Report amounts on your tax return

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• COVID-19 benefits on your T4A slips
• Report income tax deducted at source
• Tax exempt income

COVID-19 benefits on your T4A slips

The COVID-19 benefit amounts you received from the CRA are in boxes 197 to 204 and 211 on your 2023 T4A slip. If you received more than one COVID-19 benefit, add up each benefit amount you received from your T4A slip.

Enter the total amount you received on line 13000 of your tax return. If you are filing a paper return, specify the type of income you are reporting. Attach a list if you received more than one benefit.

Find your COVID-19 related amounts on your T4A

Benefit repayments on your T4A

If you received a COVID-19 benefit from CRA in previous year, any repayments you made will display in box 201 on your T4A slip. For details: Find your repayments on your T4A slip

Options to claim a repayment as a deduction

If you repaid benefit amounts before January 1, 2023, you may choose when and how to claim the deduction on your tax return.

For details: Impact on your taxes – Repay COVID-19 benefits

Report income tax deducted at source

If you received the CWLB, CRB, CRCB or CRSB, the CRA withheld a 10% tax at source on each payment. Enter the income tax deducted from box 022 on line 43700 on your 2023 tax return.

For Quebec residents, the 10% tax withheld at source is split:

• 5% on your T4A slip
• 5% on your RL-1 slip

Tax exempt income

If your income is eligible for tax exemption under section 87 of the Indian Act, your benefit payments may be tax exempt. Your payments are taxed in the same way your income was taxed during the timeframe that entitled you to the benefit.

• If all of your income was tax exempt, then the benefit is also tax exempt
• If only some of your income was tax exempt, only some of your benefit payments may be tax exempt.

Tax exemption timeframes for COVID-19 benefits

CERB

You earned the income that entitled you to the benefit in 2019 or in the last 12 months before you applied for the CERB.

Canada recovery benefits (CRB, CRCB, CRSB)

You earned the income that entitled you to the benefit in 2019, 2020, 2021, or in the last 12 months before the date you applied.

All CRB, CRCB, and CRSB payments had a 10% tax withheld at source, even if your income was tax exempt. You may be able to get some or all of that tax back by filing a 2022 tax return.

Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLB)

You earned the income that entitled you to the benefit in 2020, 2021, or in the last 12 months before the date you applied.

All CWLB payments had a 10% tax withheld at source, even if your income was tax exempt. You may be able to get some or all of that tax back by filing a 2022 tax return.

The CESB is not tax exempt under section 87 of the Indian Act.

If you are not sure if your income is tax exempt, or need more details:
Taxes and benefits for Indigenous peoples