Common T4 Errors & How to Resolve Them

Navigating year-end can be complex. If you encounter errors while generating your T4s, use the table below to identify the cause and follow the steps to resolve it.

Error	What It Means	How to Fix It
Missing or Invalid SIN	The employee’s SIN is missing or is not exactly 9 digits.	Update the SIN in the employee profile, save changes, then return to Payroll → Canada → T4 EOY Summary and Refresh or Create EOY Summary again.
Invalid or Missing Province	The province of employment or residence is missing or incorrectly formatted.	Update the employee’s province using a valid two-letter code, save, and refresh the EOY Summary.
Missing Dental Benefit Code	The employee does not have a dental benefit indicator (required for T4 reporting).	Update the employee’s benefits profile with the correct dental code, save, and refresh the EOY Summary.
Missing Pension Adjustment (PA)	The employee participates in an RPP, but no PA amount exists for the year.	Enter or upload the Pension Adjustment (PA), save changes, and refresh the EOY Summary.
CPP Contributions Exceed Max	CPP contributions were over-collected during the year.	Process a Year-End Adjustment to correct the over-collection, then refresh the EOY Summary.
EI Contributions Exceed Max	EI premiums were over-collected during the year.	Process a Year-End Adjustment and refresh the EOY Summary to regenerate updated totals.
Missing T4 Mapping	A specific earning, deduction, or taxable benefit has not been assigned a CRA T4 Box number.	Review the pay component setup, assign the correct T4 box mapping, save changes, and refresh the EOY Summary. Resources: T4 Is Not Displaying the Expected Amounts
Missing Taxable Benefit	An expected taxable benefit is missing from payroll data.	Add the taxable benefit to the employee record or payslip, save changes, and refresh the EOY Summary.
Invalid Pension Reg. Number	The pension registration number is missing or incorrectly formatted.	Enter the correct 7-digit number (add leading zeros if required), save, and refresh the EOY Summary.
Missing/Invalid CRA Rep ID	The CRA Rep ID is missing or invalid, preventing electronic filing.	Update the CRA Rep ID in Company Information, save, and refresh the EOY Summary.
Invalid Reporter Phone Number	The contact phone number for the T4 filing is incorrectly formatted.	Update the Phone Number in Company Information. The number must be 10 digits only (no dashes, spaces, or area code) in the main phone field. Ensure the Area Code is entered separately if required.
Invalid XML Schema	The T4 XML file does not meet CRA’s schema requirements.	Review the validation message, correct the underlying data issue, then regenerate the XML by refreshing the EOY Summary.
Distribution Stage	Inactive Employees within the T4 process	Temporarily set the employee status to Active and trigger the distribution again. A successful confirmation message should appear, and the T4 status will switch to "Complete."

⚠️ Important Reminder

After fixing any T4 error, you must follow these steps to ensure the data updates correctly:

1. Save your changes in the employee or company profile.

2. Return to Payroll → Canada → T4 EOY Summary.

3. Update your summary based on your current stage:

   • If you are just starting: Select Create EOY Summary.

   • If you have already generated it: Select Refresh to pull in the new data.

4. Review the affected employee T4 PDFs and the summary report to confirm the correction was applied.