ARCHIVED Services Pay Directive: 1986-146 (52)

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December 1, 1986


Ottawa, Canada
K1A 0S5

SUBJECT : Statement of Remuneration - Forms T4/T4A and Relevé 1/Relevé 2

1. PURPOSE

1.1 The purpose of this directive is to advise departments that, for the 1986 taxation year, the above-noted documents will be provided in a self-mailer format (enveloped).

2. CANCELLATION

2.1 This supersedes and replaces Services Pay Directive 1986-013(04) dated January 31, 1986.

3. BACKGROUND

3.1 As a result of the Privacy Act and the direction laid out in Treasury Board (T.B.) Circular 1984-72, Supply and Services Canada (SSC) took the necessary steps to ensure that pay cheques, pay stubs and T4/Relevé forms travel in sealed envelopes. Services Pay Directive 1985-028(10) dated April 17, 1985 highlights a new enveloping service provided by SSC.

4. POLICY

4.1 Following an extensive review which involved the examination of numerous options, it was determined that a self-mailer format is the most efficient and least costly to implement. This concept, while different, is not unique or revolutionary to the Federal Government since the self-mailer form has been successfully utilized by the various pension applications administered by Supply and Services Canada.

5. PROCEDURES/INSTRUCTIONS

5.1 Unique remuneration forms (T4/T4As) were, in previous years, utilized by the Federal Government for its employees and pensioners. This was largely due to the fact that individuals employed by the Federal Government were in receipt of benefits not provided by employers in the private sector. However, it has become increasingly apparent in recent times that the general T4/T4As used by most private employers have involved to the point where past differences in the two documents were minimal. Consequently, meetings were held with Revenue Canada - Taxation in order that measures could be taken for the development of common T4/T4A forms. That is to say that the formatting, physical set-up and the colour of the Federal Government forms will be identical to those utilized by private sector employers.

5.2. T4 Originals and Amendments

1. Original self-mailer T4s will be issued to all employees paid through SSC paying offices. The T4 self-mailer is a two part form consisting of an employer copy to be retained by Departmental Personnel Offices, and the enveloped portion, containing the required employee copies for filing and record purpose. Furthermore, Revenue Canada - Taxation has agreed that since Supply and Services Canada is providing them with a magnetic tape containing the required information, they do not require that an actual paper copy be submitted to them.
2. Where amendments are required, paying offices will issue them using regular non self-mailer T4s. Consequently, since these statements will not be pre-enveloped, departments must ensure that they are enveloped prior to their distribution to the affected employees. Additionally, since amendments are not sent to RC-T via magnetic tape, paying offices must ensure that the Taxation copy of the T4 is forwarded to them.

5.3. T4A Originals and Amendments

1. Original T4A self-mailers will be issued to all employees paid through SSC paying offices. The T4A self-mailer will also be a two part form consisting of the employer copy (retained by personnel) and the enveloped portion, consisting of the necessary employee copies for filing and record purposes. Since, Supply and Services is providing Revenue Canada with the required information on tape, an actual paper copy need not be submitted to them.
2. Where amendments are required, paying offices will issue them utilizing non self-mailer T4As. Again, as is the case for T4s, since these remuneration statements will not be pre-enveloped, departments must ensure that they are enveloped prior to releasing them to their employees. Since amendments are not identified to Revenue Canada via magnetic tape, paying offices must ensure that the appropriate Taxation copy of the T4A is sent to them.

5.4 A study was also conducted, whereby the feasibility of producing Federal Government Relevé 1 and 2 forms identical to those utilized by private employers in the Province of Québec was also examined. However, the Québec Provincial remuneration statements are produced in a unilingual French format only. Consequently, since the Federal Government has a bilingual requirement it was impossible to devise common forms.

5.5. Relevé 1/2 Originals and Amendments

1. All original and amended Relevé 1 and 2 forms will be produced and distributed in the self-mailer format only.

6. INQUIRIES

6.1 Any queries on the foregoing should be addressed to Advisory Services - Pay (953-2194).

Original Signed by
E. S. Zenowski

E. S. Zenowski
Director
Personnel Products Branch
Accounting, Banking and Compensation Directorate