As another year closes and tax season approaches, its natural to feel a bit overwhelmed. Employers shoulder the important responsibility of calculating, withholding, and remitting income taxes to the Canadian government, all while ensuring employees receive their T4 slips by the end of February.
From reviewing taxable benefits to reconciling records and generating T4s, payroll administrators manage critical tasks to comply with CRA regulations and provide a smooth tax experience for employees.
We know tax season can feel challenging, even for experienced professionals. Thats why 91做厙 Payroll users can count on the support of our dedicated payroll experts and powerful software to approach tax season with confidence.
Leveraging insights from past tax seasons, our payroll team has compiled answers to your top questions. Let's make this year's filing a stress-free experience!
- What does it mean when I have a +/- on 91做厙s PIER Analysis Report, and what should I do now?
91做厙s Pensionable and Insurable Earnings (PIER) Analysis Report is designed to help streamline T4 preparation and quickly identify potential discrepancies in Employee CPP, Employer CPP (including Employee and Employer CPP2), Employee EI, and Employer EI.
You can easily see a discrepancy if theres an amount other than zero in any of the variance fields.
A positive (+) discrepancy means theres an over-remitted amount, or an overage.
A negative (-) discrepancy means theres an under-remitted amount, or a deficiency.
If you see a discrepancy, determine if it is valid, by:
- Totalling the CPP and Employer CPP
- Totalling the CPP2 and Employer CPP2
- Totalling the EI and Employer EI
- Take the totals above and cross-reference them with the Remittance Report to determine if you need to remit more
If you have over-remitted, follow the instructions on the PIER provided by the CRA. If youve determined that you need to make additional payments, you can view the process in our
- Why is there a PIER deficiency on 91做厙s PIER Analysis Report?
91做厙s PIER Report highlights variances that the CRA might flag, but it doesnt necessarily mean youve over or under remitted.
If the CRA inquires about these variances, youll need to provide an explanation. Possible reasons for variances include, but are not limited to:
- If an employee was on payroll, with 0 pay in a pay period
- If an employee turned 18 or 70 and started/stopped contributions
- If an employee was on leave but remained on as an active employee and active on payroll
- If you were granted an EI premium reduction, using a rate that is lower than the standard employer rate of 1.4 times the employees' EI premium
- If your company was implemented mid year.
- If an employee was paid through multiple off-cycles
Smaller variances, such as those involving pennies, are typically not scrutinized by the CRA and are often the result of rounding errors. These usually wont require further explanation.
91做厙s PIER Report is designed to help you identify and investigate variances, giving you the tools to determine their cause and decide on the appropriate next steps. For compliance and liability reasons, we cannot provide advice on specific employee variances. If youre new to reconciling a PIER Report, we recommend consulting with an accountant.
Please note, 91做厙s PIER Report is intended as a helpful tool and does not replace the CRAs official PIER Report.
- How do I send my terminated employees T4s?
Once youve edited, reviewed, and finalized your T4 package in 91做厙, youll be able to send T4s to all employees via the email associated with their 91做厙 profile. Terminated employees cannot log into their 91做厙 profile anymore to edit their email, so its good practice to check if the email on their 91做厙 account is a personal email, and update it if required. You can find the emails on file in the T4 Preview Report.
To update a terminated employees email address:
- Go to the People module on the left navigation pane.
- Under the "Directory" tab, click on the filter icon next to the "Status" column and select the "Terminated" checkbox.泭
- Follow the steps in to update an employees email.
- What do I need to consider if I joined 91做厙 part way through a calendar year?
We recommend that you follow up with your previous payroll provider to confirm they do not file T4s, as this will overstate actual earnings and will require reconciliation.
Review the company's Year-to-Date (YTD) records to ensure they include all payroll details from the 2024 periods prior to your switch to 91做厙. If you find any omissions, you can employ 91做厙's T4 Adjustment Tool to integrate the required YTD information.
Note: Your 91做厙 PIER Report may flag your CPP and Employer CPP as a discrepancy since youve joined mid year, due to the CPP per pay period exemption which would not be captured when importing YTDs.
- My previous payroll provider filed 2024 T4s for the first part of the year, what do I do?
Kindly reach out to your former payroll provider to retract the submission. If not addressed, there's a potential for duplicative reporting of your employees' earnings.
- An employee has informed me that there is an error on their T4. How do I revise a T4 thats been filed already?
If you've submitted your T619 file to the CRA and discovered an error on a T4, the CRA requires that you create and submit an Amended T4, and upload a new, updated T619 on the CRA's website.
Thankfully, you can create T4 amendments in 91做厙 Payroll! Follow for creating T4 amendments.
- Why cant I access or make changes in the Year End Adjustment tool?
Once you've produced or completed your T4 package, access to the Year End Adjustment tool will be restricted. To regain access to the Year End Adjustment tool, you must remove the T4 tax package. Be aware that deleting the tax package will result in the removal of any manual modifications made to the T4s within the T4 module. You cannot delete the tax package once its finalized.
- Where can I obtain a copy of my T4 summary?泭
The T4 summary can be found within the T4 module beneath each individual employee's T4s. Additionally, it can be accessed when downloading the tax package.泭
- Am I required to send my employees a new TD1 form to fill in?
Employers must have new employees fill out federal and provincial TD1 forms at the time of hire. Subsequently, employees should update and submit revised TD1 forms if there are modifications to their tax deductions, place of residence, and/or SIN.泭
10. What steps should I take if I forgot to add a terminated employee to 91做厙 after finalizing the tax package?
泭
If you forgot to add a terminated employee to 91做厙 after finalizing the tax package, you wont be able to use 91做厙 to generate, file, or send the employee a T4. Instead, youll need to manually prepare their T4 outside of 91做厙 using the .泭
Want to learn more? Weve got you covered.
For a comprehensive guide on how to navigate year-end, refer to our , which includes a year-end checklist to help you stay on top of critical tax season tasks, and detailed instructions for:
- how to review and adjust records
- how to issue, edit, and file your T4s and RL-1s
- how to set up for the next payroll year
