T4 Deadline February 28: Your Payroll Year-End Checklist

Key takeaways

• T4s must be distributed to employees and filed with the CRA by February 28, 2025
• Employers with more than 50 slips must file electronically
• Penalties for late T4 filing start at $100 and scale with the number of slips and delay period
• T4 boxes 57–60 for COVID-19 subsidies are no longer required; use standard box 14 for all employment income
• New T4 reporting requirements apply for dental benefit and other employer-provided coverage

Employers must file T4 slips with the CRA and provide copies to employees by February 28 each year. For 2024 remuneration paid, the T4 deadline is February 28, 2025. Missing this date triggers penalties even if all payroll taxes were remitted correctly throughout the year.

What changed on the 2024 T4

Employers offering a dental plan, drug plan, vision care, or extended health benefits must indicate this on Box 45 (employer-offered dental benefits) of the T4 starting with the 2023 tax year. The box uses a code — 1 for no dental coverage, 2 for coverage for the employee only, 3 for the employee plus dependent children, 4 for the employee plus spouse or common-law partner, 5 for the employee plus family. This information feeds into the Canada Dental Benefit determination.

Payroll year-end checklist

Before finalizing T4s, confirm: all payroll remittances are up to date (any shortfall is a separate liability); all taxable benefits are captured (automobile benefit, group term life insurance over $25,000, employer-paid tuition); CPP and EI maximums were correctly applied for each employee; and any Quebec employees have a RL-1 filed with Revenue Québec in addition to the T4.

Filing electronically

Employers with more than 50 T4 slips must file through the CRA's Web Forms application or through payroll software that supports CRA electronic filing. Employers with 50 or fewer slips can file on paper, but electronic filing is faster and reduces the chance of transcription errors. Each T4 Summary (T4SUM) must accompany the individual slips.