single payment out of a pension fund or plan including any single payment resulting from a:

• withdrawal from the plan, retirement from employment, or death of an employee or former employee;
• termination of, amendment to, or modification of the plan; or
• reimbursement of any over-contributions to the plan.

Also, enter the taxable part of any single payment out of a deferred profit sharing plan (DPSP) including a single payment due to a withdrawal from the plan, retirement from employment, death of an employee or former employee, or reimbursement of any over-contributions to the plan.

Special situations

• Non-registered plan – You have to identify pension benefits you paid from a pension fund or plan that is not registered. Report the amount in box 018, in the "Other information" area, enter code 190 and the amount of the payment.
• If you include lump-sum payments out of RPPs and DPSPs accrued to December 31, 1971, report the amount in box 018 and in the "Other information" area, enter code 110 and the amount of the payment.
• Direct transfers – Do not include direct transfers of RPP lump-sum payments to RRSPs, SPPs, PRPPs, RRIFs, or other RPPs that are transferred according to subsections 147.3(1) to (8) of the Income Tax Act (ITA). Similarly, do not report direct transfers of DPSP lump-sum payments to RRSPs, SPPs, PRPPs, RRIFs, or other DPSPs that are transferred according to subsection 147(19) of the ITA. These amounts are not reported when they are directly transferred under these subsections, and the receiving carrier should not issue receipts. You can use Form T2151, Direct Transfer of a Single Amount Under Subsection 147(19) or Section 147.3, to document these direct transfers.
• Amounts not eligible for transfer – Amounts transferred that are greater than the amounts allowed under subsections 147.3(1) to (8) or 147(19) of the ITA are considered income in the year they are transferred. Report such amounts in box 018. The receiving carrier should issue a receipt for these excess transfers.
  
  If you paid a single amount out of an RPP to an individual or you transferred such an amount that we consider to be income, you must report it in the "Other information" area, using code 108.
• Deferred profit-sharing plan (DPSP) – Use box 018 to report the total of amounts you allocated or reallocated in the year under a DPSP or a revoked plan to a person described in paragraph 147(2)(k.2) of the ITA for:
  • employer contributions made to the plan after December 1, 1982; or
  • amounts forfeited in the plan if these amounts are withdrawn from the plan during the year.

If you allocated an amount under subsection 147(10.3) of the ITA in a previous year and you made the payment in the current year, you have to report the amount of the payment. In the "Other information" area, enter code 180 and the amount of the payment.

• Lump-sum payments – non-resident – You may have paid superannuation or pension benefits to a Canadian resident under an unregistered pension plan for services that the person rendered in a period throughout which the person did not reside in Canada. If you paid the benefits in a lump-sum, report the amount in box 018. The recipient may be able to transfer the amount to an RPP, SPP, PRPP, or RRSP and deduct the amount of the transfer under paragraph 60(j) if the conditions in that provision are satisfied. However, if you made such a direct transfer, report the amount in box 018, and in the "Other information" area, enter code 102 and the amount of the transfer.
• If you made payments out of an employee benefit plan (EBP) that are not payments of superannuation or pension benefits, these should be reported on a T4 slip. For more information, see RC4120, Employers' Guide – Filing the T4 Slip and Summary for further information.
• Lump-sum payments that you cannot transfer, that are not reported elsewhere – If you paid an amount that is not eligible for transfer that is not required to be reported elsewhere, report the amount in box 018 and in the "Other information" area, enter code 158 and the amount of the payment.
• Indian (exempt income) – lump-sum payments – Lump-sum payment income is usually exempt from income tax when a person receives it as a result of employment income that was exempt from tax. If a part of the employment income was exempt, then a similar part of this amount is also exempt. Do not include the exempt income in box 018. Instead, include it in the "Other information" area using code 148.

Box 020 – Self-employed commissions

Enter the amount of commissions you paid to an independent agent. Do not include GST/HST paid to the recipient on those services.

Box 022 – Income tax deducted

Enter the total income tax you deducted from the recipient's remuneration during the year. This includes the federal, provincial (except Quebec), and territorial taxes that apply. Leave the box blank if you did not deduct tax.

Do not include an 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 024 – Annuities

Enter payments from an annuity that an individual bought with a refund of premiums from a deceased annuitant's RRSP. For more information, see archived Interpretation Bulletin IT-500R, Registered Retirement Savings Plans – Death of an Annuitant.

Enter annuity payments from a life annuity purchased from the proceeds of a life income fund or from the proceeds of a registered retirement income fund.

If you include annuity payments under an income-averaging annuity contract, also report the amount of the payment in the "Other information" area, using code 111.

If you include instalment or annuity payments under a Deferred Profit Sharing Plan, also report the amount of the payment in the "Other information" area, using code 115. For more information, see Information Circular IC77­1R5, Deferred Profit Sharing Plans.

The taxable part of annuity payments you paid to an employee, retired employee, or survivor or spouse of an employee out of, or under, a superannuation or pension fund or plan, including disability benefits paid as a life annuity should be reported in box 016 instead of box 024.

Box 048 – Fees for services

Enter any fees or other amounts paid for services. Do not include the GST/HST paid to the recipient for these services.

Box 061 – Payer's account number

Enter the 15-character account number you use to send us your recipients' deductions. This number appears in the top left corner of the statement of account that we send to you each month, and consists of three parts – the nine-digit business number, a two-letter program identifier, and a four-digit reference number.

Your account number should not appear on the copies of the T4A slips that you give to the recipients.

Other information

The "Other information" area at the bottom of the T4A slip has boxes for you to enter codes and amounts that relate to other types of payments, if they apply.

The boxes are not pre-numbered as they are in the top part of the slip. Enter the codes that apply to the recipient. Income types previously reported under "Code 28 – Other income" and identified with footnote codes have, in most cases, been replaced by specific box numbers.

List of the codes and the T4A slip boxes to which they apply

Code	Descriptions
014	Recipient's number
026	Eligible retiring allowances (for 2009 and prior years only)
027	Non-eligible retiring allowances (for 2009 and prior years only)
028	Other income
030	Patronage allocations
032	Registered pension plan contributions (past service)
034	Pension adjustment
036	Plan registration number
040	RESP accumulated income payments
042	RESP educational assistance payments
046	Charitable donations
102	Lump-sum payments – non-resident services transferred under paragraph 60j) (included in box 018)
104	Research grants
105	Scholarships, bursaries, fellowships, artists' project grants, and prizes
106	Death benefits
107	Payments from a wage-loss replacement plan
108	Lump-sum payments from a registered pension plan (RPP) that you cannot transfer (included in box 018)
109	Periodic payments from an unregistered plan
110	Lump-sum payments accrued to December 31, 1971 (included in box 018)
111	Income averaging annuity contracts (IAAC) (included in box 024)
115	Deferred profit sharing plan (DPSP) annuity or instalment payments (included in box 024)
116	Medical travel assistance
117	Loan benefits
118	Medical premium benefits
119	Premiums paid to a group term life insurance plan
122	RESP accumulated income payments paid to other (see code 040)
123	Payments from a revoked DPSP
124	Board and lodging at special work sites
125	Disability benefits paid out of a superannuation or pension plan
126	Pre-1990 RPP past service contributions while a contributor (see code 032)
127	Veterans' benefits
129	Tax deferred cooperative share
130	Apprenticeship incentive grant or Apprenticeship completion grant
131	Registered disability savings plan (RDSP)
132	Wage Earner Protection Program (WEPP)
133	Variable pension benefits
134	Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) taxable amount
135	Recipient-paid premiums for private health services plans
136	Federal Income Support for Parents of Murdered or Missing Children grant (PMMC)
142	Indian (exempt income) – Eligible retiring allowances (for 2009 and prior years only)
143	Indian (exempt income) – Non-eligible retiring allowances (for 2009 and prior years only)
144	Indian (exempt income) – Other income
146	Indian (exempt income) – Pension or superannuation
148	Indian (exempt income) – Lump-sum payments
150	Labour Adjustment Benefits Act and Appropriation Acts
152	SUBP qualified under the Income Tax Act
154	Cash award or prize from payer
156	Bankruptcy settlement
158	Lump-sum payments that you cannot transfer, that are not reported elsewhere (included in box 018)
162	Pre-1990 RPP past service contributions while not a contributor
180	Lump-sum payments from a deferred profit sharing plan (DPSP) that you cannot transfer (included in box 018)
190	Lump-sum payments from an unregistered plan (included in box 018)
194	Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPP) annuity payments from taxable income
195	Indian (exempt income) – PRPP payments
196	Adult basic education tuition assistance

Date modified:

2016-12-08