Tax & Retirement Planning Guide
As you get ready for the close of 2019 and start to prepare for tax season, please note these important year-end dates for your investment account.
We encourage investors to seek qualified tax planning advice to develop a strategy that's appropriate for their unique situation.
Date
Action
Friday December 13, 2019
Making charitable donations from your investment account:
If you wish to donate money from your investment account to a charity, this would be the last day to contact us for this donation to qualify for the 2019 tax year. Any requests after this date will be done on a best-effort basis.
Tuesday December 31, 2019
Contributing to an RESP or TFSA:
This is the final date to contribute to a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) or Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) to make sure it counts for the 2019 tax year. Keep in mind that banks can take 2 to 4 business days to transfer money to us.
For TFSAs, to confirm if you still have available contribution room and to make sure you don’t over-contribute, contact the Canada Revenue Agency for an official statement. Check the TFSA contribution rules.
• Lifetime contribution limit per beneficiary $50,000. The government matches a portion of your contributions with the Canada Education Savings Grant. • Maximum total CESG limit per beneficiary $7,200 You have some flexibility to catch up if you miss the RESP contribution deadline but the sooner you contribute, the sooner your money can start earning investment returns for you.
RRSP Overcontribution Rules
A monthly penalty tax of 1% is applied to RRSP contributions made in excess of the maximum contribution limits.
• If an individual is over the age of 18, they are entitled to a cumulative overcontribution limit of $2,000 to an RRSP before the penalty tax is applied.
For more information visit:
Spousal RRSP Rules
Any amounts that may be contributed to an individual’s own plan under their personal RRSP deduction limit may be contributed to a Spousal RRSP instead.
• For a 2019 withdrawal, the contributor declares income if contributions were made to any Spousal RRSP in 2017, 2018 or 2019.
• Contributions to a Spousal RRSP may be made by a contributing spouse up to and including the year their spouse turns 71 (tax deductible to contributing spouse), provided the contributor has available RRSP room.
For more information visit:
TFSA Contribution Limits
• TFSA annual contribution limits are indexed to inflation and will increase in $500 increments. Individuals must be the age of majority in their province of residence to open a TFSA. In BC, NS, NB, Newfoundland, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the age of majority is 19.
• If you’ve never contributed to a TFSA and were at least 18 years of age in 2009 and have been a Canadian resident since then, your 2019 contribution limit will be $63,500.
For more information visit:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/tax-free-savings-account/contributions.html