Every year, Canadian schools face the same challenge—preparing and submitting tax information slips for students accurately and on time. Whether you manage a college, university, trade school, or training institution, ensuring accurate T2202 and T4A slips is essential for CRA compliance.
In this guide, we’ll walk through what these forms mean, how to prepare them correctly, common pitfalls to avoid, and how using AvanTax eForms or AvanTax Filing Services can simplify your entire process.
What Are T4A Slips and Who Needs Them?
Educational institutions issue T4A slips to report amounts paid to students for scholarships, bursaries, fellowships, and other non-employment payments. A student receives a T4A slip if they have received scholarships, research grants, prizes, or similar payments during the year.
Key points to remember:
- T4As are provided to students in order to report amounts which were provided to the student.
- Accurate information—such as SIN, name, and address—is critical to avoid rejections.
What Are T2202 Slips and Why Are They Important?
The T2202 (Tuition and Enrolment Certificate) confirms that a student paid eligible tuition fees and was enrolled in a qualifying program. It is issued to all students who have paid tuition and fees for qualifying courses that are eligible for a claim on their income tax return.
- Who receives a T2202: Full-time and part-time students who paid eligible tuition fees during the year.
- Information to be included:
- Institution name and business number (BN)
- Student’s name and SIN
- Eligible tuition fees paid
- Months of full-time or part-time enrolment
If students don’t use their credits, they can carry them forward or transfer them to a parent, grandparent, or spouse.
CRA Filing Deadlines and Compliance Rules
Both T4A and T2202 slips must be filed with the CRA by the last day of February each year (or the next business day if that falls on a weekend). Schools issuing more than five slips must file electronically in CRA’s ,b.XML format via the CRA online portal.
Common fling errors include:
- Missing deadlines
- Incorrect SINs, names or addresses
- Erros in tuition or enrolment data
The most frequent problem? Missing or inaccurate Social Insurance Numbers. An incomplete or incorrect SIN can cause CRA rejections and make it difficult for students to file their own tax returns.
How AvanTax Solutions Makes T2202 and T4A Filing Easy
AvanTax offers two solutions designed specifically for Canadian educational institutions:
- AvanTax eForms – A self-serve, CRA-compliant desktop software that lets you prepare, validate, and file slips for all your students.
- AvanTax Filing Services - Prefer a hands-free approach? Our experts handle everything on your behalf - from data validation to CRA submission so you can focus on your students, not paperwork.
Why schools trust AvanTax
- CRA-compliant XML filing
- Automatic data validation and error checks
- Secure bulk generation of slips
- Fast, reliable electronic filing
Take the Next Step
Don’t wait until February to think about your school’s tax slips. Simplify compliance today with AvanTax.
- AvanTax eForms Demo – Try the AvanTax eForms demo and see how easy it is to prepare CRA-compliant T2202 and T4A slips. It's free, and there is no obligation.
- Talk to Our Experts – Contact AvanTax Filing Services to discuss our full-service support options.
With years of experience serving Canadian schools, colleges, and universities, AvanTax Solutions can help you stay compliant, avoid penalties, and save valuable time during year-end reporting.
Simplify your tax season with AvanTax
Canada’s trusted solution for T2202 and T4A compliance
As you may already have learned, Adrem Software is no longer publishing their excellent T4-T4A-T5 Printer software.
While we're sorry that one of our favourite cpmpetitors is no more, and we really don't enjoy benefitting from their misfortune, the fact remains that you do still have your 2025 tax submssions to complete. We want to assure you that our eForms software, and its fast and friendly technical support team can help you out of this situation; even at this late date.
Give us a call or send us an email, we'll be happy to help you
For several weeks we have helped you to deal with multiple issues introduced by recent changes to CRA's XML submission site. During this time, we have also repeatedly asked CRA for an extension to their filing deadline to make up for the delays caused by these changes.
Today, we are happy to report that CRA has extended the submission deadline from February 28, 2025 to March 7, 2025 for all returns having a submission deadline of February 28, 2025.
On January 15, 2025, CRA's updated XML submission site went live. Since that date, many clients have contacted us to report various issues when submitting their XML files to CRA. These issues concern the CRA and cannot be resolved by updating eForms, we list them here to make you aware of some problems you may run into:
1 - Previous year's XML submissions to CRA will be rejected unless they are in the 2024 XML format.
- We've created a free utility to help you update previous year XML files to the 2024 format
- Click here to download the utility.
2 - Transmitter names with an ampersand may be rejected for including an invalid character.
- This issue can be avoided by replacing '&' with 'and'
3 - The CRA XML schema allows the Transmitter Account Number in Transmitter Setup to be a BN9, BN15, NR4 or Trust account number, and the CRA submission site requires that this number match the log in account number. Since the CRA site accepts BN15 only, log in will fail if Transmitter Setup includes a BN9, NR4 or Trust account number.
- This issue can be avoided by entering a BN15 account number in Transmitter Setup
4 - The CRA XML schema allows the option of using a Transmitter Account Number or a RepID Number in Transmitter Setup. Log in will fail if the Transmitter Account Number is blank.
- This issue can be avoided by entering a BN15 account number in Transmitter Setup
5 - Several clients have informed us that CRA XML submissions will be rejected if they contain abbreviated numbered street names, such as '17th Ave.'.
- We have been told that this issue can be avoided by replacing '17th Ave.' with 'Seventeenth Ave.'
6 - The CRA XML submission site allows XML uploads to be continued, despite receiving pre-processing validation notices.
- If you've confirmed that your data contains no errors, we suggest continuing with the XML upload; but be aware that CRA may still reject your XML submission as it moves further into their system.
We have created a utility to help you update previous year XML files to the 2024 format. The utility is absolutely free for anyone to use, whether or not they have purchased anAvanTax eForms license. Click here for more information
It has come to our attention that the CRA XML submission site fails to validate XML submissions when the filer name (transmitter name) contains the '&' character. Until such time as CRA resolves this issue, you can prevent the error by opening the Transmitter Setup dialog in eForms, and replacing '&' with 'and' in the 'Name line 1' field under 'Transmitter Information'. You will need to do this once for each eForms user who generates XML files for submission to CRA.
BREAKING: 2025-01-17 - CRA has informed us that they are working to resolve the ampersand issue.
Additionally, due to changes made by CRA to the XML submission process, CRA now requires that XML submissions for previous years must include the 2024 version of the T619 record. We are working with CRA to minimize the impact of this requirement, and will post further details here as they become available. Click here for the process
BREAKING: 2025-01-24 - We have created a utility to help you update previous year XML files to the 2024 format. Click here to download the utility
And finally, the XML submission site which was used to upload XML submissions in the past has been deactivated. We have updated eForms accordingly, and CRA has (on our suggestion) updated the deactivated page to redirect filers to the new XML submission site by clicking the 'Internet file transfer application - Disclaimer' link. Click here for the website
Starting on January 1, 2024, the Canadian government has introduced the second additional Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions, also known as CPP2. This is a part of the CPP enhancement plan.
There has always been a “ceiling” for the calculation of contributions called YMPE (yearly maximum pensionable earnings) which is set at $68,500. Now there is a second ceiling called AYMPE (additional yearly maximum pensionable earnings).
For the 2024 tax year, the additional yearly maximum pensionable earnings (AYMPE) is set at $73,200. Both the employee and employer contribution rate is 4%. This means the maximum annual employee and employer contribution is $188, and the maximum annual self-employed contribution is $376.
CPP2 maximum = (AYMPE – YMPE) x 4% = ($73,200 – $68,500) x 4% = $188
How eForms Adjusts CPP (2024 rates - Adjustments using 2024 rates & CCP2 will be available in the eForms release scheduled for May, 2024)
The basic calculation of CPP is 5.95% of the pensionable earnings up to a maximum of the first ceiling (YMPE) of $68,500 less $3,500 exempted amount. The maximum contributory earnings for the year is thus $68,500 – $3,500 = $65,000 and the maximum contribution is $65,000 x 5.95% = $3,867.50.
The exempted amount of $3,500 must be prorated depending on how long the individual was a pensionable employee during the year. So someone who didn’t work the full year or was too young or too old would have a prorated exemption.
eForms' adjustment options allow for calculation of CPP in two ways.
Option 1: Adjust if Over Maximum or Under Required Minimum
The first method allows for a range where the maximum is calculated without the $3,500 exempted amount and the required minimum is calculated with the full $3,500 in the calculation. This method would be used if you cannot prorate the $3,500 because you don’t know the # pensionable weeks for each employee.
Example: Pensionable earnings of $60,000
- Minimum CPP = ($60,000 - $3,500) X 5.95% = $3,361.75
- Maximum CPP = ($60,000 - 0) X 5.95% = $3,570.00
Any value between the min and the max is acceptable and will not be adjusted by eForms. If the value entered in the slip differs from this by more than the threshold selected by the user (for example, by more than $1.00), eForms will adjust the amount through tax.
Option 2: Adjust Based on the Number of Pensionable Weeks
The more fine-tuned way prorates the $3,500 exempted amount based on the number of pensionable weeks. For example, someone worked half the year (26 weeks).
Example: Pensionable earnings of $60,000
- CPP = ($60,000 - ($3,500 X 26/52)) X 5.95% = $3,465.88
If the value entered in the slip differs from this by more than the threshold selected by the user (for example, by more than $1.00), eForms will adjust the amount through tax.
How eForms Will Adjust CPP2 (proposed)
The CPP2 amount is calculated the same way regardless of which adjustment options is chosen:
(The lesser of Pensionable earnings and AYMPE – YMPE) x 4%
Example #1: Pensionable earnings of $80,000
Since the pensionable earnings is greater than the AYMPE, CPP2 is AYMPE – YMPE x 4%.
- $73,200 - $68,500 = $4,700
- CPP2 = $4,700 X 4% = $188
Example #2: Pensionable earnings of $60,000
Since the pensionable earnings is less than the additional YMPE, CPP2 is zero.
In either case, any amount the user has entered will be adjusted through tax.
References
The First Home Savings Account (FHSA) was launched in Canada on April 1, 2023. AvanTax eForms for 2023 enables FHSA issuers to produce slips for FHSA account holders and XML returns to submit to CRA.
To generate slips to distribute to account holders, you may import the data from an Excel or CSV file and/or enter the data manually. Each T4FHSA slip represents the total contributions, withdrawals and transfers for the year for the account holder. The resulting T4FHSA slips can be distributed on a client portal or by eForms built-in email facility, or they can be printed and mailed.
To file an FHSA XML return, you import all the transactions for each account holder for the year. Then eForms can produce the XML and file the return with CRA.
Within eForms, the data for producing the slips is called FHSA, while the data for generating the XML file is referred to as FHSA Xml or FHSAX.
The FHSA/FHSAX capabilities of eForms requires both the Enterprise version of the software plus the FHSA add-on module. Both may be purchased on the AvanTax store.
To configure eForms for FHSA, you will need the code provided when you order the add-on module. Once the program (Enterprise version) is installed and running, select File > Configure Database and click on the Enter code button. You will be prompted for the add-on module name (“FHSA”) and the code. Then exit and restart eForms and select the File > Configure Database again. You will now see FHSA and FHSA XML in the list of Available returns. Select the two checkboxes and click Configure Database.
Producing slips, XML and other reports is done in exactly the same way as all the other return types in eForms.
The eForms website has been significantly redesigned and its underlying technology is now Next & React. This change will not only allow us greater flexibility when adding new features but it should also make this website much more enjoyable for you to look at.
In response the COVID-19 pandemic we will be updating AvanTax eForms to take into consideration additional and/or modified filing requirements as we receive new information from CRA and Revenu Québec.
December 16, 2020 - An update from the CRA: 'Home office expenses for employees - As an employee, you may be able to claim certain home office expenses (work-space-in-the-home expenses, office supplies, and certain phone expenses)'.
December 15, 2020 - CRA has released the T2200S - Declaration of Conditions of Employment for Working at Home Due to COVID-19; the Production Release of eForms will include the new T2200S form and will be available early in January, 2021.
December 1, 2020 - A T2200 update from the CRA: '4.8.3 - Millions of Canadians are unexpectedly working from home because of COVID-19 [...] To simplify the process for both taxpayers and businesses, the CRA will allow employees working from home in 2020 due to COVID-19 [...] to claim up to $400 [...] without the need to track detailed expenses, and will generally not request that people provide a signed form from their employers.'
October 22, 2020 - In discussion with CRA's Magnetic Media Processing Unit we have been informed that XML files containing the new T4 Other Information codes (See '2' above.) will not be accepted by CRA prior to January 1, 2021 (approximately). We have configured eForms so that the new Other Information codes will not be reported on T4 slips or included in T4 XML files prepared before that time.
September 17, 2020 - Due to the new Other Information codes for CERB validation on the T4 slip, insufficient fields may be left for any additional Other Information codes. We have added the ability to easily duplicate T4 slips so that additional Other Information data may be entered.
September 14, 2020 - CRA is evaluating drafts of a simplified T2200 to reduce the potential increase in workflow incurred by the large number of Canadians working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. eForms will include the simplified T2200 if and when it is released by the CRA.
September 1, 2020 - CRA has added four Other Information codes to the T4 to confirm employee Canadian Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB) eligibility; these codes have been added to eForms.
August 27, 2020 - With the potential for a significant increase in T2200 slip volume, we have added the ability to easily duplicate T2200 slips so that a new recipient name and address information may be entered.
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