Payroll · Year-end compliance
T4/T4A deadline & late-filing penalty.
Filing T4 or T4A slips after the deadline triggers a real CRA penalty that scales with how many slips you filed late — not a flat fee. Find your exact deadline and estimate the damage before it happens.
Due the last day of February following the calendar year (next business day if that's a weekend). Filed late? The penalty is $10–$75 per day depending on how many slips, minimum $100.
Inputs
Result
Enter the tax year, slip count and days late, then press Calculate.
The real penalty table
| Slips of one type filed late | Penalty per day | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 50 | $10 | $1,000 |
| 51 – 500 | $15 | $1,500 |
| 501 – 2,500 | $25 | $2,500 |
| 2,501 – 10,000 | $50 | $5,000 |
| 10,001+ | $75 | $7,500 |
The penalty is charged per day late, up to 100 days, subject to a $100 minimum. It's calculated separately for each slip TYPE — filing 51 T4s and 51 T5s late on the same return draws two separate penalties, not one. This is distinct from the smaller "failure to file electronically" penalty, which applies only when more than 5 slips of a type are filed on paper instead of online.
Sources, last verified 25 September 2026: CRA RC4120 — Employers' Guide, Filing the T4 Slip and Summary (due date and penalty table, with the confirmed 2025-tax-year example of a March 2, 2026 deadline).
Frequently asked questions
Does T4A follow the same rule as T4?
Yes — T4A information returns use the identical deadline (last day of February following the year) and the identical per-slip-count penalty table as T4, under CRA's general information-return filing penalty mechanism.
What if the deadline falls on a statutory holiday, not just a weekend?
CRA also rolls the deadline forward past a CRA-recognized public holiday, not just Saturday/Sunday. This calculator only rolls past weekends, so check the exact date against CRA's own calendar if the last day of February lands near a holiday.
Is there a minimum penalty even for a handful of slips a few days late?
Yes — the minimum penalty is $100 regardless of how few slips or how few days late, once the deadline has passed.
Estimate only — not tax advice
Deadline rolls forward past Saturday/Sunday only, not CRA-recognized statutory holidays. Does not model the separate paper-filing penalty, CRA's discretionary penalty relief, or the penalty recalculation that occurs if slips are later added or cancelled. Confirm your exact deadline and any assessed penalty through your CRA My Business Account.