This is not a TaxCycle issue, but a CRA issue. Does anyone know who to contact at the CRA to report technical issues like this:
A client has a single T4 to file and wants to file via My Business account. They are CPP/EI Exempt (boxes checked), but they are getting nonsense warnings on the CPP & EI fields.
Just talking to CRA (Note: tried the Electronic Media Processing Service folks first, who passed me to Business Inquiries, who said I needed to speak with Electronic Media Processing Service).
In the end, the CRA is aware of several problems - this issue, plus if you get past this page, there is no submit button.
No timeline given on when a fix will be made, but did confirm that there is no plan to display a problem message in the meantime.
Suggested to try again tomorrowâŚ
Way, way back, when we had these issues when I worked with CRA, weâd just plug the offending field with a â1â. Made no difference to the T/P but it allowed files to process.
Would be interesting to know if that still holds. Programmers HATE ânullâ fields.
I still do that for a T4 when I have no address for an employee. Sage is satisfied and CRA accepts it. Not my problem if an employee doesnât fill in their address on a TD1.
I called the Electronic Media Processing unit at 800-665-5164. We tried a couple of times to resolve it. The CRA staffer who was helping me suggested waiting until it is less busy. We were having trouble getting to page to refresh.
She did say you have to be sure to check the appropriate boxes in box 28 before doing anything with boxes 16 and 18. They should autopopulate with zeroes.
Yes, that is the number that I started with. But they immediately passed me to Business Inquiries, who then wanted to pass me back to Electronic Media Processing (EMP). But Iâm glad to hear that EMP listened more carefully to you. Thanks for confirming that.
In any event, CRA acknowledges that there are a number of issues:
the CPP/EI Exempt was checked off first, but the system doesnât like either NULL or zero in the associated fields for contributions/pensionable earnings/insurable earnings. And no idea what the message is about the âQPP contributions equals the income tax deductedâ (QPP isnât even offered as a field as this in an ON slip).
if you get past this page, apparently the âSubmitâ button isnât available.
It looks to me like someone put up the wrong version of the release - any tester would have found these issues. Iâm sure there is an emergency fix in the works Will see what tomorrow brings.
âAny testerâ should possibly be amended to âany tester who doesnât work for the Government of Canada, Shared Services Canada or CRAâ?
That seemsâŚrather more than basic.
Their QC really is awful. I was told during a focus group some years back that it takes EIGHTEEN MONTHS to get a change through in RAC. No idea if that is still true, but recent events would suggest that the inmates are in control of the asylum.
Today, I tried again. I also tried using a different browser - with Chrome I get farther. I was somehow able to ignore the message (the Next button was active), which took me to the T4 Summary. Alas, at the end, there was no Submit button. [grr!]
What annoys me most is that there is no easy way to report these issues (or improvements) to the CRA. Yesterday, I spent an hour on hold to tell them there is a problem with their site, which should not be my problem.
They could learn from TaxCycle (kudos intended!) and have a means to report problems with screen shots and sufficient details so that the problem can be identified and properly fixed.
Email Bob.Hamilton@cra-arc.gc.ca. Use an anon email account if you feel the need to do so. Heâs the boss (not that heâll read the email, but maybe someone will, especially if enough emails go to them that they start to get p*****d.
After reading these posts, I was prepared to be dissapointed when I started filing. I went to My Business Account and tried using my xml file from 2023. Looked good for a second and then got the red message that the business account number didnât match the xml file. So, rather than frig with that, I went back to the question where I could choose to start a new file. There are only 2 T4âs, so itâs not a lot of input. So, I entered the details, verified each slip and went to the summary page. Hereâs where the wagon went off the tracks for the second time. I only had to enter one number - my remittances for the year. Calculated result was zero, but I couldnât go any further. So, I modified my remittance amount by adding $0.01. Seems OK, and I could have then proceeded, but I didnât. Went back to the remittance block and removed my $0.01 adjustment. Hit âcalculateâ, got a $0.00 difference and submitted them. Saved the xml file for next year, assuming Iâll still be alive, and saved a pdf of the submission. T4âs do not show the input of box 45, and I know I entered a code for each slip. Now, I didnât enter my Rep ID at the beginning, as it wasnât marked as a compulsory field. CRA had pre-populated my company name and business number, so I only entered info for the boxes marked as compulsory. The problem with my xml file may have been my fault. Iâm not sure if I submitted them through My Business Account, or Rep a Client. I donât have a lot of clients with T4âs any more, but I hope I donât want to spend a lot of time on them.
It sometimes takes a few days for the submission to be processed by the CRA. You should have received a confirmation number when the file was submitted. There are a couple of things you can check after a few days:
check My Business Account and âfiled returnsâ within the payroll area.
call Electronic Media Processing unit at 800-665-5164 and give them the confirmation number. They can tell you if the file is still in the queue for processing, and they will push it for you and you will see it in My Business Account right away. This happened last year to me when the CRA had a backlog of processed T4/T5 filings.
When you get to the PD7A bal to enter, make sure it doesnât balance to zero. enter your remittance balance minus 1 cent. then it calcs to 1 cent owing, and then you can submit. how stupid. they are having a zero problem.
Iâve filed two - both with NIL balances. One from TCâs T4 and one from a Sage XML export. No issue with either (once CRA fixed their initial filing problems).