Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)/Temporary Wage Subsidy(TWS)/T4 Preparation

As you are aware, there are many benefits that have been available to employers over the past several months. Some of these benefits will affect the way that T4s are prepared in 2020.

Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
This benefit assisted employers who had a drop in revenue during the year and could apply to CRA to have a percentage of their wages reimbursed to them. This benefit requires a separate application form to CRA and will not affect the way that T4s are prepared.

The deadline to file the reports is nearing if employers have not yet filed the application. For Claim Periods 1-5 (based on March – July 2020 revenue), the deadline is January 31, 2021. Starting with Claim Period 6, the deadline is 180 days after the ending date for the application period. Period 6 covered the time from August 1-29, 2020, so the application deadline will be February 25, 2021.

Temporary Wage Subsidy (10%)
The temporary wage subsidy is a benefit, that from March 18 – June 19, 2020, reimburses you up to 10% of the remuneration you pay up to $1,375 per eligible employee. The maximum total for each employer is $25,000. This subsidy could be reduced from source deductions remitted to the government or it could be carried forward to use on future payments.

In order to reconcile the amount that was reduced for the TWS, CRA is requiring that all employers fill out a PD27 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy Self-identification Form for Employers. This form is required to be filled out by all employers who claimed either CEWS or TWS. If you claimed CEWS, but not TWS, the form needs to be filled out with a claim of 0%.

The PD27 form can be found on CRA’s website and can either be mailed to CRA or uploaded through My Business Account or Represent a Client.

T4 Preparation
While preparing the T4s for 2020, please note that there are four new boxes that need to be filled out for all employees, regardless of whether any COVID subsidies were applied for. Gross income should still be entered in Box 14 as usual, but in addition, the following boxes need to be reported to CRA:

• Code 57 – Employment income – March 15 – May 9
• Code 58 – Employment income – May 10 – July 4
• Code 59 – Employment income – July 5 – August 29
• Code 60 – Employment income – August 30 – September 26

The amounts reported in these boxes are based on dates paid, not when the money was earned. Therefore, if an employee earned wages from August 23-29 that were paid on September 4, the amount would be reported under Code 60.