The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) needs to know not only how much income you earned in a given year, but what kind of income it was. Each category of income has its own tax information slip — called a T-slip — that both you and the CRA receive. These slips detail the gross amount you were paid and any deductions made at the source, such as income tax, contributions to Employment Insurance (EI), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), or union dues.
T-slips are prepared by payers such as employers, financial institutions, government departments, or pension administrators. There are many categories: T5 slips detail investment income, T3 slips detail trust income, and RC slips detail income from government benefit programmes such as the Child Care Benefit and the Canada Workers Benefit. The T4 series covers income from employers, pensions, Old Age Security (OAS), CPP, EI, annuities, and withdrawals from registered accounts like Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs).
This article focuses on one of the most common — and most misunderstood — slips in the T4 family: the T4A.
What is a T4A?
A T4A is a tax information slip that reports non-employment income to the CRA. Its full name is the Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income. While a standard T4 slip records salary and wages from an employer, a T4A captures income from pensions, annuities, scholarships, grants, withdrawals from registered accounts, and more.
The range of income recorded on a T4A is broad — the CRA uses it as a catch-all for many types of "other" income. If you freelance for an organisation, for example, it may issue a T4A stating what it paid you throughout the year. If you receive a research grant, that money will appear on a T4A. Even certain inheritance-related payments may be recorded on this slip.
T4A vs T4: what's the difference?
A T4 slip reports employment income — salary, wages, bonuses, and commissions paid by an employer. A T4A slip reports a broader range of non-employment income: pensions, annuities, scholarships, self-employment commissions, and other payments.
The main differences come down to the source of the income and how tax is handled:
Source of income: a T4 covers traditional employer-employee payments, while a T4A covers income from pensions, grants, freelance work, and other non-employment sources
Tax deductions at source: employers withhold income tax, CPP, and EI from T4 income before paying you. T4A income rarely has tax deducted at the source, which means you may owe tax when you file
Who issues it: a T4 comes from your employer. A T4A can come from a pension administrator, a university, a trust, a government body, or any organisation that paid you non-employment income
If you earned both employment and non-employment income in the same year, you may receive both a T4 and a T4A slip. Each must be reported separately on your tax return.
What income is reported on a T4A?
The T4A covers a wide range of income types. These are some of the payments that may appear on a T4A slip:
Pension
Annuities
Scholarships, bursaries, or research grants
Some self-employment income that totals over $500
Death benefits
Payments from a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) and educational assistance payments from an RESP
Veterans' benefits
Tax-deferred cooperative shares
Indian exempt income (the CRA uses the term "Indian" because of its legal meaning in the Indian Act)
Some cash awards
Bankruptcy settlements
Tuition assistance for adult basic education
What income is not reported on a T4A?
Certain types of income have their own dedicated slips and do not appear on a T4A. These include:
Income from a Crown corporation
Construction contract income
Income paid to a non-resident of Canada
Income from a Life Income Fund
Tips
Maternity leave or parental leave top-up amounts
CPP, OAS, EI, and Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) withdrawals, which are each reported on their own specific T4 subcategory slips
Understanding T4A box numbers
Each T4A slip uses numbered boxes to categorise different types of income. Here are the boxes you're most likely to encounter:
Box 016 — Pension or superannuation: income from a registered pension plan
Box 018 — Lump-sum payments: one-time payments such as retiring allowances
Box 020 — Self-employed commissions: commissions earned as a self-employed individual
Box 022 — Income tax deducted: any tax already withheld by the payer
Box 024 — Annuities: income from an annuity contract
Box 028 — Other income: a catch-all for income that doesn't fit other categories
Box 048 — Fees for services: payments for professional or other services
Box 105 — Scholarships, bursaries, fellowships, and grants: educational funding that may be partially or fully tax-exempt
Box 131 — Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP): payments from an RDSP
Your tax software will ask you to enter the amounts from each numbered box. If you're unsure which line on your tax return corresponds to a specific box, the CRA provides a guide that maps each T4A box to the correct income line.
How to report T4A income on your tax return
Reporting T4A income works the same way as reporting income from any other T-slip.
You'll likely receive a T4A slip, if applicable, by the end of February of the following year. The CRA receives a copy as well. It's normal to get multiple T4A slips if you have multiple streams of income.
For individuals filing their tax return, the standard filing deadline is April 30. If you're self-employed, your filing deadline extends to June 15 — but any balance owing is still due by April 30.
Most T4A income is taxed at your marginal rate. Unlike a T4 slip, it's rare that any tax was deducted at the source, so you may owe taxes on this income. You are responsible for estimating and setting aside the appropriate amount of income tax throughout the year as you receive the income.
Some types of income, however, may be tax-exempt. In the case of self-employment income, you may be able to deduct eligible business expenses. If you suspect this applies to you, ask a qualified accountant or call the CRA to confirm.
The most common example of exempt income is scholarship money, such as Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) grants for full-time post-secondary students. This income will likely appear in box 105 on your slip. Scholarships are tax-exempt for elementary, secondary school, and for full-time students at a post-secondary institution. Up to $500 for part-time students is tax-exempt. Post-doctoral fellowships are fully taxable. Call the CRA or ask a qualified accountant to check how much of this income you must report.
If you're filing your taxes yourself using tax software, the software will likely allow you to import your T-slip information from the CRA using Auto-fill My Tax Return. Otherwise, you can enter the information manually — the boxes are all numbered, so you match each box on the slip to the corresponding field in your software. If you lose your paper copy, a backup is available by logging in to My Account on the CRA website.
T4A filing deadlines
Payers must file T4A slips with the CRA and send copies to recipients by the last day of February following the calendar year in which the income was paid.
If the deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday, the due date extends to the next business day.
Late filing penalties for payers: if you file T4A slips late, the CRA may charge a penalty of $100, or an amount based on how many slips are filed late and for how long (up to 100 days), whichever is more. For 1 to 50 slips that’s $10 per day to a maximum of $1,000; the per-day rate and cap rise with the number of slips, up to $7,500 for 10,001 or more. A reduced small-business penalty also applies to T4A slips.
If you haven't received a T4A slip you're expecting by mid-March, contact the payer directly. You can also check My Account on the CRA website — most T4A slips are available there electronically.
How to fill out a T4A as a payer
If you paid out any of the kinds of income that belongs on a T4A slip and it totals more than $500 in a calendar year, you will need to fill out a T4A slip and send it to the payee and the CRA. Common payers include employers, trustees, estate executors, liquidators, administrators, or corporate directors.
The slip is divided into numbered boxes that each serve a specific purpose. These boxes include:
Recipient's name and address, social insurance number
Year
Amount paid in dollars and cents (reported in Canadian currency, even if the payment was made in another currency)
Income tax deducted, if any
At the bottom of the slip is an "Other information" area. Here you fill out the appropriate code that designates what kind of income it is. Veterans' benefits, for example, are reported with Code 127, and a cash prize is Code 154.
Looking up the code may also give you more information on the details you need to include.
What is a T4A summary?
The T4A summary (T4ASUM) is a summary statement of the amounts from all T4A slips that you have to issue in the year. The T4ASUM combined with all the T4A slips you prepare make up the T4A Information return. This is filed with the CRA, and each individual T4A slip is issued to its intended recipient.
