Tackling T4s 2025: A Step-by-Step Guide

Tax season is here, and ensuring your T4 submissions are accurate and compliant is critical for businesses of all sizes. To help simplify the process, PaymentEvolution recently hosted a Tackling T4s 2025 webinar led by Warren Juteau-Peall, Christine McIntyre, and Subarno Das, providing an in-depth walkthrough of how to prepare, generate, and submit your T4s for 2024.

Below, we’ve summarized the key points covered in the webinar, including the full recording, key steps in running T4s, submission options, and answers to common questions from our audience.

Webinar Recording

Preparing for T4 Season

Understanding Your Year-to-Date (YTD) Summary

Before running your T4s, it’s essential to review your YTD Summary and Journal to ensure all payroll records match. As Warren noted in the webinar, this proactive step can save significant time and prevent errors when filing.

Key Preparations:

• Verify all employee earnings, deductions, and taxable benefits.
• Ensure all employee information (e.g., SINs, addresses, tax exemptions) is up to date.
• Identify any missing employees who should receive T4 slips but are not yet in the system.

Running and Approving T4 Slips

“Preparation makes the process easy and efficient—getting your T4s done shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes!” —

Warren Juteau-Peall

Steps to Generate and Approve T4s:

1. Access the Year-End Section: Navigate to Actions > Year-End in PaymentEvolution.
2. Set the correct tax year: Ensure your settings reflect 2024 to generate accurate slips.
3. Review system-generated T4 slips for accuracy before submission.
4. Add missing information or additional boxes as needed.
5. Reset and update T4s if changes are required before finalizing.

Note: The system tailors your dashboard based on your business type. If applicable, you will see options for T4A slips (for contractors) and RL-1 slips (for Quebec employees).

Submission Options

Christine outlined three methods for submitting your T4s to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA):

1. Automatic Submission (via PaymentEvolution) – The fastest option, sending your T4s directly to the CRA with confirmation within one business day.
2. Online Submission (via CRA My Business Account) – Download an XML file and manually upload it to the CRA.
3. Manual Submission (for businesses with five or fewer employees) – Print and mail T4s to the CRA. Ensure they are postmarked by February 28, 2025, to avoid penalties.

Emphasizing Accuracy and Compliance When Tackling T4s 2025

Throughout the webinar, Christine stressed the importance of accuracy in every stage of T4 preparation and submission. Here’s what to keep in mind:

• Double-check YTD summaries to match actual payroll data.
• Select the correct dental benefit codes (Code 1, 2, or 3) based on coverage offered to employees.
• Ensure all employee details are complete and correct to prevent filing errors.

Q&A Highlights

1. What if I need to correct a T4 after submission?

If you spot an error, generate an amended T4 slip in PaymentEvolution and re-submit it to the CRA.

2. Can I add employees who aren’t in PaymentEvolution?

Yes! You can manually add employees and generate a T4 for them within the system.

3. Will T4s be emailed to employees automatically?

Employees receive an email notification from PaymentEvolution once their tax slips are available in Paychequer (our employee self-service portal). However, they must log in to download their T4s.

4. What’s the cost of automatic submission?

The cost per submission is $20, regardless of the number of T4 slips included. Amendments or resubmissions also incur a $20 fee.

5. Can I put zeros in the SIN field if I don’t have an employee’s SIN?

The CRA allows zeros temporarily, but it’s best to attempt to obtain the correct SIN and keep records of your efforts in case of future audits.

6. What happens if I selected the wrong box for benefits?

If you accidentally selected the wrong box, you can use the change box option to correct it, as demonstrated in the webinar.

7. If I update an employee’s address in their profile, will it update in the T4 slip?

No, once T4s are generated, they are separate from employee profiles. If you make changes to an employee’s profile after generating T4s, you will need to reset T4s for the updates to reflect.

8. How do I process T4s for employees who left the company in 2024?

As long as an employee had earnings in 2024, their T4 slip will still be generated. If they were not carried over from previous payroll software, you can manually add their slip to PaymentEvolution.

9. Do I need to report dental benefits?

Filling in the dental box is a federal requirement, asking what your company offered as of December 31, 2024. Even if employees did not use their benefits, you must report what was provided.

10. How do I handle a misclassified worker who should be on a T4 instead of a T4A?

If you mistakenly classified a worker as a contractor but they should be on payroll, contact PaymentEvolution support to correct this before submission.

11. What if I don’t have a Representative ID (RepID)?

RepID is only required for accountants/bookkeepers using CRA’s Represent a Client. Business owners filing for their own company do not need a RepID.

12. Will PaymentEvolution auto-submit my T4s if I miss the deadline?

No, PaymentEvolution does not automatically file T4s unless you manually complete the process and click auto-submit.

Final Takeaways

Preparing T4s is a crucial year-end task, but with the right preparation and tools, you can ensure compliance while avoiding unnecessary stress. Whether you’re updating employee details, reviewing YTD summaries, or submitting slips, PaymentEvolution is here to help.

If you need further assistance, reach out to support@paymentevolution.com or visit our Support Center for additional resources.

Deadline Reminder: T4 slips must be submitted to the CRA by February 28, 2025. Don’t wait until the last minute—start preparing now!

Additional Resources

• CRA T4 Slip Preparation Guide – Official CRA guidelines for preparing and filing T4s.
• PaymentEvolution Support Center – A hub of resources, FAQs, and how-to guides for payroll management.

Happy filing!