Accessing and managing your tax slips

From: Public Services and Procurement Canada

This page explains how the pay system issues tax slips to public service employees. Find out what to do if you receive multiple or amended tax slips.

On this page

• How tax slips are issued
• Multiple T4 slips
• Accessing your tax slips
• Amended tax slips
• Overpayments
• Qualifying Retroactive Lump-Sum Payments
• Previous tax-year tax slips
• Related links

How tax slips are issued

Tax slips are issued by the last day of February following the calendar year to which the slips apply.

The earnings and deductions at source reported on your tax slips are based on where you work, not where you live.

• Work and live in the province of Quebec

  You will receive T4 and Relevé 1 tax slips.

  You will need both these slips to complete your taxes.

• Work in the province of Quebec and live in another province

  You will receive T4 and Relevé 1 tax slips.

  You will need to add any amounts shown in box E (Quebec income tax) on the Relevé 1 to the total income tax paid amount shown on your federal income tax return.

• Work and live in a province other than Quebec

  You will receive a T4 tax slip.

• Work in a province other than Quebec and live in the province of Quebec

  You will receive T4 and Relevé 1 tax slips.

  However, the Relevé 1 will only report your Quebec taxable benefits and any Quebec income tax deducted if you chose to have this deduction at source.

• Working from home during the pandemic

  Working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic has no impact on your province of work. If you telework from your home that is located in one province, while you normally report to an office located in a different province, for tax purposes, the province of employment used to calculate your payroll deductions at source is still the province in which your work office is located. The province indicated on your T4 corresponds to your province of employment.

Multiple T4 slips

If you receive multiple T4 slips, they must be added together to reflect your full earnings and deductions for the tax year.

You will receive multiple T4 slips if:

• you worked in different provinces in the same tax year
• your wage-loss replacement plan changes during the tax year

You will not receive multiple T4 slips if you transfer between departments located in the same province.

You will not receive multiple T4 slips if you worked from home due to COVID-19, in a different province than the one in which your office is located.

Your pension adjustment is only reported on one T4 slip. Phoenix calculates one pension adjustment at year end using the full amount of pension contributions and the total number of pensionable pay periods in the tax year.

Accessing your tax slips

Tax slips are distributed electronically. If you are a current employee, you can access your tax slips online through Phoenix self-service and MyGCPay using the Compensation Web Applications (accessible only on the Government of Canada network).

In exceptional situations, pay-related tax slips may have to be issued outside the Phoenix pay system. Effective 2019, you can access tax slips issued outside of Phoenix online, using the Compensation Web Applications by selecting Additional Tax Slips under Compensation Web Applications (CWA) pay stubs and archived tax slips.

With access to the Government of Canada network

You have 3 ways to view and download your various years’ tax slips:

If you are expecting a tax slip to be issued and it is not available online through Phoenix self-service and MyGCPay or under Additional Tax Slips by the last day of February, either contact the Client Contact Centre or complete and submit the Enquire about your pay: My Pay Enquiry form.

No access to the Government of Canada network

If you are a former employee or an employee on leave without pay, your tax slips are mailed to your mailing address as it appears in Phoenix. If there is no mailing address, your home address will be used. To avoid any delays, ensure that your current address is up to date in Phoenix. Contact your former Human Resources (HR) department or former Compensation Office to have your address updated in both the HR system and Phoenix.

All employees can access their tax slips online if they are registered with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or, if applicable, Revenu Québec online services.

Contact the Client Contact Centre if:

• you are unable to access your tax slips online
• you do not receive your printed tax slips in the mail by March 6, 2023
• you are the legal executor, administrator, or liquidator of a deceased former employee’s estate and require access to their tax slips

Amended tax slips

Amended tax slips may be issued if:

• your employer makes an adjustment to your earnings or benefits that impacts your previous year tax slip. For example, an overpayment for 2022 is reported in 2023 after your original tax slips were issued.

A tax slips amendments schedule for employees (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) is available to find out when an amended tax slip for a previous tax year will be issued.

Effective March 2, 2020, amended and cancelled tax slips include a date of issue to help identify when the tax slips were produced in Phoenix. You can find the date of issue printed below "AMEND./MODIF." on your T4 tax slip and after "AMENDMENT" on the English version of your Relevé 1 tax slip or "MODIFIÉ" on the French version of your Relevé 1 tax slip.

• How to access amended tax slips

  Amended tax slips are distributed electronically. Current employees should check online through Phoenix self-service, MyGCPay or under Additional Tax Slips using the Compensation Web Applications (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) prior to the tax return filing deadlines set by CRA and Revenu Québec. The system does not generate notifications as such employees should consult Phoenix self-service, MyGCPay or Additional Tax Slips under CWA pay stubs and archived tax slips along with the tax slips amendments schedule for employees on a regular basis to see if an amended tax slip has been generated.

  You may also be able to view your amended tax slips online if you are registered with CRA or, if applicable, Revenu Québec online services.

  If you are a former employee or an employee on leave without pay, your amended tax slips are sent to your mailing address as it appears in Phoenix. If there is no mailing address, your home address will be used. To avoid any delays, ensure that your address is updated in Phoenix through your HR system self service functionality, or contact your HR department.

• Filing amended tax slips

  You must file your tax return by the deadlines set by the CRA and Revenu Québec (if you live in Quebec).

• Not yet filed

  If you receive amended tax slips and have not yet filed your tax return, use the amended tax slips to file your tax return.

  If you are expecting amended tax slips but do not receive them in time to meet the deadline to file your tax return, use the tax slips that you have received.

• Already filed

  If you receive amended tax slips for a year within the past 3 years (not including the current year) and have already filed your tax return, you do not have to refile using the amended tax slips. CRA and Revenu Québec have agreed to automatically reassess tax returns upon receipt of an amended tax slip sent electronically from your employer when the amendment occurs within the past 3 years.

  If you receive amended tax slips for a year beyond the past 3 years (not including the current year) and you have already filed your tax return, you must request a reassessment of your tax return using the amended tax slips. CRA and Revenu Québec no longer automatically reassess tax returns if the amended tax slip is issued for a year that is beyond the past 3 years.

Overpayments

If you received an overpayment, find out how overpayments can impact your income taxes and how you can avoid them from appearing on your tax slip.

• Overpayments and options to repay them

If you have questions about the information reported on your tax slips, contact the Client Contact Centre.

Qualifying Retroactive Lump-Sum Payments

If you receive a pay equity payment or a retroactive payment due to an arbitral award and the CRA deems the payment to be a Qualifying Retroactive Lump-Sum Payment (QRLSP), a T1198 Statement of Qualifying Retroactive Lump-Sum Payment form, TP 766.2 V Averaging of a Retroactive Payment, Support Payment Arrears or a Repayment of Support form for Quebec residents, will be issued and mailed to your mailing address as it appears in Phoenix. If there is no mailing address, your home address will be used.

QRLSP forms will always be mailed to you regardless of whether you are a current employee, a former employee, or an employee on leave without pay. Completed QRLSP forms detailing your payment are not available online.

QRLSP forms are provided so that you can ask CRA (and Revenu Québec, if applicable) to determine whether it is beneficial for you to have lump-sum payment amounts applicable to previous years reviewed for tax implications. It is not mandatory to submit the QRLSP form; the choice is yours.

QRLSP amounts are included on your tax slips.

• Did not receive a Qualifying Retroactive Lump-Sum Payment form

  You will only receive a QRLSP form if the payment is deemed to be a qualifying payment by the CRA.

  QRLSP forms issued by Phoenix but undelivered by Canada Post, for any reason, will be returned to your last employing department or agency. They will make every effort to contact you or deliver your QRLSP form to you. However, if you do not receive your QRLSP form by the end of March of the following year in which the qualifying payment was issued to you, contact the Client Contact Centre.

• Submitting a Qualifying Retroactive Lump-Sum Payment form

  If you choose to submit your QRLSP form:

  1. Follow the instructions provided on the form
  2. Include it with your tax return, for the year that the QRLSP is received
  3. Keep a copy of the form for your records

• Already filed your tax return

  You must complete and send the:

  • T1 ADJ T1 Adjustment Request form to CRA, or
  • TP 1.R V Request for an Adjustment to an Income Tax Return form to Revenu Québec

Previous tax-year tax slips

You can access any previous tax year tax slips in Compensation Web Applications (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) using Phoenix self-service and MyGCPay or, for tax years prior to Phoenix, under CWA pay stubs and archived tax slips.

Related links

• Contact the Canada Revenue Agency
• Revenu Québec General Information: Individuals
• Claims for losses and damages related to Phoenix: Reimbursement for tax advice
• Frequently asked questions: 2021 tax implications of Phoenix payroll issues