Canadian Tax Slips and Documents: T4, T4A, T5, T3 and More Explained

Each tax slip reports one kind of income or amount, and each of its boxes maps to a line or schedule on your T1 return (the return form itself is explained in the T1 General guide). This page lists the slips Canadians most often receive, who sends each one, when it is due and where it goes; each slip’s own page then covers its boxes one by one.

Tax slips at a glance

Service Canada also sends a T4A(P) for CPP retirement, disability and survivor benefits (line 11400) and a T4A(OAS) for Old Age Security (line 11300), and employers with an employee profit-sharing plan issue a T4PS. Box-level detail, including which boxes you enter and which ones are for information only, is on each slip’s page.

Form T2200 isn’t a slip: it is the form an employer signs to certify the conditions of your employment, and you keep it with your records rather than filing it.

When slips arrive and what to do if one is missing

Payers have until the last day of February for most slips; trusts have until March 31 for the T3, which is why T3 slips are usually the last to arrive and why waiting for them before filing avoids an amended return later. The T3 slip guide covers what to do when one arrives after you’ve filed.

Many slips appear in CRA My Account before the paper copy reaches you, and Auto-fill my return downloads them into NETFILE-certified tax software. The guide to CRA My Account explains how to use it. If a slip hasn’t appeared there by mid-March, contact the issuer.

You still report income when a slip never arrives, since the CRA receives its own copy from the payer and matches it to your return. For a T4 left off a return you’ve already filed, see what happens when a T4 is left off your return, and for interest income without a T5, see reporting interest you forgot.

Tax slips and documents in this hub

Employment slips

• The T4 slip, box by box
• The T4A slip: who issues one, every common box, and why you got one
• T4 vs T4A vs T4E: which slip you get
• The Quebec RL-1 slip and how it differs from the T4

Investment slips

• The T5 slip for interest, dividends and foreign income
• The T3 slip from ETFs, mutual funds and REITs
• The T5008 slip for securities you sold

Registered plan slips

• The T4RSP slip for RRSP withdrawals
• The T4RIF slip for RRIF payments
• The T4FHSA slip for First Home Savings Account activity

Education and employment forms

• The T2202 tuition slip
• What a T2200 is, and the T2200S
• The TD1 form you give your employer

Foreign property

• Form T1135 for foreign property: who files it and what it asks for

After you file

• How to read your notice of assessment
• How to apply for EI, including the Record of Employment

A filing workflow for slips

Most filing errors happen when slips are entered out of order or when imported values go in without review. A steady order reduces the chance of a reassessment:

1. Gather the employment and pension slips first (T4, T4A, T4RSP, T4RIF).
2. Enter the investment slips next (T5, T3, T5008) and check them against your account statements.
3. Add the education and deduction documents (T2202, your RRSP contribution receipts, and the signed T2200 if you claim employment expenses).
4. Compare the slip list in CRA My Account with the slips you have before you submit.

If a number doesn’t match your payroll or broker records, ask the issuer for an amended slip before filing; correcting a return after it is assessed takes longer.

Related pages

• NETFILE vs Paper Filing in Canada
• RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP)
• FHSA Guide Canada