In our new video series, we answer common questions from our clients. In this video, Kelley Doerksen, CFP® explains the tax slips generated by different investment accounts and which slips you may expect to receive this upcoming tax season. Learn about the tax planning services we can provide you here.

TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account)

Clients often ask if they’re going to receive any sort of documentation for Tax-Free Savings Accounts. The answer is no, you don’t get any sort of slips or reporting for your TFSA contributions or withdrawals. But it’s important that either yourself or your advisor team is keeping track of those contributions and withdrawals. You can find your TFSA room on your CRA MyAccount to make sure that you’re on track for your contributions and withdrawals not going over; however, be aware that CRA doesn’t report on a regular basis for those contributions, so it’s a good idea to also keep track of these on your own.

RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) and RIF (Retirement Income Fund)

You will receive receipts for these accounts. For an RRSP contribution, you’ll receive a receipt for January 1 to December 31 as well as one for the first 60 days which is that period from January 1 to the end of February in the year following. You can use your RRSP receipts to reduce your taxable income. Watch for these to arrive around mid-March, especially for the first 60 days receipt.

When you withdraw from a RIF or from an RRSP, you will also receive a receipt. This will be a T4, so T4RRSP if you’ve taken from your RRSP or a T4RIF if you’ve withdrawn from your RIF. This is going to be added to your income and you’ll use that receipt to report your income from that registered account.

For more information about TFSA vs. RRSP accounts, refer to our infographic.

Non-Registered Accounts

For Non-Registered accounts, there is a lot more taxation involved and documentation to be aware of. You might receive a T3, which is a Statement of Trust Income, if you hold mutual funds. You could receive a T5, which is a Statement of Investment Income, which could be earned interest or dividends, etc. You may also receive a T5008, if there’s been a disposition of securities in your Non-Registered account. That slip will provide you the information that you need to file on that disposition, but make sure that you have the Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) on that form as well, otherwise you’re going to need to find out what that ACB is.

Another receipt that some of our clients receive is a Schedule K-1. This is a form for the IRS, so if you file a U.S. tax return, you’re going to need this Schedule K-1. If you’re a Canadian citizen only filing a Canadian tax return, that Schedule K-1 may or may not be important for you, and likely you’re not going to need to use it at all.

Some of these slips don’t come until mid to late March, so you should always wait until you’ve received all of your tax slips before filing your tax return.

If you need some assistance regarding your tax slips or filing your tax return, please feel free to reach out to us and/or your accountant/bookkeeper.