CD 2014-015

Subject: 2014 Year-End Requirements

Date: November 10, 2014

1. Purpose

1.1. The purpose of this directive is to provide clients and pay offices (PO) with a reference tool and direction for year-end activities.

2. Cancellation

2.1. This document supersedes Compensation Directive (CD 2013-019) dated November 27, 2013.

3. Background

3.1. Each year end, there are recurring activities that require manual action. To assist clients and POs, a single directive is now being issued on a yearly basis as a reminder of all these year-end activities.

4. Procedures and Instructions

4.1. Reminders to Clients

Clients should confirm the close-out date with their respective PO so that the information specified below will be received in the PO on time, and the amounts reported by the clients will be reflected on the original statement of remuneration forms (T4/Relevé 1).

Note: T4 statements are issued depending on the province or territory of work. If there has been a change in the province or territory of work during the year, more than one T4 statement will be issued. For situations described in Sections 4.1.1, 4.1.6 and 4.1.13 herein, clients are required to provide a written notice to report to the PO the amounts pertaining to each province or territory, so that these amounts are reflected on each T4 statement.

4.1.1. Personal Use of Government-Owned Vehicles

Clients are required to provide a written notice to the PO of the annual taxable benefit amount to be included for T4 statements and Relevé 1 purposes. Detailed procedure is outlined in the ARCHIVED CD 2004-009 dated July 9, 2004. The written notice should be submitted by the date prescribed by each individual PO in order for these amounts to be reflected on the statement of remuneration (T4/Relevé 1).

4.1.2. Pension Adjustment (PA)

It is the responsibility of the client to advise the PO of the required information concerning specific situations such as: dual employment (employee on pensionable leave without pay (LWOP) occupying a term position where he contributes to the Public Service Superannuation Account (PSSA-Fund 1), such as relocation of spouse cases), when the employee is on pensionable educational LWOP, and when the employee is on LWOP to serve as a full-time paid official of a bargaining agent (union). Please refer to the following documents:

  • ARCHIVED CD 1994-012 dated March 23, 1994, if the situation is related to dual employment or educational leave;
  • Superannuation Administration Manual ARCHIVED SAM - Special Bulletin 1999-003 dated February 15, 1999, if the situation is related to employees who are on LWOP to serve as full-time paid officials of bargaining agents (union).

Also, any employee who was on rehabilitation leave with the pension type code indicating temporary reduced hours under a rehabilitation program (code 62 in Field 39), at any time during the calendar year, will not have a PA reported automatically for this period. In order to have a PA calculated for the rehabilitation leave period, clients must provide a written notice to report to the PO the employee's number of pensionable pay periods (PP) and the amount of pensionable earnings for the period reflected under code 62 in the Regional Pay System (RPS). Please note that this period will be from the date that code 62 was entered into the RPS, and not from the effective date of the rehabilitation leave.

4.1.3. Hardship Exemption and Additional Tax Credit

Clients are reminded to amend or stop the hardship exemption and/or the additional tax credits at the beginning of the new calendar year, when applicable (e.g. Self-Funded Leave (SFL), authorization letters from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or from "Revenu Québec" (RQ) to exempt income from tax at source, deductions for the "Fonds de solidarité des travailleurs du Québec" (FSTQ), deductions for the Fondaction (les Fonds de développement de la Confédération des syndicats nationaux pour la coopération et l'emploi), deduction for alimony and/or child support payments, etc.).

Please refer to the following documents:

To assist clients with the yearly requirement to review Element 43 (Hardship Federal Exemption Amount), Element 44 (Quebec Tax Exemption Additional Amount), Element 82 (Federal Tax Credits Additional Amount), Element 85 (Quebec Tax Credit Additional Non-refundable Amount) and Element 88 (Provincial Tax Credits Additional Amount), Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) will produce a report listing employees with amounts in these particular fields. To receive their report, a representative of corporate compensation in each client department will need to send an e-mail request to rodrigo.melara@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca . The report will then be sent to the departmental representative by encrypted e-mail. The departmental representative must have an Entrust profile to receive the encrypted e-mail.

4.1.4. T4 and T4A Statements, Relevé 1 and Relevé 2 Issued to Deceased Employees

At calendar year end, statements of remuneration (T4, T4A, Relevé 1 and Relevé 2) are issued automatically by the RPS. Clients are reminded that upon receipt of statements in the name of a deceased employee, for which advance manual copies were already issued, are to be kept in the employee’s file. Please refer to ARCHIVED CD 2007-015 dated August 22, 2007.

4.1.5. 2014 T4 and Relevé 1 Statements - Status Indian

If the Status Indian's income is entirely tax exempt for the full taxation year, compensation advisors are reminded that code 0 should be indicated in Field 42 (Income Tax Status) of the Master Employee Record (MER) by processing a status change (STC - PAC 12A), before the end of the year. This will waive tax at source and have the full earnings reported in box 71 (Status Indian) of the T4 and in box R of the Relevé 1 while reporting other amounts accordingly (i.e. T4 box 20 - Registered Pension Plan (RPP) deductions and box 44 - Union dues will be blank). Failure to record code 0 in Field 42 where the Status Indian's income is entirely tax exempt for the full taxation year will result in incorrect T4 and Relevé 1 statements that will require a manual amendment by the PO. Please refer to ARCHIVED CD 1996-053 dated November 25, 1996 and ARCHIVED CD 2009-028 dated December 1, 2009.

The non-payable entitlement code “1E6 - Indian Status partial exempt earnings” is to be used to report partially exempt earnings of Status Indians. Where the Status Indian's income is NOT entirely tax exempt during the complete taxation year, compensation advisors must calculate and process an entitlement commence 1E6 (ENC – PAC 18C1E6) transaction to report the portion of the individual's earnings while working on a reserve, including taxable benefits. This pay transaction cannot be processed before January 2015. The effective from date on the PAC 18C1E6 transaction must equal 01 01 14 1, otherwise the transaction will reject with error code PB/PD 360  “EFFECTIVE FROM DATE INVALID FOR THIS TRANSACTION / DATE EN VIGUEUR DE INVALIDE POUR CE MOUVEMENT”. Report as a lump sum amount with a rate base “0”. In addition, the first three positions of F71 must contain a numeric value as follows:

  • In the first two positions of F71, enter the province of work code that corresponds to the partially exempt earnings.
    • 10 Newfoundland
    • 11 Prince Edward Island
    • 12 Nova Scotia
    • 13 New Brunswick
    • 24 Québec
    • 35 Ontario
    • 46 Manitoba
    • 47 Saskatchewan
    • 48 Alberta
    • 59 British Columbia
    • 60 Yukon Territories
    • 61 Northwest Territories
    • 62 Nunavut
  • If any other value is input in the first two positions, a reject with error message R07 “PROV OF EMPLOYMENT INDICATOR INVALID / INDICATIF PROVINCE D' EMPLOI INVALIDE” will be generated.
  • In the third position in F71, enter the Employment Insurance (EI) code that corresponds to the partially exempt earnings:
    • = EI no wage loss (casual or term employees of 3 months or less)
    • = EI wage loss (term employee > 3 months or indeterminate)
  • If any other value is input in the third position, a reject with error message R08 “EI FLAG INDICATOR MUST EQUAL 1 OR 2 / INDICATEUR AE DOIT ETRE 1 OU 2” will be generated.

This pay transaction will credit the previous year MER element 744 (Indian Exempt Income) which will result in the reporting of only the exempt portion of the earnings in box 71 of the T4 and in box R of the Relevé 1. If the wrong amount was reported on the PAC 18C1E6 transaction, a new PAC 18C1E6 transaction will be required to override the amount recorded in element 744. An amend transaction is not feasible in this case.

4.1.6. Self-Funded Leave (SFL)

In reference to ARCHIVED CD 1994-048 dated December 8, 1994, clients are reminded to provide a written notice to the PO to report the amounts deducted for SFL during the year.

Due to Quebec legislation, clients are required to calculate and provide a separate written notice for the amount deducted for SFL while the employee was working in Quebec, and for the amount deducted while the employee was not working in Quebec.

4.1.7. Vacation Travel Assistance (VTA) Payments

Clients who have issued VTA payments through their own finance sections, rather than via the RPS with the entitlement code 282, will be responsible for issuing the T4 for the amount of the payments. PWGSC will not manually update the T4 for employees who receive these payments issued through their finance sections.

4.1.8. Lump Sum Payment of Past Service Contributions from Retiring Allowances

Clients are to issue a letter to employees to report eligible amounts of retiring allowances transferred to a registered pension plan (RPP) and non-eligible amounts used to pay past service. Please refer to Section 4.4 of ARCHIVED CD 2006-002 dated January 5, 2006, for additional information.

4.1.9. Payments Made after the Closing of PP 26, but Before the Opening of PP 01 - 7A Accounts

Clients are reminded of the importance of having time summary (TIM) transactions created, verified and authorized in time to meet the close out for the final 7A PP of the calendar year.

Transactions representing the final PP that are input after the scheduled 7A close out and prior to the year end roll over (last supplementary update of the year) will remain on the employee's MER, unactioned, until the first 7A PP of the new calendar year is executed. In this situation, there is no edit message produced to alert the client or the PO.

When the first 7A PP is run in the new year, the previously unactioned transactions will process along with any new TIM transactions.

In this situation, not only is the final payment from the previous calendar year delayed, the income tax deducted will be based on the new year rate. In accordance with the CRA income tax regulations, the PO is unable to adjust the income tax in these situations. Please refer to the National Pay Processing Schedule – Year 2014.

4.1.10. Printing of Addresses on Statements of Remuneration

In reference to ARCHIVED CD 2005-007 dated May 17, 2005, clients that print addresses on statements of remuneration should ensure that their employee mailing addresses in the RPS are up to date.

4.1.11. Union Dues

In reference to CD 2012-006 dated May 29, 2012, clients should refer to section 5.1.4 of this directive concerning the issuance of refunds through their financial system, and to section 5.5 concerning the recovery of union dues paid by the Crown.

4.1.12. Change in Employer

It is extremely important that clients ensure that all transactions associated to a struck off strength (SOS), reason code 19 (employee of a department where Treasury Board (TB) is the employer, hired by an organization where TB is not the employer or vise-versa), are completed in the same taxation year as the SOS. If the account is not processed accordingly, the statement of remuneration issued by the new department will not accurately reflect the employee's earnings. Please refer to ARCHIVED CD 2002-017 dated June 27, 2002, and ARCHIVED CD 2005-017 dated September 29, 2005, for detailed procedures regarding a change in employer.

4.1.13. Non-Cash Gifts and Awards Taxable Benefits

In reference to CD 2013-011 dated June 19, 2013, clients will provide a written notice to the PO to report taxable benefit amounts for non cash gifts and awards for temporarily struck off strength (T-SOS) and SOS accounts.

4.2. Reminder to POs

4.2.1. Personal Use of Government-Owned Vehicles

On receipt of the client's written notice for an employee who received a vehicle benefit that was deemed a taxable benefit within the calendar year, the PO will credit Element 732 by the annual amount reported. As this benefit is subject to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), the PO must also credit elements 700 (year to date (YTD) gross) and 706 (CPP earnings) or 707 (QPP earnings), as applicable.

4.2.2. Pension Adjustment (PA)

Please refer to ARCHIVED CD 1994-012 concerning actions required in certain situations of dual employment and educational leave.

Please refer to the ARCHIVED SAM - Special Bulletin 1999-003 when employees are on LWOP to serve as full-time paid officials of bargaining agents (union).

Upon receipt of the client's written notice for any employee on rehabilitation leave with pension type code 62 in Field 39, the PO will credit Element 734 by the amount of pensionable earnings, and adjust Element 118 by the proper number of pensionable PP.

4.2.3. Self-Funded Leave (SFL)

Upon receipt of the client's written notice, the PO will update the appropriate elements by reducing Elements 700 (YTD gross), 706 (CPP earnings) and 707 (QPP earnings). In addition, the PO will credit Element 756 (SFL) for employees working in Quebec. Please refer to ARCHIVED CD 1994-048 for additional information.

4.2.4. Vacation Travel Assistance (VTA) Payments

Refer to section 4.1.7 herein. The PO will no longer update employee T4s with amounts paid by the departmental finance section as VTA payments.

4.2.5. Union Dues

Upon receipt of the client's written notice to adjust the employee's T4/Relevé 1 for the affected taxation year(s), the PO will update Element 717 (Union Dues) by the amount reported by the client. The PO should refer to CD 2012-006 sections 5.1.4 and 5.5.5.

4.2.6. Non Cash Gifts and Awards

Upon request by a client department for an employee who is T-SOS or SOS and received non cash gifts and awards during the year, the PO will update the element 739 (Other Taxable Allowances and Benefits) with the taxable benefit amount. As this benefit is subject to CPP/QPP, the PO must also credit elements 700 (year to date (YTD) gross) and 706 (CPP earnings) or 707 (QPP earnings), as applicable.

5. Additional Information

5.1. Printed Copies of Statements of Remuneration (e.g. T4, Relevé 1, etc.)

As electronic statements have been available to employees quickly and more conveniently via the Compensation Web Applications (CWA) over the past years, starting with the 2014 statements of remuneration, PWGSC will stop producing printed copies for employees with access to view and print their tax slips via CWA. Employees on leave status (T-SOS) and former employees are encouraged to sign up for epost in order to continue to receive their tax slips.

5.2. Statements of Remuneration Not Issued by the PWGSC Compensation Sector

Clients who issue statements to report employee income must use their own CRA and RQ payroll account numbers, and not the PWGSC Compensation Sector CRA and RQ payroll account numbers used for reporting payments issued through the PWGSC compensation systems.

6. Inquiries

6.1. Any inquiries on the information contained in this document should be addressed to your PWGSC Compensation Services Office.

Carrie E. Roussin
Director General
Compensation Sector
Accounting, Banking and Compensation

Reference(s): CJA 9007-10-2 and 9007-10-3