What Is a T4A Slip? A Guide for Self-Employed Canadians
A T4A slip is the Canada Revenue Agency's Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income. A payer sends it when they pay you certain income that is not employment wages, most often fees for a self-employed service reported in box 048. You report the amount on your own return, and for fees that means business income on Form T2125, not a stray line of "other income."
What a T4A slip is
The T4A slip is the form the CRA uses for income that does not fit an employee's T4. A payer fills one out, sends one copy to you and another to the CRA, and the CRA later matches the slip against what you report. The full name, Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income, tells you how wide the net is: the same slip carries a retiree's pension, a student's scholarship, and a freelancer's project fees.
Because it stretches from pensions at one end to self-employed fees at the other, the boxes on a T4A rarely all apply to one person. For most self-employed Canadians, one box does nearly all the work: box 048, fees for services. If you invoice clients and one of them mails you a T4A, box 048 is almost certainly the number you care about.
T4A vs T4 vs T5018
Three CRA slips report money paid to a worker, and they are not interchangeable. The one you get tells you how the CRA already sees the relationship.
| Slip | Full name | Who issues it | Typical recipient |
|---|---|---|---|
| T4 | Statement of Remuneration Paid | An employer | An employee on payroll |
| T4A | Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income | A payer of fees, pensions, or other income | A self-employed contractor, pensioner, or student |
| T5018 | Statement of Contract Payments | A business earning more than half its income from construction | A construction subcontractor |
The T4, the Statement of Remuneration Paid, is an employee's slip. It shows wages with CPP, EI, and income tax withheld at source. A T4A is the opposite signal: a client who hires you as an independent contractor issues a T4A and does not withhold CPP, EI, or income tax from your fees. That difference decides who pays those contributions and when, so the slip you hold is worth reading before tax time, not after.
The T5018, the Statement of Contract Payments, is the construction-only version. When a business earns more than 50% of its income from construction and pays a Canadian-resident subcontractor more than $500 in the year, it reports those payments on a T5018 rather than in box 048 of a T4A.
Which boxes matter and where you report them
A T4A can carry dozens of box numbers, but a handful cover almost every recipient. Each box maps to a specific line on your T1 return.
| Box | What it holds | Where you report it |
|---|---|---|
| 016 | Pension or superannuation | Line 11500 (may qualify for the pension income amount at line 31400) |
| 018 | Lump-sum payments | Per the CRA's instructions for the plan the payment came from |
| 020 | Self-employed commissions | Gross on line 13899, net on line 13900 (Form T2125) |
| 022 | Income tax deducted | Line 43700, combined with tax withheld on all your other slips |
| 048 | Fees for services | Self-employment income on Form T2125 (lines 13499 to 14300) |
| 105 | Scholarships, bursaries, and grants | Line 13010 |
Box 022 is the one people forget to use in their favour. If a payer did withhold income tax, it lands in box 022, and you claim it on line 43700 as tax already paid. Skip it and you overstate what you still owe.
Box 048: fees for services, the part that trips people up
Box 048 is where a client reports the fees or other amounts it paid you for a service, with GST/HST and PST left out. The CRA's administrative rule is that a payer has to issue the slip when the total for the calendar year is more than $500, or whenever it withheld tax from a payment.
Two things about box 048 catch recipients out.
First, the amount is gross business income and belongs in your books once. You already record that revenue when the client pays your invoice. On Form T2125 you report your total business income, and the box 048 fees are part of that total, not an extra amount stacked on top. Match the slip against income you have already counted; do not add it a second time.
Second, not every client sends a slip, and you still owe the tax. The box 048 requirement sits under a penalty moratorium the CRA introduced in 2011 and has left in place for most industries, so many payers leave the box blank. Your duty to report the income does not depend on a slip arriving. If you earned the fee, it goes on your return whether or not the T4A shows up.
One exception now has teeth. In December 2025 the CRA lifted that moratorium for the trucking industry for the 2025 tax year onward, so a trucking business that fails to report fees for services over $500 can be assessed a penalty. For every other industry the moratorium still holds as of 2026, but the CRA has signalled the direction of travel.
If you are the one issuing a T4A
Hire a subcontractor and you may be the payer. Three CRA rules govern the filing.
The deadline is the last day of February. The 2025 slips were due on Saturday, February 28, 2026, and because that fell on a weekend, the CRA treats the return as on time if it arrives the next business day.
Filing method depends on volume. Since January 2024 you have to file electronically if you file more than five information returns of a type for the year.
Late filing carries a penalty scaled to how many slips are late:
| T4A slips filed late | Penalty |
|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | $100 flat |
| 6 to 10 | $5 per day, up to $500 |
| 11 to 50 | $10 per day, up to $1,000 |
| More than 10,000 | $75 per day, up to $7,500 |
Common misconceptions
"A T4A means I was an employee." It means the opposite. An employer reports wages on a T4, the Statement of Remuneration Paid, with source deductions taken off. A T4A with box 048 says a client paid you as a business, so CPP, EI, and income tax are yours to handle through your return.
"Box 048 goes on the other-income line." It does not. Line 13000 is for income with no business behind it. Fees for services are business income, so box 048 flows through Form T2125 on the self-employment lines, where you can deduct the expenses you incurred to earn it.
"No T4A, no need to report." The slip is a copy of what the payer told the CRA, not a switch that turns your obligation on. Fees you earned are taxable whether or not a T4A lands in your mailbox.
Where SparkReceipt fits
Box 048 income is business income, and business income is only half the return. The other half is the expenses that offset it, and each one needs a receipt the CRA will accept if it asks. SparkReceipt captures every receipt the moment you get it, reads the vendor, amount, date, and tax, and files it in categories that line up with the expense lines on Form T2125. You can watch the whole year build up in the expense tracker and pull a tax-ready summary with expense reports, so when your T4A fees meet your deductions on the return, both sides are already documented. Get Started for free.
Frequently asked questions
Do I report a T4A if I already track the income in my bookkeeping? Report your total business income once on Form T2125. The box 048 amount is part of that income, so you match the slip against what you have recorded rather than adding it on top.
What is the difference between a T4 and a T4A? A T4, the Statement of Remuneration Paid, is an employee's slip with CPP, EI, and tax withheld. A T4A reports other income, including a self-employed contractor's fees, with no source deductions taken.
I received a T4A with an amount in box 048. Which form do I use? Box 048 is fees for services, which is self-employment income. You report it on Form T2125 on the self-employment lines (13499 to 14300), not on the other-income line.
My client did not send a T4A. Do I still report the fees? Yes. The box 048 requirement has been under a penalty moratorium for most industries since 2011, so many payers skip it, but the income is taxable either way and goes on your return.
Does a T4A mean tax was already paid? Only if box 022 shows an amount. That is income tax the payer withheld, and you claim it on line 43700. If box 022 is blank, no tax was withheld and you settle it through your return.
Do I charge GST/HST on the amount in box 048? Box 048 itself excludes GST/HST and PST. Whether you charge GST/HST depends on your own registration status, which turns on the $30,000 small-supplier threshold covered in our guide to GST/HST registration.
Key takeaways
- A T4A is the CRA's Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income, and for most self-employed Canadians box 048, fees for services, is the box that matters.
- A T4A signals a contractor relationship, not employment: unlike a T4, no CPP, EI, or income tax is withheld, so those are yours to handle on your return.
- Report box 048 as business income on Form T2125, not as other income on line 13000, and count it once against revenue you have already booked.
- A payer must issue box 048 when yearly service payments top $500, but a 2011 penalty moratorium means many clients skip it; the CRA lifted that moratorium for the trucking industry starting with the 2025 tax year.
- Construction subcontractor payments go on a T5018, the Statement of Contract Payments, rather than box 048 of a T4A.
- If you issue T4A slips, the deadline is the last day of February, more than five slips must be filed electronically, and late filing starts at a $100 penalty and scales with volume.