Critical Deadlines and Requirements for Filing T4, T4A, and T5 Slips

January 8, 2021

As filing deadlines approach, it is important to take note of the following critical deadlines and requirements for filing your T4, T4A, and T5 slips and their related summaries, Summary of Contract Payments (for those in construction-related businesses), WorkSafeBC Labour Reports, and BC Employer Health Tax.

T4, T4A and T5 Slips and Related Summaries:

  • The deadline for submitting final payroll deductions for your employees as well as the amounts required for shareholder(s) for 2020 is January 15, 2021. Submissions made after this date will be subject to penalties and interest.
  • If you are a Threshold 1 or 2 accelerated remitter, your remittance is due by January 11, 2021, or January 4, 2021, respectively.
  • The deadline for filing the slips and related summaries with CRA is March 1, 2021.

Summary of Contract Payments:

  • Construction oriented businesses using the services of self-employed sub-contractors must file a Summary of Contract Payments (T5018), reflecting the total amount paid to each subcontractor for the fiscal year.
  • Businesses must choose if filing T5018s based on a calendar period or based on their fiscal year-end and once chosen, this cannot be changed. Depending on this choice, the filing deadline would be:
    • Calendar Period – The December 31, 2020, T5018 return is due June 30, 2021
    • Fiscal Period – The T5018 return is due on or before the date that is 6 months after the business’ year-end.  For example, if you have a September 30th year-end, the 2020 T5018 return must be filed by March 31, 2021.
 

WorkSafeBC Labour Reports:

  • Businesses that file quarterly WorkSafeBC reports must file and submit their regular 4th quarter report and payment by January 20, 2021. The additional annual form for quarterly filers is due March 1, 2021.
  • For annual filers the deadline for filing the annual form varies from March 2, 2021, to March 12, 2021, depending upon your due date, as determined by WorkSafeBC.
  • All corporations are required to be registered for WorkSafeBC regardless of the type of service provided.
  • All proprietorships or partnerships that have employees or non-WorkSafeBC registered contractors are also required to be registered with WorkSafeBC.
 

BC Employer Health Tax:

  • Annual payroll between $500,000 and $600,000 can be paid annually and will be due March 31, 2021
  • Annual payroll over $600,000 must be paid in instalments, June 15, September 15, December 15 with the final payment and return due on March 31, 2021.
 

New This Year – COVID-19 Subsidy Reporting:

  • If you claimed the 10% TEWS (Temporary Wage Subsidy), a reconciliation of your payroll and remittances is required on Form PD27. This reconciliation will help ensure you do not receive a discrepancy notice and should be completed and filed before you make your final payroll remittance and file your T4s. 
  • Due to COVID-19 subsidies, ALL employers now have additional reporting requirements on T4s. In addition to reporting employment income on box 14 or code 71, new other information codes will be required as follows:
    • Code 57 – Employment Income March 15 to May 9, 2020
    • Code 58 – Employment Income May 10 to July 4, 2020
    • Code 59 – Employment Income July 5 to August 29, 2020
    • Code 60 – Employment income August 30 to September 26, 2020

Need Assistance Completing Your Filings?

The information we will require to assist you with completing your filings include but are not limited to, the following:

  • 2020 balanced payroll journal or computer-generated employee summaries
  • For completion of PD27, we will require payroll detail, by pay period for March 18 to June 19, 2020
  • For accurate T4 reporting please provide gross earnings for employees for the periods as identified above
  • employee vital information – name, address, date of birth and SIN
  • summary of any taxable benefits by employee (automobile, MSP, etc.)
  • summary of interest and/or dividends paid, listing amounts, recipient and SIN
  • 2020 WorkSafeBC Labour Report
  • summary of assessable sub-contractors for the prior 12-month period including name and address, SIN or GST reg.#, and total amount paid, including GST, to each sub-contractor in 2020- or 12-month period prior to your year-end date.
  • 2020 BC Employer Health Tax return and amount of instalments paid, if applicable
 

If you have questions regarding these critical deadlines and requirements for filing your T4, T4A, and T5 slips, please contact a member of the EPR Maple Ridge Langley team by filling out the contact form below.

If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of the Empire CPA team by filling out the contact form below.

Canadian and foreign tax laws are complex and have a tendency to change on a frequent basis. As such, the content published above is believed to be accurate as of the date of this post. Before implementing any tax planning, please seek professional advice from a qualified tax professional. Empire, Chartered Professional Accountants will not accept any liability for any tax ramifications that may result from acting based on the information contained above.

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