T4 and T4A Late Filing Penalty Calculator 2026
The last day of February has passed and the slips are not filed. Work out the per-day penalty for your slip count, the separate penalty for filing on paper, what unremitted source deductions add on top, and where the director’s personal exposure begins.
total owing to the CRA
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How the Penalty Is Built
| Component | Basis | Amount |
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What Waiting Costs You
| If You File | Days Late | Late Filing Penalty | Total Owing |
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The Penalty Band You Fall Into
| Number of Slips | Per Day | Minimum | Maximum | Your Band |
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Other Exposure This Creates
What to Do Next
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Disclaimer: This calculator applies subsections 162(7.01) and 162(7.02) of the Income Tax Act for late filing and mandatory electronic filing of information returns, and subsection 227(9) for failure to remit source deductions. Interest on unremitted amounts is compounded daily at CRA prescribed rates from the slip deadline, which is a simplification because the true start date is each original remittance due date. Interest on assessed penalties from the date of assessment is not included. Failure to deduct penalties, gross negligence penalties, provincial payroll obligations and WSIB are not included. This page is general information, not tax advice.
The Deadline and What Happens When You Miss It
T4, T4A, T5 and T4A-NR slips and their summaries are due by the last day of February following the calendar year the income was paid. NR4 slips are due 31 March. Where the deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, it moves to the next business day.
Miss it and the penalty is charged per day, at a rate set by how many slips you filed late, with a minimum that applies immediately and a maximum reached at one hundred days. The minimum is the part that surprises people: an employer with twelve slips who files one day late owes $500, not $10.
The Penalty Table by Slip Count
| Number of Slips | Penalty Per Day | Minimum Penalty | Maximum Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | Flat penalty | $100 | $100 |
| 6 to 10 | $5 | $250 | $500 |
| 11 to 50 | $10 | $500 | $1,000 |
| 51 to 500 | $15 | $750 | $1,500 |
| 501 to 2,500 | $25 | $1,250 | $2,500 |
| 2,501 to 10,000 | $50 | $2,500 | $5,000 |
| 10,001 or more | $75 | $5,000 | $7,500 |
The maximum arrives faster than most owners expect. At one hundred days late the penalty stops growing. For a payroll of twelve people that is $1,000 reached by early June, and it does not increase however long you leave it after that. That is an argument for filing now, not for relaxing, because the remittance penalties and director exposure keep running.
The Separate Penalty for Filing on Paper
Since 1 January 2024 the electronic filing threshold is more than five information returns of a single type. File six or more on paper and a second, separate penalty applies under subsection 162(7.02), on top of any late filing penalty.
| Number of Returns Filed on Paper | Penalty |
|---|---|
| 6 to 50 | $125 |
| 51 to 250 | $250 |
| 251 to 500 | $500 |
| 501 to 2,500 | $1,500 |
| 2,501 or more | $2,500 |
This one is entirely avoidable. Filing electronically costs nothing through the CRA web forms service, and it removes the penalty even where the slips themselves are late.
Deadlines by Slip Type
| Slip | Reports | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| T4 | Employment income and deductions | Last day of February |
| T4A | Pension, self-employed commissions, fees for services | Last day of February |
| T5 | Dividends, interest and investment income | Last day of February |
| T4A-NR | Services performed in Canada by non-residents | Last day of February |
| NR4 | Amounts paid or credited to non-residents | 31 March |
| T5018 | Payments to construction subcontractors | Six months after the fiscal year end |
Failure to Remit Is the Bigger Problem
The slips are an information return. The money is a separate matter, and it carries much harsher consequences. If income tax, CPP or EI was withheld from employees and not sent to the CRA, the penalty is a percentage of the amount, not a per-day figure.
| How Late the Remittance Is | Penalty |
|---|---|
| 1 to 3 days | 3% of the amount |
| 4 to 5 days | 5% of the amount |
| 6 to 7 days | 7% of the amount |
| More than 7 days, or never remitted | 10% of the amount |
| A second failure in the same year, knowingly or through gross negligence | 20% of the amount |
Source deductions are trust funds. Money withheld from an employee’s pay is held in trust for the Crown from the moment it is deducted. It does not belong to the corporation, it is not available to fund working capital, and the CRA treats non-remittance far more seriously than a late slip. Collections action on unremitted source deductions starts earlier and moves faster than on almost any other balance.
Director Liability
Under section 227.1, directors are jointly and severally liable with the corporation for source deductions that were withheld and not remitted, together with the related interest and penalties. This is personal liability, and it is the reason unremitted payroll deductions matter more than an unfiled T2.
A director can escape liability only by showing they exercised the degree of care, diligence and skill that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in comparable circumstances. Resigning does not remove exposure for amounts that arose while in office, and the CRA has two years from the date of resignation to assess.
Failing to Give Slips to Employees
Filing with the CRA is only half the obligation. Copies must also be given to each recipient by the same deadline, and failing to do so is a separate penalty of $25 per day, with a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $2,500.
In practice this is the one that generates complaints. An employee who cannot file their own return on time because no T4 arrived will contact the CRA, and that call is frequently what brings the whole payroll file to attention.
What to Do If You Have Already Missed It
- File the slips now, electronically. The per-day penalty stops the day you file, and electronic filing removes the paper penalty entirely.
- Remit any outstanding source deductions immediately. This is the trust fund money and the director exposure.
- Distribute copies to every recipient. That is a separate obligation with its own penalty.
- Reconcile the summary to the remittances. A mismatch triggers a PIER review, which is how most payroll problems are discovered.
- Consider a relief request. Taxpayer relief can cancel penalties and interest where circumstances were beyond your control, within the last ten calendar years.
What the Calculator Does Not Include
- Failure to deduct penalties: 10% of the CPP or EI that should have been withheld, 20% for a repeat
- Interest on assessed penalties: charged from the date of assessment
- The penalty for not giving slips to recipients: $25 per day to a maximum of $2,500
- PIER assessments: where the summary does not reconcile to the remittances
- Employer health tax and WSIB: separate provincial obligations with their own filings
- Gross negligence penalties: assessed where the failure is considered deliberate
The fastest fix is to file first and argue afterwards. Every day the slips remain unfiled adds to the penalty, and nothing about a relief request pauses that clock. Our payroll service prepares and files outstanding slips and summaries, reconciles them to the remittances, and prepares the relief request where the facts support one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions from employers who missed the slip deadline.
Related Calculators and Guides
More tools for Ontario employers.
The Penalty Stops the Day You File
Send us the payroll records and we will prepare the outstanding slips and summaries, file them electronically, reconcile them to what was remitted, and prepare a relief request where the facts support one. Fixed fee, confirmed before we start.