T4 Filing Deadline for Canadian Employers: 2026 Guide

Last updated: October 16, 2026

The T4 filing deadline for the 2025 tax year is March 2, 2026. February 28 falls on a Saturday that year, so the CRA deadline shifts to the next business day. Both electronic and paper submissions are due by that date, and so are the T4 slips you hand to employees.

Key facts at a glance:

• Submission deadline to CRA: March 2, 2026 (for the 2025 tax year)
• Employee distribution deadline: Last day of February (March 2, 2026 this cycle)
• Filing methods accepted: CRA Web Forms, certified payroll software, or paper (if eligible)
• Retention requirement: Payroll records must be kept for at least six years

Missing this date triggers financial penalties that scale with the number of slips filed late. The CRA treats late T4 filings seriously, and New Brunswick employers are not exempt from federal enforcement.

Table of Contents

• What happens if you miss the T4 filing deadline?
• New T4 reporting requirements you need to know for 2025 filings
• How to file T4 slips with the CRA, step by step
• What are your obligations for distributing T4 slips to employees?
• Expert guidance from Tledgers on staying T4 compliant
• Tledgers handles your T4 filings so you can focus on your business
• Key Takeaways

What happens if you miss the T4 filing deadline?

Late filing costs money, and the penalty grows with the size of your payroll. The CRA calculates penalties based on how many T4 slips are filed past the deadline, not just whether you filed late.

Late filing penalties start at a minimum amount for a few slips filed late and increase progressively with larger numbers of late slips.

Repeated non-compliance can trigger a CRA audit of your payroll accounts. Beyond the direct financial hit, late filings can delay employee tax returns, which creates friction with your workforce. The safest approach is to treat the T4 submission date as a hard internal deadline, not a soft target.

New T4 reporting requirements you need to know for 2025 filings

The CRA introduced additional reporting boxes that affect how you complete T4 slips for the 2024 tax year, reported in your 2025 filings. New T4 reporting boxes require employers to provide breakdowns of employment income according to several specified pay periods throughout the year.

These codes were introduced to give the CRA a clearer picture of income timing across the year. If your payroll software does not yet support these boxes, contact your provider before the T4 due date. Errors or omissions in these fields can trigger follow-up requests from the CRA, adding administrative work after the fact.

Pro Tip: Run a payroll summary report sorted by these four date ranges before you start preparing T4 slips. Catching discrepancies early is far easier than filing an amendment later.

How to file T4 slips with the CRA, step by step

Getting T4 slips filed correctly the first time saves you from amendments and follow-up correspondence. Here is the process from start to finish.

1. Review your payroll data. Reconcile total employment income, deductions, and benefits for each employee against your payroll records for the full calendar year.
2. Apply the correct codes. Include codes 57–60 where applicable, and verify that box amounts match your payroll ledger totals.
3. Choose your filing method. Employers with more than one T4 slip must file electronically using CRA Web Forms or certified payroll software. Paper filing is only available to employers submitting a single slip.
4. Submit the T4 Summary. The summary must accompany your individual slips and reflect the aggregate totals.
5. File amendments if needed. If you discover an error after submission, file a corrected T4 slip through the same electronic channel. Do not refile the entire batch; submit only the corrected records.
6. Retain your records. Keep all payroll documentation for at least six years from the end of the tax year they relate to.

What are your obligations for distributing T4 slips to employees?

Employers must give each employee their T4 slip by the last day of February following the tax year. For the 2025 tax year, that means March 2, 2026, matching the CRA submission deadline.

• Delivery formats: Paper copies or electronic copies with employee consent
• Former employees: You must send T4 slips to employees who left during the year, using their last known address
• Lost or missing slips: Employees who do not receive their slip can contact you directly or reach out to the CRA after March 2
• Record keeping: Retain copies of all distributed slips for at least six years

If an employee disputes the amounts on their T4, you are responsible for reviewing the underlying payroll records and issuing a corrected slip if warranted. For payroll administrators in New Brunswick managing multiple employees, building a distribution checklist tied to your payroll close process keeps this step from slipping through.

Expert guidance from Tledgers on staying T4 compliant

Tledgers works with Canadian employers across industries to manage payroll and T4 filings accurately and on time. Their team of CPAs understands the pressure that year-end payroll creates, particularly for small businesses juggling operations alongside compliance obligations.

Common pitfalls Tledgers sees with T4 filings:

• Forgetting to include taxable benefits such as group insurance premiums or company vehicle use
• Missing the codes 57–60 breakdown for employers with fluctuating pay periods
• Filing paper T4s when electronic filing is required
• Failing to send slips to employees who resigned or were terminated mid-year
• Not reconciling the T4 Summary totals against remittances already sent to the CRA

Tledgers offers T4A guidance for contractors alongside full payroll management, so employers handling both employees and contractors can manage all year-end reporting in one place.

Tledgers handles your T4 filings so you can focus on your business

Filing T4 slips accurately and on time takes more than knowing the deadline. It requires clean payroll records, up-to-date coding, and a reliable process for distributing slips to every current and former employee.

Tledgers gives New Brunswick employers a fixed-rate alternative to managing payroll compliance alone. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices at year-end. Their CPAs handle payroll management, T4 preparation, and CRA submissions as part of a flat-rate package built for small and mid-sized businesses. Clients consistently highlight timely filings and clear communication as the reasons they stay. If your current process feels like a scramble every February, their payroll services are worth a conversation. You can also explore their virtual CFO services if you want year-round financial oversight alongside payroll support.

Key Takeaways

The T4 filing deadline for the 2025 tax year is March 2, 2026, and missing it triggers CRA penalties that scale directly with the number of late slips.

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