A common concern we receive from individuals who are late filing personal income taxes is how to get lost or misplaced tax slips from previous years (for example T4s, T5s, T3s, etc.).

It can seem overwhelming to try to look for all the tax slips however it is actually very simple to receive them. Every time your employer or payer issues you a tax slip, a copy is sent to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) which means you can simply request copies for past years from CRA by using the online My Account for individuals service or speaking to a CRA agents at 1-800-959-8281. Before calling, have your Social Insurance Number handy and be prepared to answer a few security questions. There is what we call a Catch 13 (Catch 22 after-tax ). When you call CRA they need to identify to that it is really you – this is good. However, in order to identify you, they usually ask for information from your prior recent tax returns that probably have not been filed. Try to have the CRA officer use other information they have on you to ask questions so they can identify you. Writing a letter to CRA to acquire your slips is not a sure outcome.

Another option is to contact TaxWatch Canada and authorize us with CRA, we can usually obtain the tax slips on your behalf. There is no obligation to TaxWatch Canada for this service.

If all else fails, your final option is to file only one year of your tax returns that you have all the information for  (hopefully a recent year)  - then you will receive the assessment from CRA for this one year and now you can call them and they can identify you and send you what they can provide. The Catch disappears.

If you haven’t filed for a while and are concerned about ‘revealing’ yourself to CRA, just give us a call first to talk about this valid concern (1-877-800-9343).

 If you require a current year’s tax slip you must obtain it from your employer/issuer.

If you are missing slips for EI, CPP, and/or OAS you can obtain past and current tax slips electronically by visiting Service Canada.

Penalty alert:

If you miss a t-slip (income) on your return (even if CRA has it) you could be penalized 20% of the amount of income (unreported) that was on the missing slip.

Keep in mind that there may be other documents pertinent to your tax return that CRA may not receive copies of and/or is not able to provide you with like slips for tuition deductions (T2202As), T5008s for certain capital gains/losses and some RRSP contributions. These documents may have to be obtained from the original issuer.

If you are missing medical expense receipts CRA will not have these on file. Expense reports can often be obtained from your pharmacy – just ask for the yearly tax print out for the years in question. Keep in mind that unless the expenses are fairly significant in comparison to your income, the effort of obtaining these receipts may not be worth it. Talk to us or a tax professional before proceeding.

Certain other income and/or expenses can be estimated if necessary, please speak with us or another tax professional before proceeding.

Read more in our previous post: How to File Back Taxes in Canada

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