T4A box 028: line 13000, or the T2125 if it's business income

Where does a code 028 amount go on the return?

Code 028 covers amounts not reported anywhere else on the T4A, and the CRA sends recipients to line 13000 or to the self employment lines 13499 to 14300 canada.ca. The recipient page calls it box 028 and the payer instructions call it code 028, entered in the Other information area of the slip; they're the same amount canada.ca. Which line it takes depends on what the payment actually was, so start with what the payer was told to put there.

The payer rows come from the CRA's code 028 instructions: premiums for a retired employee, daycare subsidies, third party travel and board and lodging for another employer's staff, and gifts or awards from a person other than the employer canada.ca. The line 13000 page names training allowances reported in box 028, excluding amounts already reported on lines 13000, 10400, 11500 or 12500 canada.ca. Training money paid under an Employment Insurance Part II program is income under paragraph 56(1)(r) of the Income Tax Act laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

The retiree row is the one tax software gets wrong. The CRA's recipient page tells your client to enter those premiums on line 10400, other employment income, not line 13000 canada.ca. The total income is the same either way, but the CRA names a different line for it.

When should the payer have used box 048 or another code instead?

Fees for services never go under code 028. The CRA tells payers to report them in box 048 instead canada.ca. A contractor who finds their invoices under 028 still reports them as business income on a T2125, because the recipient lines for 028 already include 13499 to 14300 canada.ca.

The box and line columns come from the CRA's payer and recipient pages canada.ca. Older slips used code 028 with footnote codes for many income types, and the CRA says those have in most cases been replaced by specific box numbers canada.ca. That's why an older list putting pandemic benefits or research grants under 028 no longer matches the slip: CERB has code 197, research grants code 104 and scholarships code 105.

The payer reports a code 028 amount only if the total it paid during the year and reported under any codes or boxes of that T4A is more than $500, or if it deducted income tax canada.ca. The test runs across the whole slip. A payer that paid $350 of taxable awards under 028 and $200 of fees in box 048 to the same person reports $550 in total, so both amounts go on the slip even though neither passes $500 alone. Filing dates and penalties are on the T4A deadline page.

What does a shareholder owe on code 028 and code 117?

On owner managed corporations, code 028 usually means a shareholder benefit. The CRA lists code 028 for other shareholder benefits and code 117 for loan benefits, says the corporation withholds no income tax, CPP or EI from them, and has the shareholder include the full amount on line 13000 or the self employment lines canada.ca. The inclusion itself comes from subsection 15(1): the value of a benefit a corporation confers on a shareholder goes into the shareholder's income laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

Your client's corporation paid $3,000 of personal bills and charged no interest on a shareholder loan, so the T4A shows $3,000 under code 028 and $420 under code 117. Both codes go on line 13000 canada.ca, for $3,420. If all of it is taxed at the 14% lowest federal rate for 2026, that's $3,420 times 14%, or $478.80 of federal tax, plus provincial tax. Nothing was withheld, so the whole amount falls due with the return. The wider rules on these benefits are on the section 15 shareholder benefit page, and a forgiven loan is covered on shareholder loan forgiveness.

Which code 028 amounts are not taxable?

Almost everything properly reported under code 028 is taxable, because the code exists for amounts the recipient must include in income. The exempt amounts go elsewhere or stay off the slip.

Indian Act exempt income has its own codes. A payer enters exempt other income under code 144, exempt pensions under 146 and exempt lump sums under 148 canada.ca, and the CRA tells the recipient not to report any of the three on the return canada.ca. If an exempt amount landed under 028 by mistake, the payer needs to amend the slip. The conditions for the exemption are on the Indian Act tax exemption page.

A third party providing board and lodging at a special work site leaves the exempt portion out of code 028, so only the taxable part shows up canada.ca. And a non employer giving gifts or awards reports only the taxable amount canada.ca.

If income tax was deducted, it's in box 022, and your client enters it on line 43700 along with tax deducted on every other slip canada.ca.

What should your client do when code 028 is wrong?

Report the income correctly, whatever box it came in. A payer that finds an error after filing has to prepare an amended slip to correct it, though a change to the address alone doesn't need one canada.ca. Ask the payer for the amended T4A, and keep the invoices or agreement that show what the payment really was in case the CRA asks.

On the return, describe the income in the space beside line 13000. The CRA asks for the type of income there, and a paper return with more than one type gets a note listing each canada.ca. "Shareholder benefit, T4A code 028" or "Training allowance, T4A code 028" is enough. The line 13000 page covers the other slips that feed the same line.