Thread: Spouse & RRSP
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Old 01-15-2020, 09:39 AM   #14
Slava
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Calgary, Alberta
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wormius View Post
So is there a simple explanation of the reasoning behind why it can’t simply be merged into either her RRSP or my RRSP?
That part I'm not sure of. I just know that for clients who have had a divorce and would really like to have all ties severed that this is a spot where we can't do it. It could have to do with the attribution and tracking, but I'm not sure.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverKast View Post
Don't the attribution rules only apply to the current year and previous two? So as long as I contribute to a spousal RSP now and she doesn't cash any until we retire 15 years down the road it will be taxable in her name?

Just curious as I currently put most of my contributions into a spousal RSP as I have a large amount in mine, but my wife has almost no income and a very small amount in her RSP plan. The last few years before retirement I'd stop contributing to hers, and once it eventually rolls to an RIF it would simply be the required withdrawals from her plan. Under this scenario there should be no income attribution back to myself should there?
Yes, that's right. It's not that the attribution rules last many years, but you just need to be aware of them as a possibility. The split I was talking about is say you want $100k in income. You could withdraw that from one RRSP after age 65 and split it $50k each so that each individual has a lower income. This helps with things like that OAS clawback and reduced taxation and things like that.
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