ARCHIVED – Transfers of Property Between Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs)
Disclaimer
We do not guarantee the accuracy of this copy of the CRA website.
Scraped Page Content
ARCHIVED – Transfers of Property Between Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs)
Archived content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.
Archived
This page has been archived on the Web.
Notice to the reader
This measure has received Royal Assent.
- What are the tax and other consequences when property is transferred between RESPs?
- What is changing for these transfers of property?
- Can you provide an example of these new rules?
- Where can I get more information on RESP property sharing among siblings?
1. What are the tax and other consequences when property is transferred between RESPs?
Currently, there are no adverse consequences when the transferring RESP and the receiving RESP have the same beneficiary. However, tax penalties and grant repayments currently may apply to transfers between individual plans for different beneficiaries unless the beneficiaries are siblings and the beneficiary of the receiving plan is under 21 years of age.
2. What is changing for these transfers of property?
For transfers of property after 2010, the budget proposes that these penalties and repayments will not arise on the transfer of property between RESPs that each have an individual as a beneficiary, where the beneficiaries are siblings and the receiving RESP was established before the beneficiary turned 21 years of age.
3. Can you provide an example of these new rules?
RESPs were opened for Monique, Suzie, John and Randy, who are siblings:
Name |
Current Age |
Age when the RESP was opened |
|---|---|---|
| Monique | 15 | 1 |
| Suzie | 18 | 3 |
| John | 22 | 5 |
| Randy | 23 | 21 |
Currently, property can only be transferred between Monique's and Suzie's RESPs and from the RESPs of John and Randy to their sisters' without adverse consequences as both John and Randy are over 21 years of age.
Under the proposed rules, property could also be transferred between John's and his sisters' RESPs with no adverse consequences, as these RESPs were established when the beneficiaries were less than 21 years of age. Since Randy's RESP was established after he turned 21 years of age, the new rules do not apply to transfers to his RESP; however, transfers from his RESP to his brother's and sisters' RESPs can be made without adverse consequences, because in each case, the RESP of the receiving beneficiary was established before they turned 21 years of age.
4. Where can I get more information on RESP property sharing among siblings?
The CRA is committed to providing taxpayers with up-to-date information. The CRA encourages taxpayers to check its Web pages often. All new forms, policies, and guidelines will be posted as they become available.
In the meantime, please consult the Department of Finance Canada's Budget 2011 documents for details.
Go to Registered education savings plan for additional information on RESPs.
- Date modified:
- 2015-07-15