Self-employment income

[floretta]

I did some work as a consultant last year for a university project. I made under 10k. I was originally told that they would issue a T4 (or other tax receipt) for this work, but now they are telling me that they don't have any kind of tax receipt for me.
How do I have to claim this income on my return?

Thanks

[strongmommy]

Hi there,

You do have to claim as income -- if the university considers you self employed then complete form T2125. The crap part is that you'll have to pay both the employee (you) and the employer (you) part of CPP on these earnings.

If you have expenses associated with this income (like paper/software/research costs and home office stuff) then claim those on the T2125 as well.

Was this income part of a research grant at all?

[floretta]

No, it wasn't a research grant. I checked my old emails and what they said was that I would be getting a T4A for the work. I didn't keep any receipts for the time when I did the work as I didn't think I would have to (due to the promised T4A). I've contacted my supervisor to see if he can figure out what's going on. Is there any way I can make them issue a T4A, like they said they would?

[strongmommy]

Hi again,

Not sure if you can force them .... but if that's what you agreed to I'm not sure why they wouldn't ... except to avoid the work of doing it. It doesn't change though that you're not an “employee“ and the income is then put on a professional statement (same form) and you can still claim expenses against it. Maybe check bank statements for debit charges or a credit card for any expenses you likely had? The expenses won't really matter if this was the ONLY income in the year you had since the $10K is under the basic deduction ... but they would help for refundable credits.

Did you have anything withheld (like CPP) on the payments they made to you? If so, then you could argue they need to issue the T4A to account for them.

Not sure what else to suggest ... and surprised (and dismayed??) that you're getting the runaround from a University!

Let me know of any other questions!