Quick answer: If your corporation paid employment income, certain subcontractor or other income, or dividends during the year, you almost certainly owe CRA a slip — a T4, T4A or T5 — and nearly all of them are due by the last day of February following the calendar year. Miss it and penalties start at a $100 minimum and climb with the number of slips, plus a separate $25-per-day penalty for failing to give employees their copies. If you file more than five slips of one type, you must file electronically or face a further penalty.
Key takeaways
- T4 reports employment income; T5 reports investment income including dividends you pay yourself; T4A reports various other income such as certain fees and pension amounts.
- The filing deadline for T4, T4A and T5 slips is the last day of February following the calendar year they cover.
- Late-filing penalties start at a $100 minimum and rise with the number of slips filed late.
- Failing to give an employee their T4 on time is a separate penalty: $25 per day, minimum $100, maximum $2,500.
- More than five slips of one type must be filed electronically, or a further penalty applies.
Which slip is which
Three slips cover the situations most incorporated owners run into. They report different kinds of payments, but they share almost the same deadline and penalty regime.
- T4 — Statement of Remuneration Paid. Reports employment income: salary, wages, bonuses and taxable benefits you paid to employees, including yourself if you take a salary through payroll.
- T5 — Statement of Investment Income. Reports investment income, including the dividends your corporation pays you. If you pay yourself by dividend rather than salary, this is your slip.
- T4A — Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income. A catch-all for various other payments, such as certain fees for services, self-employed commissions, and pension or annuity income.
Note that if you pay construction subcontractors, you may instead owe a T5018, which has its own rules and a different reporting period — we cover that in our T5018 guide.
The one deadline to remember
For T4, T4A and T5 slips, both the deadline to give the recipient their copy and the deadline to file the return with CRA are the same: the last day of February following the calendar year the slips apply to. If that date falls on a weekend or a public holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. Because payroll and dividend reporting share this date, late February is a genuine crunch for owner-managed corporations — it’s worth preparing slips in January rather than the last week of February.
You probably have to file electronically
If you file more than five information returns (slips) of a single type for a calendar year, CRA requires you to file them electronically — by Web Forms or Internet file transfer — rather than on paper. File on paper when you weren’t allowed to, and there’s a penalty: $125 for 6 to 50 slips of a type, rising from there. For a small corporation with only a handful of slips this rarely bites, but it’s worth knowing the threshold is low.
February is busier than it looks when T4s and T5s land on the same deadline. We prepare and file your slips on time, correctly, and keep the CRA accounts clean. Book a free consult.
What late filing actually costs
There are two separate penalties, and they can both apply.
First, for filing the information return late, the penalty is the greater of $100 and an amount based on how many slips are late and how many days late they are (up to 100 days):
| Number of slips filed late | Penalty per day | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | Flat penalty (not per-day) | $100 |
| 6 to 10 | $5 | $500 |
| 11 to 50 | $10 | $1,000 |
| 51 to 500 | $15 | $1,500 |
| 501 to 2,500 | $25 | $2,500 |
| 2,501 to 10,000 | $50 | $5,000 |
| 10,001 or more | $75 | $7,500 |
Second, and separately, if you don’t give an employee their T4 slip by the deadline, CRA can charge $25 per day for each slip not given, with a minimum penalty of $100 and a maximum of $2,500. That penalty is about the employee’s copy, not the CRA filing — so you can be penalized twice for the same slip if you miss both.
The owner-manager angle
Even a one-person corporation usually has at least one slip to file: a T4 if you pay yourself a salary, or a T5 if you pay yourself dividends. It’s easy to treat these as an afterthought once the busy corporate year-end is behind you, but the February slip deadline is often earlier than your corporate tax deadline, and the penalties start at a flat $100 even for a single late slip. Building slip preparation into your January routine — alongside reconciling the prior year’s books — is the simplest way to avoid an entirely avoidable penalty.
This article is general information for Canadian business owners and is current as of July 2026. It is not tax, legal or accounting advice, and it does not create a client relationship. Tax rules change and your situation is unique — please speak with a CPA before acting on anything here.
Founder of EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm, and a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC). Sunny works with incorporated contractors and small business owners across Canada on tax, bookkeeping and advisory. More about Sunny →
Frequently asked questions
When are T4, T4A and T5 slips due?+
Do I need a slip if I’m the only person in my corporation?+
What’s the penalty for filing slips late?+
Do I have to file electronically?+
What’s the difference between a T4A and a T5018?+
Slip season sneaking up on you?
We prepare and file your T4, T4A and T5 slips on time and reconcile them to your payroll and dividend records. Book a free consultation before the February rush.