Calgary 
As the federal government gears up for the launch of the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), aimed at enhancing dental care accessibility, the Canada Revenue Agency recently announced changes to T4/T4A reporting.
New T4 Slip/ Credit; CRA
Canadian Dental Care Plan is set to benefit up to 9 million uninsured Canadians with a family net income below $90,000 annually, providing dental coverage without co-pays for families earning under $70,000. Health Canada is expected to roll out the plan by the end of 2023, with more details to be released shortly.
To facilitate this initiative, new reporting requirements have been introduced for employers.
Starting with the 2023 tax year, employers and pension plan administrators must report on T4 and T4A slips whether employees and their families had access to dental insurance or coverage, including health spending and wellness accounts, as of December 31st of the tax year. This information is crucial for Health Canada to determine eligibility for the public dental plan. Canadians with private dental benefits will not be eligible for the public plan.
To support these requirements, T4 slips have a new mandatory Box 45 labelled “Employer-offered Dental Benefits,” and T4A slips have a new Box 015, “Payer-offered Dental Benefits,” which is mandatory if an amount is reported in Box 016 (Pension or superannuation).
New T4A Slip/ Credit; CRA
Code 1 in the box indicates no dental insurance access, Code 2 means the plan covers only the employee, Code 3 includes the employee, their spouse, and dependent children, Code 4 is for the employee and spouse, and Code 5 covers the employee and their dependent children.
For the 2023 calendar year only, it is not mandatory to fill out the new box if code 1 (indicating no access to any dental care insurance) is applicable, provided that reasonable efforts to comply with the reporting requirements have been made. However, starting in 2024, this information will be mandatory for all applicable slips.
Per the news release, failing to report this information may result in financial penalties, and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) may reject slips filed without this information.
This policy is part of the government’s commitment to make dental care more affordable and accessible in Canada, ensuring that all Canadians, regardless of their employment status or income, have access to essential dental services.
