14 September 1989 Ministerial Letter 74208 F - RRSP

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the CRA.
Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle de l'ARC.

September 14, 1989

Your letter of June 23, 1989 addressed to the Sudbury Taxation Centre has been forwarded to this Division for reply.

You have requested a ruling involving a specific proposed transaction; i.e., the proposed designation under subsection 146(8.1) of the Act of an amount paid out of a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) to the referenced Estate.  We are unable to process your request as it has not been submitted in the manner set out in Information Circular 70-6R.  The minimum fee referred to in paragraph 5 of the Circular, which must accompany an advance ruling request, is now $325 and the hourly rate is $65.

As noted in Information Circular 70-6R, we do not give opinions in respect of specific proposed transactions other than as a reply to an advance income tax ruling request.  We are, however, prepared to offer the following general comments.

The Department's views concerning designations of amounts paid out of an RRSP to the estate of the annuitant are set out in Interpretation Bulletin IT-500.  Where the RRSP is an unmatured plan, the comments in paragraph 9 and 10 of that bulletin are applicable.  Also relevant, as indicated in paragraph 10 of the Bulletin, are the comments in paragraph 6 thereof.  As noted in the second sentence of paragraph 6, the comments set out therein are subject to the exceptions set out in the second part of the paragraph.  One of these exceptions, as indicated in part (b) of paragraph 6, is that a designation is not acceptable where the spouse receives only specific bequests of assets other than RRSP proceeds.

A copy of this letter has been sent to the Sudbury Taxation Centre.

Yours truly,

for DirectorFinancial Industries DivisionRulings Directorate