T4A slips are due on the last day of February following the year they cover. Miss it and there are two separate penalties, not one, and the second catches people who think they have filed everything.
The short answer
- Deadline: the last day of February after the calendar year the slips cover.
- Late filing costs from a $100 set penalty up to $75 a day, by slip count.
- Failing to give slips to recipients is a separate penalty: $25 a day, minimum $100.
- Fees for services to a contractor go in box 048.
- Generally required where payments exceeded $500 in the year, or you withheld tax.
- More than five information returns means you must file electronically.
The deadline
The T4A Summary and its slips are filed on or before the last day of February following the calendar year the slips apply to. When that day falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or a holiday the CRA recognises, the return moves to the next business day.
The same date applies to giving the slips to the people named on them, which is where the second penalty comes from. See the full Canadian tax deadline calendar for how this sits with everything else in February.
The late-filing penalty, by number of slips
The penalty scales with how many slips are late, not with how much tax is involved. A small business filing a handful of slips faces a set amount rather than a daily rate.
| Number of T4A slips filed late | Penalty per day | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | No daily rate | $100 set penalty |
| 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 |
| More than 10,000 | $75 | $7,500 |
The CRA also applies an administrative policy that reduces the penalty it assesses so that it is fair and reasonable for small businesses. That is a stated policy, not a discretion you should rely on in advance.
The second penalty most people miss
Failing to distribute T4A slips to the recipients carries $25 per day for each failure, with a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $2,500. It is separate from the late-filing penalty, so filing on time and forgetting to send the slips out still costs money.
And a third, for filing on paper
If you file more than five information returns for a calendar year you must file them electronically, and there is a separate penalty for failing to do so.
Do you have to issue a T4A to a contractor?
This is the question behind most T4A searches, and the answer has two halves that get tangled together.
The reporting half
Fees or other amounts paid for services go in box 048. A T4A is generally required where the total of all payments in the calendar year came to more than $500, or where you deducted tax from any payment. Self-employed commissions paid to an independent agent go in box 020 instead.
The half that costs more
Whether the person is a contractor at all is a different question, and it is the expensive one. If the CRA decides someone you treated as a contractor was really an employee, the issue is not the missing slip. It is the source deductions that should have been withheld and remitted, plus penalties and interest on those. See what late payroll remittances cost, because that is the exposure a misclassification actually creates.
Issuing a T4A does not settle the classification question either way. It reports what you paid; it does not decide what the relationship was.
T4 or T4A
| T4 | T4A | |
|---|---|---|
| What it reports | Employment income | Other amounts, including fees for services |
| Source deductions | You withheld and remitted | Generally none withheld |
| Typical recipient | An employee | A self-employed contractor, a pensioner, an annuitant |
| Key box | Box 14, employment income | Box 048, fees for services |
| Deadline | Last day of February | Last day of February |
If you have already missed it
File. The daily penalties run until the return is in, so the cost of waiting is measurable rather than theoretical, and where only a few slips are involved the set penalty does not keep growing once it applies. Getting the slips to the recipients matters just as much, because that penalty accrues on its own clock.
If slips are late because payroll and bookkeeping are behind generally, the slips are the symptom. Payroll run properly produces the slips as a by-product rather than as a February scramble.
Common questions
When is the T4A deadline?
The T4A Summary and the related slips are filed on or before the last day of February following the calendar year the slips apply to. Where that day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a holiday the CRA recognises, the return is due the next business day.
What is the penalty for filing T4A slips late?
It depends on how many slips are late. One to five slips carries a set $100 penalty. From six to ten it is $5 a day to a maximum of $500, 11 to 50 is $10 a day to $1,000, and it rises from there to $75 a day and $7,500 above 10,000 slips. The CRA also has an administrative policy that reduces the penalty it assesses so it is fair and reasonable for small businesses.
Is there a separate penalty for not giving slips to recipients?
Yes, and it is the one people forget. Failing to distribute T4A slips to recipients carries $25 per day for each failure, with a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $2,500. That is separate from the late-filing penalty, so both can apply.
Do I have to issue a T4A to a contractor?
Where you paid fees or other amounts for services, those go in box 048. A T4A is generally required where the total of all payments in the calendar year was more than $500, or where you deducted tax from any payment. Whether a particular worker is a contractor at all is a separate CRA question and the more expensive one to get wrong.
What is box 048 on a T4A?
Box 048 is fees for services. It is where payments to a self-employed contractor for services are reported.
Do I have to file electronically?
If you file more than five information returns for a calendar year, you must file them electronically. There is a separate penalty for failing to do so.
What is the difference between a T4 and a T4A?
A T4 reports employment income where you withheld and remitted source deductions. A T4A reports other amounts, including fees for services paid to someone who is not your employee, pension and annuity income, and self-employed commissions in box 020.
What if I have already missed the deadline?
File as soon as possible. The daily penalties in the table run until the return is filed, so the cost of waiting is measurable, and the set penalty for a small number of slips does not grow once it applies.
Slips due and records behind
February is a bad month to discover the contractor payments were never separated out. We prepare slips and fix the bookkeeping that produces them. Offices in Abbotsford, Langley and Brampton.
Source: CRA guide RC4157, Deducting Income Tax on Pension and Other Income, and Filing the T4A Slip and Summary. Checked 12 August 2026. General information only, not advice for your situation.
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