A retirement compensation arrangement (RCA) is a plan or arrangement between an employer and an employee under which:

• the employer or employee makes contributions to a custodian of the RCA trust
• the custodian may be required to make distributions to the employee or another person on, after, or in view of the employee's retirement, the loss of an office or employment, or any substantial change in the services the employee provides

Withholding and remitting

If you are an employer and you set up a retirement compensation arrangement, you have to deduct a 50% refundable tax on any contributions you make to a custodian of the arrangement and remit the amount of refundable tax you collect to the Receiver General on or before the 15th day of the month following the month during which it was withheld.

Before you make any contributions to the custodian, you have to send Form T733, Application for a Retirement Compensation Arrangement (RCA) Account Number, to apply for account numbers for both the employer and the custodian of the RCA.

The custodian has to deduct income tax from any distributions (periodic or lump-sum payments) made out of the RCA and remit the amount of income tax collected to the Receiver General.

Before the custodian makes any distributions out of the RCA, they have to send Form T735, Application for a Remittance Number for Tax Withheld from a Retirement Compensation Arrangement (RCA), to apply for a remittance account number.

To report the distributions, the custodian has to file a T4A-RCA Summary and the related T4A-RCA slips. The custodian has to send them to the RCA Unit, at the Winnipeg Tax Centre on or before the last day of February of the year following the calendar year that the information return applies to.

For more information on this type of plan or arrangement, your responsibilities, and the forms you have to file, see Retirement Compensation Arrangements or contact the RCA Unit at the Winnipeg Tax Centre.

Forms and publications

• Retirement Compensation Arrangements
• Form T733, Application for a Retirement Compensation Arrangement (RCA) Account Number
• Form T735, Application for a Remittance Number for Tax Withheld from a Retirement Compensation Arrangement (RCA)