T4 Box 28 — Exempt (CPP/QPP, EI, PPIP)
Three check boxes showing whether you were exempt from CPP/QPP, EI or PPIP deductions for the full reporting period.
At a glance — Box 28
- Box name
- Exempt (CPP/QPP, EI, PPIP)
- T1 line
- Not reported on T1 directly
- Check against
- Three separate check boxes on the slip, one each for CPP/QPP, EI and PPIP. Usually all three are blank.
What Box 28 means
Box 28 is not a dollar amount. It is three small boxes on the slip, one for CPP/QPP, one for EI and one for PPIP, and the employer enters an X or a check mark in whichever ones apply. For most employees all three stay blank.
A mark means you were exempt for the full reporting period the slip covers. Partial-year exemptions are never shown here. If you were exempt for part of the year and contributing for the rest, the employer reports the contributions and the pensionable or insurable earnings instead and leaves box 28 alone.
The CRA treats box 28 and the corresponding amount boxes as mutually exclusive. An employer must not mark CPP/QPP if they reported pensionable earnings in box 26 or an amount in boxes 16, 16A, 17 or 17A; must not mark EI if they reported box 18 or box 24; and must not mark PPIP if they reported box 55 or box 56.
The CPP/QPP box is also marked whenever the employer entered an employment code in box 29. Those are the situations where a deemed employer handles only part of the deductions, such as placement agency workers, self-employed taxi drivers, barbers, hairdressers and fishers.
Tax return implications
- Box 28 explains why a contribution box you expected to see is empty. It has no direct effect on the tax calculated on your return.
- A CPP/QPP mark for a full year means no contributory period was credited to you for that employment, which reduces the pension you eventually receive.
- An EI mark means you were not building insurable hours in that job, so the work does not count towards a future EI claim.
- A PPIP mark on a Quebec slip means no QPIP premiums were withheld, so there is nothing to claim at line 31205.
- Box 28 marks are among the things the CRA cross-checks in a pensionable and insurable earnings review, so a wrong mark usually surfaces as a query to your employer.
Common pitfalls & things to check
- Box 28 is not where a partial-year exemption belongs. If you turned 18 during the year, expect contributions in box 16 and a blank box 28: CPP deductions start with the first pay dated in the month after you turn 18, and the employer prorates the maximum instead of marking an exemption.
- A CPP/QPP mark together with an amount in box 16 or box 17 on the same slip is a filing error. Ask for an amended T4 before you file, because the CRA will question one of the two.
- The CRA also tells employers not to mark CPP/QPP where the only income on the slip is a retiring allowance under codes 66, 67 or 69. Retiring allowances are simply not pensionable, so no mark is needed to explain the empty box.
- A slip showing zero in box 26 for an employee who filed Form CPT30 is another case where box 28 is deliberately left unmarked, so a blank box does not always mean the employer forgot.
FAQ
My box 28 shows letters rather than check marks. What do they mean?
Payroll providers print the slip in different ways, but the CRA's instruction to employers is to enter an X or a check mark under CPP/QPP, EI or PPIP. Whatever the mark looks like, it means you were exempt from that deduction for the whole period the slip covers.
I am 17 and my box 16 is empty. Should box 28 be marked?
If you were under 18 for the entire year the employer did not have to deduct CPP, so the CPP/QPP box would be marked. If you turned 18 during the year, deductions start in the month after your birthday and box 28 should be blank.
Does a box 28 mark cost me anything?
Not on this year's tax bill. It does mean no CPP or QPP contributory period and no insurable EI hours from that employment, which affects future pension and EI entitlement rather than your current return.
Box 28 is blank on my slip. Is something missing?
No. Blank is the normal case and simply means none of the three exemptions applied to you for the full period.
Related T4 boxes
Box 14 — Employment income
Your total gross employment income for the year before any deductions — salary, wages, bonuses, commissions, taxable benefits and most other pay.
Box 22 — Income tax deducted
The total federal and provincial income tax your employer withheld and remitted to the CRA on your behalf during the year.
Box 26 — CPP/QPP pensionable earnings
Your total earnings subject to CPP or QPP during the year — typically Box 14 up to the YMPE (and up to the YAMPE if Box 16A CPP2 contributions apply).
Box 16 — Employee's CPP contributions
The total CPP (Canada Pension Plan) contributions deducted from your pay during the year — base plus enhancement rate applied to pensionable earnings between the basic exemption and the YMPE.
Filing your return? Use the payroll deductions calculator to verify the amounts on your T4 match expected CPP, EI and income tax withholdings, and the income tax calculator to estimate your refund or balance owing.
Sources
T4 box definitions from CRA T4 employer guide. Rates and thresholds current for 2025; file your 2025 T1 by April 30, 2026 (self-employed June 15).
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