How to Handle Union Dues on T4s for Canadian Unions

If you pay union dues in Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) allows you to deduct certain union fees on your tax return.

If your members pay their own union dues and the employer withholds the dues from their pay, that information should be detailed on their pay stubs. At the end of the year, they should note the amount of dues they paid in box 44 of their T4 slips.

This seems fairly straightforward, but it can get confusing or overwhelming when employers are not remitting the proper information to the union, or your union does not have a proper method of tracking the amount of dues on behalf of each member for their T4. 

Whether your signatory companies are remitting your members dues on their behalf, or the members are paying dues themselves, they are entitled to a taxable benefit at the end of the year if properly submitted.

The best way to ensure members get every hard earned dollar back in tax season is to make sure you track their union dues effectively. Getting a modern member management system like Union OS is crucial not only to tracking and collecting dues. but in generating T4s for those members every year. Union OS not only lets members pay dues online and tracks employer remittances, but it also lets you instantly generate T4s for your members at the end of the year!

If you are a union member looking to get your dues recorded on your tax return, reach out to your local union representative and ask them how Union OS and Union.dev can help!