CRA Compliance & Reporting

T4 Late Filing Penalty 2026: Fix the Missed Deadline

By August 6, 2026 No Comments
T4 Late Filing PenaltyT4 Late Filing Penalty
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified accounting professional before making any tax or financial decisions.

Quick Answer

  1. If you filed T4 or T5 slips after the March 2, 2026 deadline, the Canada Revenue Agency charges a per-day late-filing penalty that scales by the number of slips filed late.
  2. The penalty starts at $10 per day for 1 to 50 slips (minimum $100, maximum $1,000) and climbs to $75 per day for more than 10,000 slips (maximum $7,500).
  3. You still have to file the return. Late filing does not remove the obligation, and any unremitted source deductions continue to accrue interest at the CRA prescribed rate.
  4. Employers filing more than five information returns of a single type must file electronically, or the CRA can add a separate per-return penalty.
  5. You can request cancellation of penalties and interest by filing Form RC4288 (Taxpayer Relief), or come forward under the Voluntary Disclosures Program if CRA has not yet contacted you.

A Weekend That Pushed the Deadline to Monday, and What to Do If You Missed It

February 28, 2026 fell on a Saturday, so the Canada Revenue Agency shifted the T4 and T5 filing deadline for the 2025 tax year to Monday, March 2, 2026. If you missed that date, the situation is fixable.

Late filing does not delete the reporting obligation. It adds a per-day penalty that grows with the number of slips owed and the days that pass. CRA processes late returns every business day, and formal pathways exist to ask for penalty relief when a reasonable error is behind the delay.

This guide walks through how the penalty scales by slip count, how to file the missed return correctly, and how to request relief through Form RC4288 or the Voluntary Disclosures Program. Our companion piece on The Ultimate Guide to Managing Payroll in 2026 Canada covers the year-round rhythm that keeps next February off your worry list.

Mar 2, 2026Filing deadline (weekend-shifted)
$10 to $75Daily rate range by slip tier
$100 to $7,500Minimum to maximum penalty
10 yearsRC4288 relief window

Quick Start: Pick Your Path

Which recovery path fits depends on the size of your slip filing and whether it has been sent yet. Small employers with fewer than 50 slips can typically file electronically today and cap their penalty at $1,000. Larger filers and paper-filers face steeper exposure and may need to prepare a relief request alongside the return.

Match your situation to one of the descriptions below.

Small employer · 1–50 slips
File electronically today. The penalty stops the moment CRA receives your return; the tier maximum is $1,000.
Larger employer · 50+ slips
Your daily rate and ceiling climb quickly, so file this week and gather documentation for a relief request.
Corporation paying dividends or interest
If your corporation paid $50 or more in dividends or interest to a Canadian resident in 2025, the same March 2 deadline and tiered penalty structure apply to your T5 slips.
Filed on paper over the e-file threshold
Filing on paper when CRA required electronic filing can trigger a separate per-return penalty atop the late-filing charge.

How the CRA Penalty Scales by Slip Count

The CRA penalty for late information returns is a daily charge with a floor and a ceiling. Both the daily rate and the ceiling scale with the number of slips filed late. A $100 minimum applies to every late return, so the smallest possible penalty for a single T4 or T5 slip is $100.

The Income Tax Act sets five slip-count tiers, each with its own daily rate and maximum. The clock starts the first day after the deadline and stops the day CRA receives your return.

The rates are $10 per day for 1 to 50 slips (max $1,000), $15 per day for 51 to 500 slips (max $1,500), $25 per day for 501 to 2,500 slips (max $2,500), $50 per day for 2,501 to 10,000 slips (max $5,000), and $75 per day for 10,001 or more slips (max $7,500).

Two features matter. The $100 floor means even a one-day-late filing carries real cost. And the tier maximum caps the daily accrual, so once you pass the ceiling, further delay does not increase the late-filing charge. Related failures may still add separate penalties.

ClearWealth Accounting Advisors
CRA Late Filing Penalty by Slip Count Tier
Daily penalty rate and tier maximum for late T4, T5, and other CRA information returns under the Income Tax Act.
Minimum penalty (floor)
$100
Daily rate range
$10 to $75
Highest tier maximum
$7,500
Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/completing-filing-information-returns/penalties.html
Canada Revenue Agency — Penalties for late filing of information returns.
ClearWealth Accounting Advisors · clearwealth.tax · For informational purposes only

Comparison: 25-Slip Employer vs 200-Slip Employer

To ground the tiers in real dollars, compare a small employer with 25 T4 slips against a mid-sized employer with 200 T5 slips.

Element25-Slip Employer200-Slip Employer
Slip-count tier1 to 5051 to 500
Daily rate$10$15
Minimum penalty (floor)$100$100
Maximum penalty (ceiling)$1,000$1,500
Illustrative 30-day exposure$300$450
Days to hit the ceiling~100 days~100 days
Mandatory electronic filing?Yes (over 5 slips)Yes
Paper-filing surcharge riskYes if filed on paperYes if filed on paper

Both employers hit the $100 floor immediately, and both reach their ceiling in roughly 100 days. Once several months late, the priority becomes filing at all, not filing on any particular day.

Step-by-Step Roadmap: Filing Your Late T4 or T5 Return Now

Filing a late T4 or T5 return follows the same five-step sequence whether you are one day late or several months late: identify the missing slips, reconcile the data, file electronically, distribute the slips and settle any remittance shortfall, and document the reason for a possible relief request.
  1. 1
    Inventory the missing slipsPull your 2025 payroll or dividend register and match it against slips already filed. Note which were on time, which were amended, and which were never filed. This inventory is the foundation for everything below.
  2. 2
    Reconcile against source deductions remittedFor T4 filers, compare box totals against the CPP, EI, and income tax you sent under the payroll program account. Any gap shows up on the T4 Summary and typically needs to be resolved before filing, because unremitted source deductions carry a separate penalty of up to 20 percent under the Income Tax Act.
  3. 3
    File the return electronicallySince January 1, 2024, employers submitting more than five information returns of a single type must file through CRA Web Forms, Internet File Transfer, or approved payroll software. Our post on A practical guide to CRA My Business Account walks through the online steps.
  4. 4
    Distribute the slips and pay any balanceGive employees or income recipients their slips on the same day you file with CRA. Missing this step can trigger a separate failure-to-distribute penalty. Pay any outstanding balance; interest at the CRA prescribed rate (7 percent for Q2 2026) accrues daily until cleared.
  5. 5
    Document what caused the delayWrite a short chronology of what caused the delay. If you request relief later, this contemporaneous note is often the strongest evidence in the file.
ClearWealth Accounting Advisors
The T4/T5 Compliance Calendar for the 2025 Tax Year
Key milestones on a logarithmic day-scale — from the end of calendar 2025 to the closing of the ten-year taxpayer relief window.
Filing deadline
Mar 2, 2026
Days to penalty ceiling
~100
RC4288 relief window
10 years
Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4120/employers-guide-filing-t4-slip-summary.html
Canada Revenue Agency — Employers’ Guide, Filing the T4 Slip and Summary (RC4120).
ClearWealth Accounting Advisors · clearwealth.tax · For informational purposes only

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Six errors show up again and again when employers scramble to catch up. Each is avoidable, and each can raise penalty exposure or delay a relief request.

  • →Filing on paper when electronic filing is mandatory. Any employer submitting more than five slips of a single type must file through Web Forms, Internet File Transfer, or approved software.
  • →Confusing the T4 information return with source deduction remittances. These are two separate CRA obligations, and settling one does not settle the other.
  • →Skipping the employee distribution step. The rules require you to give each employee their T4 slip by the filing deadline, not just send the CRA copy.
  • →Missing T5 slips for owner-manager dividends. If your corporation paid $50 or more in dividends or interest to a Canadian resident, a T5 return is generally required.
  • →Ignoring the eligible-versus-non-eligible dividend distinction on T5 slips. Coding a dividend incorrectly changes how the recipient is taxed and can force amended slips.
  • →Waiting to file until the paperwork is perfect. Every day of delay adds to the penalty, and CRA processes amended slips at any time. Filing today and correcting later is typically cheaper than waiting.

For a broader view of what happens after any tax deadline slips, see our post on what to do if you missed a tax deadline in Canada.

ClearWealth Accounting Advisors
Illustrative Late Filing Cost by Days Overdue — 25-Slip Employer
Illustrative penalty accrual at the $10/day tier for 1 to 50 slips. Actual assessments may include additional penalties for related failures.
Floor at 10 days
$100
Days to ceiling
100
Tier maximum
$1,000
Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/completing-filing-information-returns/penalties.html
Canada Revenue Agency — Penalties for late filing of information returns.
ClearWealth Accounting Advisors · clearwealth.tax · For informational purposes only

Requesting Penalty Relief: RC4288 and Voluntary Disclosures

CRA offers two discretionary relief pathways. Form RC4288 (Taxpayer Relief) is for filers who already sent the return and want the penalty reduced because of a reasonable error. The Voluntary Disclosures Program is for filers who have not yet filed and where CRA has not yet contacted them about the missing return.

Form RC4288 is filed after the return. You explain the delay, attach supporting documentation, and ask CRA to cancel or reduce penalty and interest. Circumstances beyond your control (serious illness, natural disaster, CRA processing errors) are commonly accepted grounds.

The Voluntary Disclosures Program applies before CRA contacts you and offers deeper relief. It requires that the disclosure be voluntary, complete, involve a penalty, and be at least one year overdue. If CRA has already contacted you, this program is typically closed.

Both pathways have a ten-year limitation window measured from the calendar year of the return. Neither is a substitute for filing the return itself.

ClearWealth Accounting Advisors
RC4288 Taxpayer Relief vs Voluntary Disclosures Program
Which discretionary CRA relief pathway fits which situation. Both programs are discretionary; outcomes are not guaranteed.
Your situationProgram to useRelief possibleTime limitDocumentation needed
Reasonable error, return already filedForm RC4288 (Taxpayer Relief)Cancellation or reduction of penalty and interest at CRA discretionTen years from the calendar year of the returnChronology of the error, supporting documents, evidence of reasonable cause
Return never filed and CRA has not contacted youVoluntary Disclosures Program (VDP)Deeper relief on penalty and partial interest; potential prosecution protectionReturn must be at least one year overdue; no time limit while criteria remain metComplete disclosure of all missing slips, unremitted amounts, and supporting records
Return filed but CRA has already assessed a penaltyForm RC4288 (Taxpayer Relief)Cancellation or reduction of penalty and interest already assessedTen years from the calendar year of the assessmentCRA notice of assessment plus documentation of reasonable cause
Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/taxpayer-relief-provisions.html
Canada Revenue Agency — Taxpayer Relief Provisions and Voluntary Disclosures Program.
ClearWealth Accounting Advisors · clearwealth.tax · For informational purposes only

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I filed my T4s late in 2026?

If you filed after March 2, 2026, CRA charges a daily late-filing penalty that scales with the number of slips. For 1 to 50 slips the rate is $10 per day with a $100 floor and $1,000 ceiling. Larger filings carry higher rates.

How much is the CRA penalty for late T4 filing?

The Income Tax Act sets a tiered daily penalty from $10 per day for 1 to 50 slips (max $1,000) up to $75 per day for 10,001 or more slips (max $7,500). A $100 minimum applies to every late return.

Can I still file my T4 slips after March 2, 2026?

Yes, CRA accepts late information returns at any time. Filing today generally stops the daily penalty from continuing to accrue, and returns with more than five slips of a single type must be filed electronically.

Do I need to file T5 slips if I paid myself dividends from my corporation?

Generally yes. If your corporation paid a Canadian resident $50 or more in dividends or interest during 2025, a T5 information return is typically required. The same March 2, 2026 deadline and tiered penalty structure apply.

Can the CRA waive my T4 late filing penalty if it was my first time?

CRA may cancel or reduce penalties under Form RC4288 (Taxpayer Relief) when the delay resulted from a reasonable error or circumstances beyond your control. First-time offender status is not automatic grounds but can strengthen a documented request.

How do I amend a T4 slip that I already filed with an error?

You can file an amended T4 slip through CRA Web Forms or Internet File Transfer at any time. Amending does not itself trigger a late-filing penalty, but the underlying shortfall may still carry interest at the CRA prescribed rate.

Do I have to file T4 slips electronically in 2026?

Yes if you file more than five information returns of a single type. Since January 1, 2024, this threshold applies to T4, T5, T4A, and other slips. Paper filing beyond the threshold can trigger a separate penalty.

What is the difference between the Voluntary Disclosures Program and Form RC4288?

The Voluntary Disclosures Program applies before CRA contacts you and offers deeper relief on penalty and interest. Form RC4288 applies after you have filed the return and lets you ask CRA to reduce penalties based on a reasonable error.

Fix the missed deadline. Prevent the next one.

Late T4 or T5 filing is fixable. To hand the reconciliation, filing, and RC4288 preparation to a professional, book a consultation and we can typically have your slips filed within days.

Book a Consultation
Reminder: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified accounting professional before making any tax or financial decisions.

Sources & References

  1. Employers’ Guide — Filing the T4 Slip and Summary (RC4120), Canada Revenue Agency. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4120/employers-guide-filing-t4-slip-summary.html
  2. Penalties — Late filing of information returns, Canada Revenue Agency. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/completing-filing-information-returns/penalties.html
  3. T5 Statement of Investment Income — Payer’s Guide, Canada Revenue Agency. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/t4015.html
  4. Taxpayer relief provisions, Canada Revenue Agency. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/taxpayer-relief-provisions.html
  5. Voluntary Disclosures Program, Canada Revenue Agency. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/taxpayers/voluntary-disclosures-program-overview.html
  6. Prescribed interest rates (Q2 2026), Canada Revenue Agency. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/prescribed-interest-rates.html
  7. Mandatory electronic filing of information returns, Canada Revenue Agency. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/e-services-businesses/mandatory-electronic-filing-thresholds.html