The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has introduced additional reporting requirements for T4 Information returns of 2020.
The purpose of these additional requirements is to validate the benefit payments to Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), Canada Emergency Students Benefits (CESB) and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). All of these programs provide much-needed relief and support to Canadian residents to survive through the COVID-19 pandemic. All these programs have strict eligibility requirements as well.
“How is CRA going to verify if I am eligible for CERB?” was one of the most common questions taxpayers had been asking us all along. We always expected the CRA to come up with additional T4 reporting requirements to validate such payments.
On September 2, 2020, CRA issued this information to employers.
Employers: Check out the additional reporting requirements that we will be introducing for the T4 slip to help us validate payments made under the #CERB, #CEWS and #CESB: https://t.co/IObySD5Rea #CdnTax pic.twitter.com/O4hJMAJ8dv
— Canada Revenue Agency (@CanRevAgency) September 2, 2020
More details about this can be found on the CRA website here.
As per the preliminary information, employers will be using the below codes for reporting employment income for the individuals:
- Payments for wages and salaries between March 15 and May 09, 2020 – Code 57
- Payments for wages and salaries between May 10 and July 4, 2020 – Code 58
- Payments for wages and salaries between July 5 and August 29 – Code 59
- Payments for wages and salaries between August 30 and September 26 – Code 60
This is important to note that codes pertain to the date of payment of employment income not when the income was earned.
This information might undergo further changes until the filing is due for T4 of 2020. T4 information returns are due for filing for all the employers by the last date of February each year. Maroof HS CPA Professional Corporation recommends all the employers to seek professional advice on their reporting requirements since the above update is for general information.
To visit more resources on COVID-19 visit our COVID-19 information centre.
Read: What is a T4 and other employer information returns in Canada?
2 thoughts on “Additional T4 Reporting Requirements for 2020”
Can I adjust my pay periods on T4 to help my employees take cerb? They need help also.
Dear Julie
A quick answer – you should not!
CERB and other relief programs are designed to help Canadians to get through the pandemic. If you find that some programs are not helping your employees, you should talk to your MP. If your employee is not eligible for CERB, he/she should not be taking it in the first place. Not to mention CERB is funded by taxpayers.