Missing T4 Slip? How to File Your Canadian Tax Return

A missing T4 slip does not make the income disappear from your tax return. First, ask the employer for a copy and check your CRA account. If the slip still cannot arrive in time, CRA explains how to use a supported estimate.

However, an estimate should come from records, not a guess. Gather your pay stubs now so you can separate gross income from the amount that reached your bank account.

Check whether the missing T4 slip was issued

Most T4 slips are sent by the end of February following the tax year. Use the year you are filing for when you contact payroll. For example, a slip for work in 2025 is not the same as the pay records you are collecting during 2026.

Next, check any secure payroll portal you used at that job. If you left the employer, ask how former staff can obtain their slips. Also, confirm the mailing address the employer used.

CRA's tax-slip retrieval instructions list the employer and My Account routes. However, CRA cannot provide a slip before the issuer has sent it to the agency. A blank account list is not proof that you earned no income.

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Intuit also offers a guide to getting a copy of your T4. It explains the employer and CRA account routes.

Missing T4 slip: prepare your records

A T4 records employment income and related amounts for the year. The official T4 box guide explains where those amounts go. Your net bank deposit is not a substitute for all of those entries.

Build a worksheet with separate rows for each employer. Then record gross pay, income tax deducted and the other amounts supported by your pay records. Use the final year-to-date figures when they accurately cover the year.

Be careful with totals on a stub. For example, adding every year-to-date amount from every paycheque counts the same earnings repeatedly. Instead, use a consistent method and write down how you reached each total.

Missing T4 slip: filing with an estimate

CRA permits an estimate based on pay stubs or financial statements when you cannot get the slip in time. Its instructions also require an explanation identifying the issuer, the income type and your efforts to obtain the slip.

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1. Collect the relevant pay records and check the tax year.
2. Calculate supported totals for income and applicable deductions or credits.
3. Write a note explaining the missing slip and your calculation.
4. Follow the instructions for your filing method.
5. Keep the original records and your requests to the employer.

If filing electronically, retain the documents for a possible CRA request. If filing on paper, attach copies of the supporting records and note as instructed. However, keep the originals yourself.

If your pay includes complex benefits, a correction or income from more than one country, ask for help with the calculation. A neat worksheet is useful, but it does not resolve a tax rule you do not understand.

Missing T4 slip: what to do when it arrives

Compare the slip with the figures you filed. If they match, keep both records together. If they differ, identify the affected amounts before making a correction.

Then follow CRA's tax-return change process after assessment. Do not file a second original return to replace the first one. Also, do not add the whole T4 as new income if you already reported an estimate for that job.

What if the employer's slip is wrong?

Contact the employer and explain the specific mismatch. For example, provide the year and the amount that differs from your records. Keep the exchange so you can show why you questioned the figure.

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What if I cannot access CRA My Account?

You can still ask the issuer for the slip. Our CRA account guide explains account access, while our first Canadian tax return guide covers the wider filing task. Finally, keep pursuing the missing document after you file.

Missing T4 slip: check for duplicate records

You may find the same slip in both a payroll portal and your CRA account. First, compare the employer, tax year and figures. Two copies of the same slip do not mean two sources of income. However, do not merge slips merely because the employer names look similar; check the actual records.

Next, label each copy clearly. Keep one folder for the year being filed and another for current-year pay records. This makes it easier to avoid using a recent pay stub to support income from an earlier year.

Build a record of your estimate

For each figure, note the source and your calculation. For example, write which final pay stub supplied a year-to-date total. If you added individual payments instead, keep the list used. Do not mix the two methods without checking for overlap.

Also, mark any figure you cannot support. A blank cell is a prompt to investigate, rather than a reason to copy a number from last year's return. If a tax preparer helps you, show the worksheet and explain which slip is missing.

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Check the return once more before filing

Finally, compare any automatically imported information with the amounts you entered yourself. Make sure the same job has not been counted twice. Save the filed return with your note so you can compare it with the actual T4 when it arrives.