Missing Tax Slips in Tax Season 2025
Many Canadians were alarmed this tax season when their key income slips – like the T4 from employers or T5 from banks – didn’t show up by the usual deadline. Normally, employers must issue T4 slips by the end of February, and most people receive all their tax slips by that time. By early March 2025, however, countless taxpayers were checking their CRA My Account or waiting by the mailbox, only to find nothing. This widespread delay led to confusion and stress: How can you file your tax return if you haven’t received your T4 or other slips? Was it an error with the CRA’s system, or did employers drop the ball?
The reality is that 2025 brought an unusual situation. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) introduced a new validation process for organizations uploading tax slip data. This change was meant to improve accuracy, but it slowed down the processing of slips – meaning many slips weren’t appearing online as early as in previous years. In fact, some banks and payroll departments had difficulty submitting files through the new system, causing backlogs. If you were missing all your slips well into March, you were not alone. The issue was systemic, not personal.
What People Thought Was the Solution
Facing this scenario, people tried to figure out what to do. A few common reactions were:
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Blame the Employer: Many assumed their employer or slip issuer failed to send the forms on time. After all, “Your employer should have issued your T4 slip to you before the end of February,” as per CRA guidelines. Some worried that employers were breaking the rules or that they might need to report them.
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Wait it Out (File Late): Others thought they simply had to wait longer and delay filing their tax return. If the slip wasn’t available, how could they file? Some even considered postponing their tax filing past the April 30 deadline, assuming there’d be no penalty since it wasn’t their fault.
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Use CRA Auto-Fill Only: Canadians who rely on the CRA’s Auto-fill My Return service were puzzled when it fetched nothing. A common thought was “Maybe the CRA hasn’t processed my slip yet. I’ll wait until it shows up in Auto-fill.” People hesitated to manually enter amounts, fearing errors if the official slip wasn’t in hand.
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Panic and Call CRA: Unsurprisingly, CRA’s call centers heard from many distressed taxpayers. Some opened support tickets or spent hours on hold, hoping a CRA agent could “find” their missing slips or advise what to do next.
These reactions are understandable – under normal circumstances, any of them might make sense. Usually, if your T4 is missing after February, it could mean an oversight by your employer, and waiting a few days or contacting CRA might resolve it. But in 2025’s case, these assumptions didn’t get to the root of the problem.
Why the Common Answers Were Wrong
The usual fixes weren’t working because this wasn’t a normal year. Here’s why those common approaches missed the mark:
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It Wasn’t (Entirely) Your Employer’s Fault: In 2025, the CRA extended the deadline for employers and other issuers to submit tax slips. Normally due by February 28, the CRA granted relief from late-filing penalties as long as T4s, T4As, T5s and similar slips were filed by March 7, 2025. This one-week grace period was given “due to ongoing challenges” with the new filing system. In other words, your employer legally had a few extra days to get you the slip. If you received your T4 in the first week of March, they were actually on time under this special extension. So, accusing employers of missing the deadline was premature – they were likely scrambling to comply with the new CRA process within the extended timeframe.
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CRA’s Systems Caused Delays in My Account: Even after slips were submitted, the CRA’s new validation process meant some slips took longer to appear in My Account and Auto-fill. The CRA acknowledged that “some issuers have had difficulties uploading tax slips, resulting in certain slips not appearing in My Account… as early as in previous years.”. This was a system-wide delay. So waiting for Auto-fill to magically update wasn’t helpful – the delay was on the CRA’s end, and it wasn’t predictable how quickly it would catch up. If you only relied on CRA’s online data, you might have been waiting needlessly long.
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Filing Late Is Risky (and Unnecessary): Generally, if you don’t file by April 30, you risk late-filing penalties and interest. The CRA never advises waiting beyond the deadline for a missing slip. In fact, they explicitly encourage filing on time even if a slip is missing. The logic is: you should do your best with the information you have, rather than delay your whole return. In 2025, the CRA did announce special relief giving some taxpayers until June 2, 2025 with no penalties or interest (particularly for those with certain capital gains situations) – but this was not a blanket extension for everyone. If you wrongly assumed you had an automatic extension and waited, you could be in trouble unless you met the specific criteria. In short, playing the waiting game was not the correct approach for most people.
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Calling CRA Didn’t Speed Up the Fix: Phoning the CRA about a missing slip likely got you confirmation of the known issue, but not your slip itself. Agents were aware that many slips hadn’t been uploaded. Unless there was a unique problem with your account, there was little a phone rep could do except tell you to use the copy from your employer or keep waiting. The CRA publicly stated that they were “working with issuers to address any outstanding issues and ensure tax slips are made available as soon as possible.” In other words, they were fixing the pipeline behind the scenes – an individual phone inquiry couldn’t override the backlog.
In summary, the delay was a system issue paired with an official deadline change. It wasn’t a case of one employer forgetting a slip or a glitch only affecting a few people. This means the solution required understanding the broader picture rather than quick individual fixes.
How to Handle a Delayed T4 Slip
If you find yourself without an expected T4 or other slip, don’t panic. Here’s how to handle the situation correctly:
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Check All Sources for Your Slip: Just because a slip isn’t in your CRA My Account doesn’t mean you don’t have it. Employers and financial institutions are required to send slips directly to you (by mail, email, or through an employee portal). For 2025, most employers still aimed to issue T4s by end of February, and with the special allowance, by the first week of March at the latest. Look through your email (including spam folders) for any messages about tax documents. If you have an online payroll account (e.g. ADP, Workday), log in and download your T4. Likewise, banks and investment companies might have slips available in your online banking or investment portal by early March even if they aren’t yet in the CRA system.
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Follow Up with the Issuer if Needed: If March is well underway and you truly have no copy of a slip (nothing in the mail, email, or online portal), reach out to the issuer. It’s possible your employer or bank did send it, but to an old address or a wrong email. Confirm they have your correct contact information and ask if the slip was issued. Remember, thanks to the CRA’s concession, a slip sent by March 7, 2025, was considered on time. After that date, if you still don’t have it, the issuer might have overlooked it or there’s another issue. Don’t be afraid to politely remind them of their obligation. (If an employer went out of business, you can contact the CRA for guidance – they might have a copy on file or advice on how to reconstruct the info.)
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Use the Information You Do Have: In a pinch, you can estimate your income and deductions from that slip. The CRA advises that even without all slips in hand, you should file by the deadline using the best information available. For a missing T4, you likely know your annual salary or hourly wage. You can use your final pay stub of the year (which typically shows year-to-date income and taxes paid) to fill in the T4 amounts on your return. Similarly, a missing T5 (interest slip) can be estimated from your bank statements (sum up the interest deposits). Keep these backup documents – if the CRA needs to verify later, you have proof of how you arrived at those numbers. It’s better to file an accurate estimate than to file nothing at all by April 30.
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File Your Tax Return on Time (April 30): For most Canadians, April 30 is the tax filing deadline. Meeting this date is crucial to avoid late-filing penalties. Even with a missing slip, send in your return by April 30 with the estimates or partial information. Clearly, you should correct the return later if needed (see next point), but do not miss the deadline because of one document. The CRA’s general guidance is clear: “Even if you don’t have all your tax slips, we encourage you to file by the deadline to avoid penalties and interest.” By filing on time (or early), you safeguard yourself from the 5% late-filing penalty and daily interest charges that would otherwise apply to any balance owing.
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Adjust Your Return if New Information Comes: What if your slip finally arrives and the numbers differ from what you filed? Don’t worry – you can fix it. After filing, you can use the CRA’s “Change My Return” service or send a T1 adjustment request to correct any amounts once the actual slip is in hand. For example, if you estimated $50,000 employment income but the T4 says $52,000, you can adjust the $2,000 difference and the CRA will recalculate your tax. As long as you reported something reasonable and then promptly corrected it, the CRA will understand (especially given the known 2025 slip delays). This approach is far better than waiting until after April 30 to file in the first place.
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Stay Informed for Updates: Finally, keep an eye on official CRA announcements in unusual tax seasons. In 2025, the CRA publicly acknowledged the slip issue and even provided targeted relief (like extending slip deadlines and waiving some penalties). These updates were posted on the CRA website and through tax professionals. Knowing about the March 7 extension, for instance, could save you from panicking about an “late” T4 that actually wasn’t late. Similarly, be aware of any special filing extensions (in 2025, a small extension to June 2 was offered for certain filers). While such measures may not apply to everyone, they indicate the CRA’s flexibility in extraordinary situations. Information is power – the more you know, the more calmly you can navigate tax-time surprises.
Conclusion
The 2025 tax slip delay was an unexpected hurdle for many Canadians, but it came with a silver lining: a clear reminder to stay flexible and informed during tax season. The key takeaways are simple – don’t jump to conclusions, don’t procrastinate, and use the resources at your disposal. In this case, what seemed like a personal problem (a missing T4) turned out to be a nationwide issue that the CRA and employers worked to resolve. By understanding why the delay happened and following the correct steps, taxpayers could still file accurate returns on time.
In any tax year, if you’re faced with a confusing situation, remember to verify the facts (through official CRA updates or trusted financial forums) and then take action accordingly. Most importantly, ensure you fulfill your filing obligations one way or another. With a bit of patience and the right approach, you can overcome hurdles like delayed slips and avoid costly mistakes. Here’s to a less confusing tax season next year, and to being prepared for whatever twists Canadian tax rules might throw our way!