Translation disclaimer
This translation was prepared by Tax Interpretations Inc. The CRA did not issue this document in the language in which it now appears, and is not responsible for any errors in its translation that might impact a reader’s understanding of it or the position(s) taken therein. See also the general Disclaimer below.
Principal Issues: 1) Whether the transfers of two Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) to an RRSP would be considered as part of a series of periodic payments if the transfers are made in two different years?
2) Whether a transfer of a US 401(k) to two different IRA followed by the transfer to an RRSP would be eligible for the deduction pursuant to paragraph 60(j)?
Position: 1) No if there is no other payment.
2) The fact that the amount in a foreign retirement arrangement originally came from a US 401(k) plan will not in itself prohibit the deduction under paragraph 60(j).
Reasons: Previous positions of CRA.
Financial Strategies and Financial Instruments Roundtable, 11 October 2013
2013 APFF Conference
Question 7
TRANSFER OF A FOREIGN RETIREMENT ARRANGEMENT ("FRA")
Questions to the CRA
The transfer of a foreign pension fund to a registered retirement savings plan ("RRSP") will be possible if the conditions of paragraph 60(j) are satisfied. One of the conditions contemplates an eligible amount through the application of section 60.01. This section states the following:
Eligible amount
60.01 For the purpose of paragraph 60(j), the amount, if any, by which
(a) the amount of any payment received by a taxpayer in a taxation year out of or under a foreign retirement arrangement and included in computing the taxpayer’s income because of clause 56(1)(a)(i)(C.1) (other than any portion thereof that is included in respect of the taxpayer for the year under subparagraph 60(j(i) or that is part of a series of periodic payments)
exceeds
(b) the portion, if any, of the payment included under paragraph 60.01(a) that can reasonably be considered to derive from contributions to the foreign retirement arrangement made by a person other than the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s spouse or common-law partner or former spouse or common-law partner,
is an eligible amount in respect of the taxpayer for the year. (Our emphasis)
In this definition, it is stipulated that the eligible amount of an FRA must be a payment that is not part of a series of periodic payments.
Situation 1
A Canadian taxpayer held two Individual Retirement Accounts ("IRA") accounts with a value of $200,000 each for a total of $400,000. The Canadian taxpayer completely transferred one of the IRA accounts ($200,000) to his RRSP in 2013 and claimed the deduction pursuant to paragraph 60(j). In a subsequent year (consecutive or not to that of the first transfer), he transferred the other IRA account of $200,000 into his RRSP and claimed the deduction provided under paragraph 60(j) for that later year.
(a) In this situation will the CRA consider the amounts from the two IRA accounts as part of a series of periodic payments?
(b) Would the answer be the same if the Canadian taxpayer transferred a $400,000 IRA account to two separate IRA accounts and subsequently transferred them to an RRSP as described in the previous example?
Situation 2
A Canadian taxpayer holds a 401(k) account under the US Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and its subsequent amendments ("401(k)"). This account, valued at $400,000, is transferred to two separate IRA accounts, valued at $200,000 each. Subsequently, the amounts in the IRA accounts are transferred to an RRSP account. Is this series of transactions eligible for the deduction under paragraph 60(j)?
CRA response
For the purposes of our response, we have assumed that the IRA accounts that you refer to in your question are plans covered by the definition of FRA in subsection 248(1).
Situation 1
In order for an amount received under an FRA to be an eligible amount within the meaning of section 60.01, paragraph 60.01(a) requires, inter alia, that the amount not be part of a series of periodic payments.
The question of whether a payment was part of a series of periodic payments is a question of fact. In general, the CRA considers that a series of periodic payments consists of at least three equal or similar payments made at regular intervals. In other words, a lump sum that is paid in two instalments can, as in this case, not constitute part of a series of periodic payments.
For your questions (a) and (b), if no other payments were made, we would not consider that the payments referenced in your question were part of a series of periodic payments.
Situation 2
A taxpayer transferring amounts from an FRA to an RRSP may qualify for the deduction under paragraph 60(j) where all the conditions of this provision are satisfied. The fact that the FRA amounts originally came from a 401(k) plan is not sufficient in itself to prevent that deduction.
Catherine Ayotte
(819) 243-7306
2013-049369
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