T4 slips data sources

Each of the following tables represents a record in the T4 electronic file. The rows in the tables indicate the field name in the T4 specification, the Canada Revenue Agency's specifications for the field, and the source of the data in ActivityHD.

Record: T619 (Electronic Transmittal)

Field Name Length Data Type Required? Values Activity Source
Submission reference identification 8 alpha Y Unique value entered by user on the Additional Options tab of the Employee Create Totals wizard.
Report type code 1 alpha Y
  • O = Original
  • A = Amended
 Set to literal "O" in export control file.
Transmitter number 8 "MM" + 6 numeric Y
  • If filing one return and do not have an existing transmitter number, use the generic transmitter number "MM555555".
  • If filing multiple returns, use the transmitter number assigned to you. If you do not have a transmitter number, call 1-800-665-5164 to obtain one.
  • If filing one return and have a transmitter number, use it.
 Entered by user on the Additional Options tab of the Employee Create Totals wizard.
Transmitter type indicator 1 numeric
  • "1" if submitting your own returns
  • "2" if submitting returns for others (service providers)
  • "3" if submitting returns using a purchased software package
  • "4" if you are a software vendor
 Set to literal "3" in export control file.
Total number of summary records 6 numeric Y Total number of summary records file on this electronic medium. Set to literal "1" in export control file.
Language of communication indicator 1 alpha Y
  • E = English
  • F = French
 Set to literal "E" in export control file.
Transmitter name - line 1 30 alphanumeric Y Company Address Name from export submitter record.
Transmitter name - line 2 30 alphanumeric If the transmitter's name is more than 30 characters, this line is used for the remaining characters. Blank.
Transmitter address - line 1 30 alphanumeric First line of transmitter's address. Company Address Delivery (Street) from export submitter record.
Transmitter address - line 2 30 alphanumeric If the transmitter's address is more than 30 characters, this line is used for the remaining characters. Blank.
Transmitter city 28 alphanumeric Y City in which transmitter is located. Company Address City from export submitter record.
Transmitter province or territory code 2 alpha Y
  • If the transmitter is located in Canada, use the two-character postal abbreviation.
  • If the transmitter is located in the United States, use the two-character postal abbreviation.
  • If the transmitter's country code is not "CAN" or "USA", enter "ZZ".
 Company Address Province from export submitter record.
Transmitter country code 3 alpha The country code of the country in which the transmitter is located.
  • CAN = Canada
  • USA = United States of America
  • Other - Use the alphabetic country code as outlined in the International Standard (ISO) 3166 - Codes for the Representation of Names of Countries.
 Company Name Country from export submitter record.
Transmitter postal code 10 alphanumeric Y
  • Canadian postal code [format: alpha, numeric, alpha, numeric, alpha, numeric]
  • US Zip code
  • If transmitter's country code is not "CAN" or "USA", the foreign postal code.
 Company Name Postal Code from export submitter record.
Contact name 22 alphanumeric Y Contact's first name followed by surname. Do not include titles. Contact Name from the export submitter record.
Contact area code 3 numeric Y First three digits of Contact Phone from export submitter record.
Contact telephone number 8 3 numeric, followed by dash (-), followed by 4 numeric Y Last seven digits of Contact Phone from export submitter record formatted XXX-XXXX.
Contact extension number 5 numeric Contact Phone Ext from export submitter record (sans any dashes or parentheses).
Contact email address 60 alphanumeric Y Contact Email from export submitter record.

Record: T4Slip (Statement of Remuneration Paid)

Field Name Length Data Type Required? Values Activity Source
Employee surname 20 alphanumeric Y First 20 letters of employee's surname. No titles, first names, or initials. Last Name from employee record.
Employee first name 12 alphanumeric First twelve letters of the employee's first given name. If only initials are available, use employee's first initial. First Name from employee record.
Employee initial 1 alphanumeric Initial of the employee's second given name. First character of Middle Name from employee record.
Employee address - line 1 30 alphanumeric First line of employee's address. Address Line 1 from employee record.
Employee address - line 2 30 alphanumeric Second line of employee's address. Address Line 2 from employee record.
Employee city 28 alphanumeric City in which employee is located. City from employee record.
Employee province or territory code 2 alpha Province or territory in which the employee is located.
  • If the employee is located in Canada, use the two-character postal abbreviation.
  • If the employee is located in the United States, use the two-character postal abbreviation.
  • If the employee's country code is not "CAN" or "USA", enter "ZZ".
 State from the employee record.
Employee country code 3 alpha Country in which the employee is located.
  • CAN = Canada
  • USA = United States of America
  • Other - Use the alphabetic country code as outlined in the International Standard (ISO) 3166 - Codes for the Representation of Names of Countries.
 Country from the employee record.
Employee postal code 10 alphanumeric
  • Canadian postal code [format: alpha, numeric, alpha, numeric, alpha, numeric]
  • US Zip code
  • If employee's country code is not "CAN" or "USA", the foreign postal code.
 Zip Code from employee record.
Employee social insurance number (SIN) 9 numeric Y Box 12 of T4 slip. If an employee hasn't provided an SIN, enter all zeros.

Note

Omission of a valid SIN results in non-registration of contributions to the CPP.

 Social Insurance Number from employee record.
Employee number 20 alphanumeric For example: region and/or branch payroll and/or department and/or employee number. Code from employee record.
Payroll Account Number 15 alphanumeric: 9 digits followed by "RP" followed by 4 digits Y Box 54 of T4 slip. Must correspond to the "Business Number (BN)" on the related T4Summary record.

Note

The complete BN is required to process a return.

 Employer ID from the "CAN" tax entity.
Registered pension plan or deferred profit-sharing plan registration number 7 numeric Box 50 of T4 slip The registration for the plan where the employee received the largest pension adjustment amount. RPP Registration Number or DPSP Registration Number from the Additional Options tab of the Employee Create Totals wizard, depending on which total group result (RPP or DPSP) is non-zero and is greater than the other.
Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan exempt code 1 numeric Y Box 28 of T4 slip
  • "0" if no exemption applies or if the employee is exempt for a portion of the period.
  • "1" if the employee has been exempt from CPP or QPP for the entire period of employment due to age, nature of payment, etc.
  • "1" if total result amount of groups CPP and QPP is zero.
  • "0" if otherwise.
Employment Insurance exempt code 1 numeric Y Box 28 of T4 slip
  • "0" if no exemption applies or if the employee is exempt for a portion of the period.
  • "1" if the employee has been exempt from EI premiums for the entire period of employment due to age, nature of employment, etc.
  • "1" if total result amount of EI group, qualified by employee, is zero.
  • "0" if otherwise.
PPIP exempt code 1 numeric Box 28 of T4 slip
  • "0" if no exemption applies.
  • "1" if the employee has been exempt.
  • "1" if total result amount of PPIP group is zero.
  • "0" if otherwise.
Employment code 2 numeric Box 29 of T4 slip

Note

Do NOT complete "Box 14 - Employment income" if you are using employment codes 11, 12, 13, or 17.

  • 11 = Placement or employment agency workers
  • 12 = Drivers of taxis or other passenger-carrying vehicles
  • 13 = Barbers or hairdressers
  • 14 = Withdrawal from a prescribed salary deferral arrangement plan
  • 15 = Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program

  • 16 = Detached employee - Social security agreement.

    Note

    When CPP is paid by the employer on behalf of detached employees under employment code 16, Box 14 is left blank if no other type of income is reported. Boxes 16 and 26 are completed with the appropriate amounts and Boxes 18 and 24 are left blank.

  • 17 = Fishers - Self-employed
 The attribute item for the "Employment Code" attribute as of the ending date entered on the Standard Options tab of the Employee Create Totals wizard.
Report Type Code 1 alpha Y
  • O = Original
  • A = Amendments
  • C = Cancel

Note

An amended return cannot contain an original slip.

 Set to literal "O" in export control file.
Province, territory or country of employment code 2 alpha Y Box 10 of T4 slip. The province, territory, or country in which the employee was employed. Use the following abbreviations:
  • AB = Alberta
  • BC = British Columbia
  • MB = Manitoba
  • NB = New Brunswick
  • NL = Newfoundland and Labrador
  • NS = Nova Scotia
  • NT = Northwest Territories
  • NU = Nunavut
  • ON = Ontario
  • PE = Prince Edward Island
  • QC = Quebec
  • SK = Saskatchewan
  • YT = Yukon Territories
  • US = United States
  • ZZ = Other
 The tax entity assigned to the IncomeTax group on employee cheque lines. For example, if the tax entity is "CAN.AB", the province of employment is "AB".
Employment income 10 numeric Box 14 of T4 slip

Note

Do NOT complete Box 14 if you are using employment codes 11, 12, 13, or 17. Instead, refer to Box 29 instructions for these codes.

 Total result of Compensation group.
Employee's Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions 6 numeric Box 16 of T4 slip

Note

Under no circumstances should amounts for both CPP and QPP appear on the same slip. A separate T4 slip is needed for each province of employment.

 Total result of CPP group qualified by employee.
Employee's Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) contributions 6 numeric Box 17 of T4 slip

Note

Under no circumstances should amounts for both CPP and QPP appear on the same slip. A separate T4 slip is needed for each province of employment.

 Total result of QPP group qualified by employee.
Employee's Employment Insurance (EI) premium 6 numeric Box 18 of T4 slip Total result of EI group qualified by employee.
Registered pension plan (RPP) contributions 7 numeric Box 20 of T4 slip Total result of RPP group qualified by employee.
Income tax deducted 10 numeric Box 22 of T4 slip Total result of IncomeTax group qualified by tax entity "CAN.*".
Employment Insurance insurable earnings 7 numeric Y Box 24 of T4 slip. The amount of insurable earnings. Enter "0" if there are not insurable earnings or for exempt employment. Total source of EI group qualified by employee.
Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan pensionable earnings 9 numeric Y Box 26 of T4 slip. The amount of pensionable earnings. Enter "0" if there are no pensionable earnings or for exempt employment. If province of employment is Quebec, the total source of QPP group qualified by employee. Otherwise, the total source of CPP group qualified by employee.
Union dues 9 numeric Box 44 of T4 slip Total result of UnionDues group.
Charitable donations 9 numeric Box 46 of T4 slip Total result of CharDonat group.
Pension adjustment 7 numeric Box 52 of T4 slip Total result of PenAdj group.
PPIP Premiums 6 numeric Box 55 of T4 slip Total result of PPIP group.
PPIP Insurable earnings 7 numeric Box 56 of T4 slip Total source of PPIP group.
Other Information 9 numeric Dollars and cents from "Other Income Fields" at the bottom of the T4 slip. Total result of the corresponding built-in group. Click here to see a list of the other income fields and the associated built-in groups.

Record: T4Summary (Summary of Remuneration Paid)

Field Name Length Data Type Required? Values Activity Source
Payroll Account Number (formerly known as "Business Number") 15 alphanumeric: 9 digits followed by "RP" followed by 4 digits Y

Note

In order to process a return, the complete BN is required.

 Employer ID from the tax entity "CAN".
Employer name - line 1 30 alphanumeric Y First line of employer's name. Address Name from export employer record.
Employer name - line 2 30 alphanumeric Second line of employer's name. Blank.
Employer name - line 3 30 alphanumeric Use for "care of" or "attention". Blank.
Employer address - line 1 30 alphanumeric First line of employer's address. Address Location from export employer record.
Employer address - line 2 30 alphanumeric Second line of employer's address. Address Delivery (Street) from export employer record.
Employer city 28 alphanumeric City in which the employer is located. Address City from export employer record.
Employer province or territory code 2 alpha Province or territory where the employer is located.
  • If the employer is located in Canada, use the two-character postal abbreviation.
  • If the employer is located in the United States, use the two-character postal abbreviation.
  • If the employee's country code is not "CAN" or "USA", enter "ZZ".
 Address Province from export employer record.
Employer country code 3 alpha Country in which the employer is located.
  • CAN = Canada
  • USA = United States of America
  • Other - Use the alphabetic country code as outlined in the International Standard (ISO) 3166 - Codes for the Representation of Names of Countries.
 Address Country from export employer record.
Employer postal code 10 alphanumeric
  • Canadian postal code [format: alpha, numeric, alpha, numeric, alpha, numeric]
  • US Zip code
  • If employer's country is not "CAN" or "USA", the foreign postal code.
 If the country code is "CAN", the Address Postal Code from the export employer record. If the country code is "USA", the Address Zip + Ext from the export employer record.
Contact name 22 alphanumeric Y For this return, the contact's first name followed by the surname. Do not include titles. Contact Name from the export submitter record.
Contact area code 3 numeric Y Area code of telephone number. First three digits of Contact Phone from the export submitter record.
Contact telephone number 8 3 numeric followed by dash (-) followed by 4 numeric Y Telephone number of the contact. Last seven digits of Contact Phone from export submitter record formatted XXX-XXXX.
Contact extension 5 numeric Extension of the contact. Contact Phone Ext from the export submitter record (sans any dashes or parentheses).
Taxation year 4 numeric Y Taxation year. Taxation Year from the Additional Options tab of the Employee Create Totals wizard.
Total number of T4 slip records 7 numeric Y Total number of T4 slip records filed with the T4 Summary. Record count.
Proprietor #1 social insurance number (SIN) 9 numeric Y If the employer is a Canadian-controlled private corporation or unincorporated, the SIN of proprietor #1 or principal owner. Other EIN from the export employer record.
Proprietor #2 social insurance number (SIN) 9 numeric If the employer is a Canadian-controlled private corporation or unincorporated, the SIN of proprietor #2 or second principal owner. Set to literal "000000000".
Report Type Code 1 alpha Y
  • O = Original
  • A = Amendments

Note

An amended return cannot contain an original T4 slip.

 Set to literal "O".
Total employment income 13 numeric Accumulated total of employees' income reported in dollars and cents. Total of T4 records.
Total employees' Canada Pension Plan contributions 11 numeric Accumulated total of employees' Canada Pension Plan contributions.

Note

Do not include the total employees' Quebec Pension Plan contributions in this amount.

 Total of T4 records.
Total employees' Employment Insurance premiums 11 numeric Accumulated total of employees' Employment Insurance premiums. Total of T4 records.
Total registered pension plan contributions 11 numeric Accumulated total of employees' registered pension plan contributions. Total of T4 records.
Total income tax deducted 13 numeric Accumulated total of employees' income tax deductions. Total of T4 records.
Total pension adjustment 13 numeric Accumulated total of employees' pension adjustment. Total of T4 records.
Total employer's Canada Pension Plan contributions 11 numeric Total of T4 records.
Total employer's Employment Insurance premiums 11 numeric Total of T4 records.
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T4 "Other information"

Box # Description Group
30 Board and lodging HouseBoardLodg
31 Special work site SpecWorkSite
32 Travel in a prescribed zone TravPresZone
33 Medical travel assistance MedTrav
34 Personal use of employer's automobile PersUseERAuto
36 Interest-free and low-interest loan IntFreeLowIntLoan
37 Employee home-relocation loan deduction (obsolete) EEHomeRelocatLoadDed
38 Security options benefits SecOptBenefit
39 Security options deduction 110(1)(d) SecOptDedd
40 Other taxable allowances and benefits OtherTaxAllowBenefit
41 Security options deduction 110(1)(d.1) SecOptDedd1
42 Employment commissions EmploymentComm
43 Canadian Forces personnel and police deduction CanForcesPoliceDed
53 Deferred security options benefits (obsolete) DefSecOptBenefit
57 Employment income - March 15 to May 9 CEWS1
58 Employment income - May 10 to July 4 CEWS2
59 Employment income - July 5 to August 29 CEWS3
60 Employment income - August 30 to September 26 CEWS4
66 Eligible retiring allowances EligibleRetire
67 Non-eligible retiring allowances NonEligibleRetire
68 Indian (exempt income) - eligible retiring allowances (obsolete) IndianEligibleRetire
69 Indian (exempt income) - non-eligible retiring allowances IndianNonEligRetire
70 Municipal officer's expense allowance (obsolete) MunOfficersExpAllow
71 Status Indian employee StatIndEE
72 Section 122.3 income - employment outside Canada (obsolete) Sec1223Income
73 Number of days outside of Canada (obsolete) NumDaysOutCan
74 Pre-1990 past service contributions while a contributor Pre90PastServCont
75 Pre-1990 past service contributions while not a contributor Pre90PastServNotCont
77 Workers' compensation benefits repaid to the employer WorkCompBenRepaid
78 Fishers - gross income FishGross
79 Fishers - net partnership amount FishNetPartnerAmt
80 Fishers - share-person amount FishShareAmount
81 Placement or employment agency workers gross earnings PlacEmplAgencyGross
82 Taxi drivers and drivers of other passenger-carrying vehicles gross earnings DriverGross
83 Barbers or hairdressers gross earnings BarbHairGross
84 Public transit pass (obsolete) PublicTransPass
85 Employee-paid premiums for private health services plans EEPaidPremHealth
86 Security options election SecurityOptionsElect
87 Emergency services volunteer exempt amount EmerVolunteerExempt
88 Indian (exempt income) - Self-employment IndianExemptSelfEmp