In this edition of Questions From Clients, Kelley Doerksen, CFP®, CIM® explains how RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans) work. Learn about some of the key concepts surrounding RESPs such as grants, contributions, and withdrawals.
RESPs are a very effective way to save money for your child’s post-secondary education as you receive grants from the Government when you make contributions to the RESP.
An RESP will provide you with a 20% grant from the Government when you make contributions. You can receive up to $500 a year in grants. However, if you’ve missed some years of making contributions, you can go back and you can receive up to $1000 a year of the current year’s grants and previous year’s missed grants. You can continue to receive grants for your child until your child is 17, so long as you’ve started making contributions prior to their age 16.
When you go to withdraw from an RESP, although there are some rules and regulations, it’s actually fairly simple. When your student starts University or Post-Secondary, so long as they’re in a qualified post-secondary institution, you can begin withdrawals.
The student will need to provide proof of enrolment, and from there, RESP withdrawals can be made. There is no limit to how many dollars of contributions that can be taken out, however in the first year of school, there is a limit to the amount of grants and growth that can be withdrawn during the first 13 weeks of school.
The nice thing about an RESP is that your contributions have already been taxed when you’ve made the contribution initially to the RESP, and you won’t pay any tax on the contributions when they are withdrawn.
The grants and the growth are going to be taxed in the hands of your child. Many students don’t pay tax or pay very minimal tax while they’re students in University; therefore an RESP is a very effective way to income split from your assets to your child and potentially see no tax on the grants and the growth when that withdrawal is made.
To learn more about the terminology and specific rules pertaining to RESP accounts, please watch this video. If you have questions about how to use an RESP, please contact us and we’d be happy to help.
One of the objectives of estate planning is to review and minimize potential taxes on your remaining assets.
Lets review how some common assets (RRSP/RIFs, TFSAs, Non-Registered Accounts, and Principal Residences) are taxed upon death.
RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) / RIF (Retirement Income Fund)
The accounts can be left to a spouse as a named beneficiary. This transaction will generate a tax slip, but this is not a taxable event. The spouse can receive the proceeds of the RRSP/RIF.
In some circumstances, the RRSP/RIF could also pass to a dependent child without triggering tax.
TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account)
No tax and no reporting is necessary.
If a spouse is named as the successor owner, the full value of the TFSA can become the spouse’s with no tax impact (even if the successor owner spouse may have no TFSA room available).
You can name beneficiaries such as children, and the assets would be provided once appropriate legal requirements are met after death.
Non-Registered Account
Death is a taxable disposition and all assets are deemed disposed on the date of death (meaning they are considered sold). The applicable gain or loss must be considered and tax paid.
Principal Residence
No tax is owing on the sale of a principal residence, however it must be noted when filing taxes that the property was deemed disposed.
If you have a question pertaining to your specific financial situation or need some assistance with estate planning, please reach out and our financial advisors would be happy to assist you. You can learn more about the estate planning services we provide here.
We invite you to join us for an upcoming webinar, Protecting Your Estate hosted by Daniel Collison on March 16, 2022 7:00-8:00pm. Register for the webinar here. The registration form enquires who invited you to this event – please fill ‘Blackburn Davis Financial’ in this field. Please feel free to pass this invitation along to any family member or friend you think would find it useful.
If you have any questions or would like further information about this event or speaker, please reach out to us.
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.
Here are the contribution limits and cut-off dates for RRSP and TFSA contributions if you are planning to make one this year and have not already done so.
What is the contribution limit and deadline for RRSP accounts?
The cut-off date for your RRSP contributions to count toward reducing your income for 2021 is Tuesday, March 1, 2022. In order to meet this deadline, you should make your contribution by February 25 to allow for your deposit to clear your bank account. The contribution limit for the 2021 taxation year was 18% of your taxable income up to a maximum of $27,830, whichever is less. The contribution limit for the 2022 taxation year is a maximum of $29,210. If you have unused contribution room from previous years, you may use this room as well.
What is the contribution limit for TFSA accounts?
If you would like to contribute to a TFSA for 2022 the limit is $6,000 for the year, unless you have not maxed out your contributions. The maximum one could have deposited into their TFSA account since 2009 is $81,500 as of 2022. Please note that the Portfolio Managers will be processing these contributions between January 15 – February 11.
How To Make an RRSP or TFSA Contribution? Contributions can be made through one of the following methods:
Transfer from Non-Registered Account: If you have a Non-Registered account set-up with enough funds in it, you can simply send your Financial Advisor an e-mail indicating the amount you would like transferred from this account to your RRSP or TFSA. Instructions must be sent to us by 11:00am on Friday, February 25 in order to meet the deadline.
Online Banking Transfer (Bill Payment): Add your Custodian (“Credential Securities” or “National Independent Network”/”NBIN”) as a “Payee” through your online banking and enter your account number as the bill account number. If you need assistance finding your account number or are unsure who your Custodian is, please contact your Financial Advisor. If you choose this method, please also notify us with the amount you are contributing, so we can have your Portfolio Manager watch for it. Please note this must be submitted before midnight on Monday, February 28 in order to meet the deadline.
EFT from your Bank: You will just need to sign an EFT form if you have not already done so, which allows your Custodian (Credential or NBIN) to take the money directly out of your account with your consent. Once you have signed the form, you will need to email your Financial Advisor to indicate the one-time amount you are authorizing the Portfolio Manager to withdraw from your bank account and which account (RRSP or TFSA) you would like it deposited to. We must receive these instructions by Friday, February 25 at 3:00pm at the latest in order to process before the deadline.
If you have any questions or would like to book a video or phone appointment to review your accounts, please contact our office.
