Why is Box 14 different from gross pay on the T4 Recap report?

Total Gross Pay includes all money paid to employees, including Pension income and Other income that is not reported in Box 14 on the T4. Box 14 should only include earnings and taxable benefits to be reported to Box 14 as required by Revenue Canada, for example, company paid life insurance.

To understand the difference:

  1. Calculate the difference between Gross pay and Box 14.

  2. Review your company setup to determine if taxable benefits are included in Box 14 and if earnings are excluded from Box 14.

  3. Review the Earnings Matrix or the Deduction\Benefit Matrix. This report displays each code and the box values are directed to on the tax form.

    • If tax forms were requested, open the most recent Tax Forms Package. Go to the Year-End Reports page.Closed From the Reports menu, select Year-End Reports.

    • If tax forms were not requested, open Additional Reports from the last pay of the year.  Go to the Payroll Reports page.Closed From the Reports menu, select Payroll Reports.

  1. Calculate the difference between Gross pay and Box 14.

    Gross pay 1,309,279.97
    Box 14 - 1,369,963.60
    Difference 60,683.63

  2. Review the Matrix report to find the answers.

In this example, all earnings are included in Box 14 so earnings do not account for any of the difference. However, the Matrix report reveals the following taxable benefits are reporting to Box 14:

  • 41R – AD&D

  • 43R – LIFE IN

  • 63R – SL RRSP

Validation:

Gross pay 1,309,279.97
41R – AD&D 803.52
43R – LIFE IN

3,213.51
63R – SL RRSP + 56,666.60
Box 14 1,369,963.60