TFSA Contribution Room

[kevs]

Hi,

My common law partner (PR) and I (Canadian), moved to Canada in 2013 (year that she received PR status). We have never contributed to TFSA's, and have not lived in Canada since they were created (2009).

We submitted our tax return for 2013, and received a notification from the CRA indicating we have $31.000 of contribution room, as of December 31st, 2013.

However, we went to the bank recently, and were told that we should only have contribution room for 2013 and 2014, years that we were residents (which should be $10.500).

Can anyone indicate which information is correct? We did indicate on our tax returns the date we became residents of Canada, so why would the CRA indicate inaccurate information?

Thank you for any help you can provide.
Regards.

 

[Amadan123]

Hello kevs,

According to the information provided, if you became a resident of Canada for tax purposes in 2013, and if you obtained a SIN in 2013, then you should have been accumulating a TFSA contribution since 2013. With 2013 and 2014 combined, this would give you a total room of $11,000, each.

You should contact the CRA at the individual helpline 1-800-959-8281 and write a letter to them explaining your situation.

Please see this link for more details: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/tfsa-celi/cntrbtn-eng.html

Madan Chartered Accountant team
www.madanca.com

 

[expert_law]

Hello,
Can anyone help me with this - I received an educational letter from CRA on TFSA over-contribution. As per the letter, I have exceeded the TFSA contribution for 2022 by $9,000. So far, they are not charging penalty for this over-contribution. When I checked my CRA account it showed me that my contribution as of 1 Jan 2023 is only $2,500 (I guess this is due to the fact that a contribution room of $6,500 was added on 1st Jan 2023).

In this scenario, I have 2 questions:
a) What amount do I need to take out from my TFSA ($9,000 or $2,500) ?
b) How much time I have to withdraw the money (received the letter from CRA on 18th June 2023)? The money in TFSA is in form of Non-redeemable GIC and it is set to mature end of July'2023.

Thank you