4 Min. Read

T4 Slip: What Is It and How Do You Get Yours?

February 1, 2024

When you’re filing your CRA tax return, it’s not necessary to understand every single detail of every single tax slip.

However, understanding your CRA tax slips can help you to get a better understanding of how much taxes are withheld, and even how to reduce the taxes that you end up owing.

One part of your CRA tax return is a T4 slip. But what exactly is a T4 slip and how does it fit into the process of understanding how to pay taxes in Canada?

We’ll take a closer look at the definition and use of a T4 slip. Read on to discover the differences between a T4, a T4A and an RL-1 slip so that you can get a better understanding of your tax return.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

What Is a T4 Slip?

What Is the Difference Between a T4 and a T4A?

What Is the Difference Between a T4 Slip and an RL-1 Slip?

Key Takeaways

What Is a T4 Slip?

If you are a salaried employee then you may well have heard of a T4 slip or a T4 tax form. Also known as a Statement of Remuneration Paid, a T4 slip is a summary of your employment earnings and deductions for the financial year.

This slip is issued by your employer and is the most common slip reported on the annual tax return.

If you earned employment income at any point during a financial year then you can expect to receive a T4 slip from your employer. This can be given to you in person, in the mail or made available to you online.

A T4 slip details the income that you earned from a specific employer. It also details any deductions. These could include things like income tax, employment insurance and your Canada Pension Plan contributions.

If you worked for more than one employer during a financial year, you should receive an individual T4 slip from each.

On a standard T4 slip, you will find general information such as:

The tax year
Your employer’s name
Your Social Insurance Number
Your name and address

If you have misplaced or even lost a T4 slip, then you should get in touch with your employer who should be able to issue you with a new slip. The same goes if you did not receive a slip that you were expecting.

What Is the Difference Between a T4 and a T4A?

A T4A slip is a Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity and Other Income.

If you received self-employment income during the financial year, then it would be reported on a T4A slip rather than on a T4 slip.

To put it as its most basic definition, the T4 slip is for salaried employees and a T4A slip is for self-employed workers.

T4 and T4A slips look very similar, but the T4 is a more detailed document. This is to account for the various contributions that you may have as an employee. This could be for union dues, employer pension plan contributions or any charitable donations.

What Is the Difference Between a T4 Slip and an RL-1 Slip?

Like the T4, the RL-1 slip details your income and the amount deducted from your pay. However, you will only receive an RL-1 slip if you carry out any work in Quebec.

The RL-1 slip shows your Quebec income and the amounts deducted from your pay for Quebec-based programmes. This could be the Quebec income tax and the Quebec Pension Plan contributions.

The difference between these two slips is an important distinction when it comes to filing your tax returns. Even if certain numbers may seem the same, it’s important that you enter the correct amounts from the right RL-1 boxes on your Quebec tax return.

This is because federal taxes and Quebec provincial taxes are calculated differently.

Key Takeaways

If you work in Canada then it is important to understand your tax return so that you can avoid any future pitfalls.

If you are a business owner with employees, then you have until the last day of February to submit and send your employees their T4s. This deadline means that any employee should expect to receive their T4 slip by the beginning of March.

Are you looking for more business advice on everything from starting a new business to new business practices?

Then check out the FreshBooks Resource Hub.