How to read a T4A(P) slip without guessing

Dear reader,

Every February, a slip arrives for anyone who received a Canada Pension Plan benefit the year before. It is called the T4A(P), Statement of Canada Pension Plan Benefits, and for most people it is the simplest slip of the tax season. It is also the one that most often gets a puzzled second look, because the main figure on it rarely matches the quick sum people do in their heads.

This letter goes through the slip box by box, using the descriptions the Canada Revenue Agency publishes, and then explains the three ordinary reasons the total can differ from “my monthly pension times twelve”.¹

When it arrives, and where else to find it

Most tax slips are sent by the end of February.² The CPP slip can also be viewed, saved and printed in My Service Canada Account, where slips for the current year and the past six years are kept, and the current year’s electronic copy is available from 1 February.³ If you live outside Canada, you receive an NR4 instead, which is covered in what changes when you move abroad.

If the paper slip goes missing, there is no need to wait for a replacement in the post. The online copy is an official slip.

The boxes, one by one

The T4A(P) groups its boxes into two kinds: boxes that describe what you were paid, and a single box that gives the total you report. The CRA’s descriptions are summarized below.¹

T4A(P) boxes, as the CRA describes them

Box	What it shows	On the return
13	Onset or effective date: when the benefit became payable	For information
14	Retirement benefit	Already in box 20
15	Survivor benefit	Already in box 20
16	Disability benefit	Line 11410 (also in box 20)
17	Child benefit	Already in box 20
18	Death benefit	See the CRA’s notes
19	Post-retirement benefit	Already in box 20
20	Taxable CPP benefits	Line 11400
21	Number of months, disability	For information
22	Income tax deducted	Line 43700
23	Number of months, retirement	For information

Summary for orientation only. Always follow the wording on your own slip and the CRA’s current instructions; box numbers and line numbers can change.

The important thing in that table is the word already. Boxes 14 to 19 are a breakdown of box 20, not additions to it. Adding the retirement benefit in box 14 to box 20 would count the same money twice.

Why box 20 is not twelve times your payment

The quick check people make is to take the monthly deposit and multiply by twelve. It rarely matches, and there are three common, entirely ordinary reasons.

The pension started part-way through the year. If the first payment came in, say, May, the slip covers eight months, not twelve. Box 23 shows the number of months of retirement benefit paid.

The amount changed in January. CPP benefits in pay are adjusted each January for the cost of living. If you compare a slip for one year with a deposit from the following year, the two will not line up.

Tax was deducted. The deposit that reaches your bank is after any income tax you asked to have withheld. Box 20 is the amount before that deduction. The tax itself sits in box 22.

Box 20 can also include amounts paid for an earlier period, such as arrears, and recoveries of overpayments, according to the CRA’s description of the box.¹

Worked example · illustrative

Situation	Monthly	Months	Box 20
Pension paid all year	$900.00	12	$10,800.00
Pension started in May	$900.00	8	$7,200.00
Started in May, $90 tax withheld each month	$900.00	8	$7,200.00

Invented amounts for arithmetic only, not a typical or average pension. In the third case box 20 is unchanged; the deposits were $810.00 a month, and box 22 would show $720.00 of tax deducted.

Box 22, and the tax many people forget to ask for

CPP is taxable income, but tax is only taken off if you ask for it. If box 22 is empty, no tax was withheld, and the full tax on the pension will be settled when you file. For someone with other income, such as a workplace pension or RRIF withdrawals, that can mean a balance owing in the spring.

Box 22 is not a penalty or a charge; it is a prepayment, and it is claimed on line 43700 like the tax shown on an employment slip. Whether to have tax withheld, and how much, depends on your total income. Service Canada can set up a voluntary deduction on request.

Important

The T4A(P) shows CPP only. Old Age Security comes on a separate slip, the T4A(OAS), with its own box numbers. Check that you have both before filing if you receive both pensions.

A slip that looks wrong

Before assuming a mistake, check the three reasons above, then compare the slip with your payment history in My Service Canada Account, which shows the current year and the two before it.³ If the figures still do not match, call Service Canada. The CRA cannot change a slip; it can only use what the issuer sends. If Service Canada issues an amended slip, use the amended figures.

Couples who share their CPP pensions will see the shared amounts reflected on each person’s slip, because each pays tax on what they actually receive. That arrangement is explained in how CPP pension sharing between spouses actually works.

Who this matters for

• Anyone in their first full year of CPP, whose slip will almost certainly not be twelve equal months.
• Anyone who started a survivor’s or disability benefit, or received a death benefit, during the year.
• Anyone with no tax withheld from CPP who also has other pension income.
• Anyone who files for a parent and needs to find the slip online.

The takeaway

The T4A(P) is short, and only two of its boxes go on most returns: box 20 and box 22. The rest explain where box 20 came from. If the total looks too low or too high, the explanation is usually a start date, a January adjustment or tax withheld. Keep the slip with the return for six years, as set out in the letters worth keeping in a folder.

P.S. The next letter goes out on Tuesday. If it does not reach you yet, the reply card is below.