When are T5 slips due for 2026, and does my client need one for dividends from their own corporation?
The T5 slip deadline for the 2026 tax year is Monday, March 1, 2027, because February 28 falls on a Sunday. The rule is the last day of February, for filing with the CRA and giving slips to recipients. A slip is required once one recipient gets $50 or more, and more than 5 slips must be filed online.
The T5 due date by tax year
The T5 return is due on or before the last day of February, for the calendar year before laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The same date applies to the copies your client hands to recipients. When that day lands on a Saturday, Sunday or CRA public holiday, a return received or postmarked by the next business day is on time
canada.ca.
| Tax year | Last day of February | Weekday | Actual due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | February 28, 2026 | Saturday | Monday, March 2, 2026 |
| 2026 | February 28, 2027 | Sunday | Monday, March 1, 2027 |
As of October 2026 the CRA hasn't published the 2026 edition of the T5 guide. The 2025 guide (T4015, Rev. 25) is current, and nothing in the regulation suggests the date rule will change. The return is the T5 slips plus one T5 Summary (T5SUM) totalling them.
Who has to file a T5, and the $50 rule
Anyone who pays or credits dividends, interest or certain other investment income to a resident of Canada files a T5. There's one exception that matters most: no slip is needed for a recipient whose total for the year is less than $50 canada.ca. The test is per recipient, per year, so three $20 dividends to one shareholder add up to $60 and need a slip.
| Payment | T5 slip? |
|---|---|
| Taxable dividend of $50 or more to one recipient in the year | Yes |
| Total under $50 to one recipient in the year | No |
| Capital dividend | No |
| Amounts paid to nonresidents of Canada | No |
| Interest one individual pays another, such as a private mortgage | No |
| Interest part of a blended payment made by an individual | No |
| A year with nothing paid or credited | No return at all |
Payments to people outside Canada belong on a different return, covered on the NR4 deadline page.
Dividends a private corporation pays its owner
This is the T5 most accountants actually prepare: an owner manager paid by dividend instead of salary. The corporation is the payer, so it issues the slip, and each shareholder gets their own. A spouse holding shares gets a separate T5 for their dividends.
Dividends other than eligible go in box 10, with the taxable amount (box 10 plus the 15% gross up) in box 11 and the dividend tax credit in box 12 at 9.0301% of box 11. Eligible dividends go in box 24, the taxable amount (plus 38%) in box 25 and the credit in box 26 at 15.0198% of box 25 canada.ca.
| Box | Worked example | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Dividend other than eligible paid to the owner | $40,000.00 |
| 11 | $40,000 x 1.15 | $46,000.00 |
| 12 | $46,000 x 9.0301% | $4,153.85 |
| 24 | Eligible dividend paid in the same year | $10,000.00 |
| 25 | $10,000 x 1.38 | $13,800.00 |
| 26 | $13,800 x 15.0198% | $2,072.73 |
Whether a CCPC can designate a dividend eligible depends on its GRIP, which the GRIP page walks through, and the rates behind boxes 11 and 25 are on the dividend gross up page. One trap: when the shareholder is a holding company, fill in box 24 but leave box 25 blank canada.ca. A capital dividend from the capital dividend account never goes on a T5.
Online filing once you pass 5 slips
A T5 return must be filed electronically when more than five of that type are required for the calendar year laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Each slip counts as one information return, so a corporation with six shareholders who each got $50 or more is over the line. The CRA accepts Web Forms or Internet File Transfer
canada.ca.
Filing on paper above the threshold triggers a flat penalty under subsection 162(7.02) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca:
| Slips of one type | Penalty for filing on paper |
|---|---|
| 5 or fewer | Nil |
| 6 to 50 | $125 |
| 51 to 250 | $250 |
| 251 to 500 | $500 |
| 501 to 2,500 | $1,500 |
| More than 2,500 | $2,500 |
Late filing penalties
A late T5 falls under subsection 162(7.01), which charges the greater of $100 and a daily amount for up to 100 days, scaled to the number of slips laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The T5 is one of the returns Regulation 205(3) prescribes for that subsection, and the guide confirms the range: $100 minimum, $7,500 maximum
canada.ca.
| Slips filed late | Penalty per day | Maximum (100 days) |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer than 51 | $10 | $1,000 |
| 51 to 500 | $15 | $1,500 |
| 501 to 2,500 | $25 | $2,500 |
| 2,501 to 10,000 | $50 | $5,000 |
| More than 10,000 | $75 | $7,500 |
Worked example: a family corporation with 3 slips files 20 days late. The daily amount is $10 x 20 = $200, which beats the $100 floor, so the penalty is $200. File 8 days late and the math gives $80, so the $100 minimum applies instead. For a small corporation the worst case is $1,000.
If the corporation also files its T2 late, that penalty is separate and much larger; see the T2 late filing penalty page.
When the corporation stops operating
The February date assumes the payer is still in business. A person who discontinues the business or activity must file the return within 30 days of discontinuing it laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. So a corporation that pays a final dividend and winds up in July owes its T5 in August, not the following February. The T2 side of a wind up is on the T2 deadline after dissolution page.
Sources
Does my client need a T5 for a $30 dividend from their corporation?
No. A slip isn't required when the total paid to one recipient for the year is less than $50 canada.ca. The dividend is still taxable to the shareholder and still has to be reported on their T1.
What does my client do if a T5 hasn't arrived by early March?
Contact the payer, not the CRA: the CRA says a missing slip has to come from the issuer, and it suggests waiting until every slip is in before filing canada.ca. Then check CRA My Account. A T5 shows there, and in the auto fill service tax software uses, only once the issuer has sent it to the CRA, which expects most slips processed by mid March
canada.ca. If the slip still can't be had in time to file, your client can estimate the income from their own statements and include a note naming the issuer and its address, the type of income and what they're doing to get the slip. On an electronic return, keep the note and statements in case the CRA asks
canada.ca.
Can the corporation email T5 slips to shareholders?
Only with the recipient's written consent. Without it, the payer can post the slip on a secure portal the recipient can print from, or hand over two paper copies, by the last day of February canada.ca.
Does a holding company file a T5 if it paid nothing this year?
No. There's no T5 return for a year in which the corporation didn't pay or credit any amounts, and the CRA asks you not to send a T5 Summary with no slips canada.ca.
Is the T5 penalty counted per slip or per return?
Per slip. Each slip is an information return, so both the late filing scale and the more than 5 online rule count slips of the T5 type, not the single T5 Summary.
General information for the tax year shown, not advice for a specific client. Confirm the facts before you file or remit.