When are T4A slips for 2026 due, and which contractors need one?
T4A slips for 2026 are due February 28, 2027, the last day of February. That date is a Sunday, so a return received or postmarked by Monday, March 1, 2027 is on time. Box 048 fees for services need a slip once a payee's total passes $500, and more than 5 slips must be filed electronically.
The T4A deadline by slip year
The T4A Summary and slips are due on the last day of February after the calendar year the slips cover, and recipients must have their copies by the same day canada.ca. When that day is a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday the CRA recognizes, a return received or postmarked by the next business day is on time.
| Slip year | Statutory due date | Day of week | On time if received or postmarked by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | February 28, 2026 | Saturday | Monday, March 2, 2026 |
| 2026 | February 28, 2027 | Sunday | Monday, March 1, 2027 |
| 2027 | February 29, 2028 | Tuesday | Tuesday, February 29, 2028 |
The rule itself sits in Income Tax Regulations subsection 205(1): information returns are filed without notice or demand on or before the last day of February, for the preceding calendar year laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Don't plan around the weekend relief. It moves the date by a day or two, nothing more.
Box 048: who gets a slip for fees for services
Fees for services paid to a Canadian resident go in box 048, and the rule covers payments between businesses, sole proprietors and corporations alike canada.ca. You don't withhold CPP, EI or income tax from those payments.
The threshold is more than $500, not $500 or more. You prepare a slip when the year's total to one payee is more than $500, or when you deducted tax from any payment, whatever the amount canada.ca. Leave GST/HST and PST out of the box 048 amount.
Penalties are a separate question. The CRA says it is not assessing penalties for box 048 failures unless its new administrative policy applies canada.ca. That policy is the trucking one: for 2025 and later years, a business whose income is more than 50% from trucking is assessed penalties for not reporting fees over $500 paid to a Canadian controlled private corporation in trucking
canada.ca. Every other payer still has to issue the slip. The CRA is simply not penalizing the gap yet.
Paper or electronic: the more than 5 slips rule since 2024
Since January 1, 2024, a filer with more than 5 information returns of the same type for a calendar year must file electronically canada.ca. Before that, a filer with 50 or fewer could still mail paper, and the change removed that clause
canada.ca.
| T4A slips filed in the wrong format | Penalty |
|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | None, paper is allowed |
| 6 to 50 | $125 |
| 51 to 250 | $250 |
| 251 to 500 | $500 |
| 501 to 2,500 | $1,500 |
| 2,501 or more | $2,500 |
Those amounts come from Income Tax Act subsection 162(7.02), which charges a flat penalty for a return not filed in the manner the regulations require laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The count is per slip type, so a client with 4 T4A slips and 4 T5 slips can still file both on paper. Web Forms takes up to 100 slips per submission, and Internet file transfer takes an XML file up to 150 MB from payroll software.
Late filing penalties, with the math
Subsection 162(7.01) sets the legislated late filing penalty for information returns: at least $100, a daily rate that rises with the number of slips, and no more than 100 days laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. For T4A returns the CRA applies an administrative policy that cuts the amount for small filers
canada.ca.
| T4A slips filed late | CRA policy penalty | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | $100 flat | $100 |
| 6 to 10 | $5 per day | $500 |
| 11 to 50 | $10 per day | $1,000 |
| 51 to 500 | $15 per day | $1,500 |
| 501 to 2,500 | $25 per day | $2,500 |
| 2,501 to 10,000 | $50 per day | $5,000 |
| More than 10,000 | $75 per day | $7,500 |
Worked example: your client, a design studio, paid 8 freelancers more than $500 each in 2026. It mails 8 paper T4A slips 20 days after the March 1, 2027 cutoff. Late filing under the policy: 20 days at $5 is $100. Wrong format: 8 slips falls in the 6 to 50 band, so $125. Total: $225. Under the statute alone the late filing part would be 20 days at $10, or $200.
Failing to give recipients their slips is a separate penalty: $25 per day for each failure, with a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $2,500 canada.ca. Some guides quote that figure as the late filing penalty. It isn't.
T4A or T5018 for a construction client
A client whose business income is more than 50% from construction doesn't put subcontractor payments in box 048. Payments to Canadian resident subcontractors for construction services go on a T5018 instead, once the year's total to one subcontractor is more than $500 before GST/HST canada.ca.
| Question | T4A box 048 | T5018 |
|---|---|---|
| Who files | Any business paying fees for services | Payers whose income is more than 50% construction |
| What is reported | Fees for services | Construction services by subcontractors |
| Threshold | More than $500, or tax deducted | More than $500, GST/HST excluded |
| Reporting period | Calendar year | Calendar year or fiscal period, payer chooses |
| Due date | Last day of February | 6 months after the reporting period ends |
| Electronic filing | More than 5 slips | More than 5 slips |
The T5018 due date comes from the CRA's filing calendar canada.ca. A calendar year filer's 2026 T5018 is due June 30, 2027, four months after its T4A slips. Payments for goods only stay off the T5018. The T4A exclusion only covers subcontractor payments for construction services, so a construction company paying a bookkeeper falls back on the box 048 test
canada.ca. The full T5018 timeline is on the T5018 deadline page.
Sources
Do I issue a T4A to a contractor paid exactly $500?
No. The slip is required when the year's total is more than $500, so exactly $500 doesn't trigger one unless you deducted tax from a payment canada.ca.
What if my client closes the business partway through the year?
The T4A return is due within 30 days of the day the business or activity stops, under Regulation 205(2) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The CRA allows 90 days after the death of a partner or sole proprietor, and amounts withheld must be remitted within seven days of the business ending
canada.ca.
Can I send T4A slips to recipients by email?
Only with the recipient's written consent. The CRA says it intends to introduce criteria that would let you use a secure electronic portal without consent; anyone without portal access, or who asks for paper, gets two paper copies in person or by mail canada.ca.
Does box 048 apply to a contractor who lives outside Canada?
No. Fees paid to a payee who isn't resident in Canada for services performed in Canada go on a T4A-NR slip, with 15% income tax withheld, and that slip is needed even under $500 when tax was withheld canada.ca.
General information for the tax year shown, not advice for a specific client. Confirm the facts before you file or remit.