7 December 1993 External T.I. 9329715 F - RRSP Qualified Investments

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.

PRINCIPAL ISSUES:

Revenue's refusal to rule on the eligibility of a specific bond as a qualified investment for an RRSP.

POSITION TAKEN:

We can not give a ruling as it is a question of fact that must be established at the time of acquisition of the bond by the RRSP. The RRSP annuitant can not establish the eligibility with certainty before that time.

REASONS FOR POSITION TAKEN:

General Policy

FINANCE OPINION:

na

JURISPRUDENCE:

na

RCT PUBLICATIONS:

IC70-6R2

HAA NUMBER:

HAA 7255-7

Attention:  XXXXXXXXXX

Dear Sirs:

RE:  Qualified Investments and Foreign Property

This is in reply to your letter of October 7, 1993, in response to our letter of July 21, 1993, requesting clarification of why a ruling could not be given concerning the status of certain bonds as qualified RRSP investments.

As stated in our previous letter, the eligibility of an investment can only be determined on the basis of the facts at the time the investment is to be acquired. When these facts are known in advance and it can be demonstrated that they will not differ at the time of acquisition, an advance income tax ruling can be given; however, we would generally expect that only the issuer of a bond or other security would be in a position to offer such assurance.

With respect to foreign bonds, the problem is further compounded by the fact that most debt obligations issued by foreign entities are not qualified investments for RRSPs. However, as stated in our previous reply, draft Regulations are proposed which may provide for their greater eligibility.

Advance income tax rulings may also only be provided when they are requested in the manner described in the Department's Information Circular 70-6R2 and the special release to it. Copies of these are enclosed for your reference.

We regret that we can not be more specific in this matter but trust that our replies will be of assistance

Yours truly,

for DirectorFinancial Industries DivisionRulings Directorate