T4 Box 20 — Registered Pension Plan (RPP) contributions
Contributions you made to a registered pension plan through payroll deduction — fully deductible against employment income.
At a glance — Box 20
- Box name
- Registered Pension Plan (RPP) contributions
- T1 line
- Line 20700 — RPP deduction
- Check against
- Sum of pension amounts on pay stubs if you belong to an employer pension plan.
What Box 20 means
Box 20 shows the total you contributed to your employer's Registered Pension Plan (RPP) during the year through payroll deduction. Common in public sector and large private-sector pensions.
RPP contributions are fully deductible from income at Line 20700, lowering your taxable income dollar-for-dollar.
Your RPP contributions (together with your employer's) reduce your RRSP room through the Pension Adjustment, which appears in Box 52.
Tax return implications
- Deducted at Line 20700 — reduces taxable income on the T1.
- Triggers a Pension Adjustment (Box 52) that reduces next year's RRSP contribution room.
Related T4 boxes
Box 52 — Pension adjustment (PA)
The dollar value the CRA uses to reduce your RRSP contribution room next year when you belong to an employer pension plan.
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 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.
Box 16A — Employee's second CPP contributions (CPP2)
CPP2 contributions on pensionable earnings between the YMPE and the YAMPE — introduced in 2024 for higher earners, at a flat rate specified in the CRA CPP enhancement schedule.
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).