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New Immigrant (no income for previous year) registered in employer provided group RRSP. How does this impact my taxes and returns?

nam19

Newbie
Jul 28, 2020
3
0
Hello! I am a somewhat new immigrant and trying to understand the tax and return filing system. I will be filing my tax return for the first time in Canada. It would help me a lot if I can get answers to some of these queries.

I landed in Canada in Feb 2020 and got a job in Aug 2020. In November 2020, I enrolled in a group RRSP plan with the employer wherein my contributions go into the group RRSP account and employer matches that amount into a DPSP account. I am contributing 3% currently and my employer matches that 3%. I do not have any other RRSP account and neither do I have any account with the CRA (it says on their website you can create an account after the first time tax return filing, which I haven't done yet).

Following are my questions -
  1. Since I did not have any Canadian income for the previous year (2019), I assume my RRSP contribution limit would have been zero for 2020? If yes, then will I be penalized for contributing more than I should have? I don't have an account with CRA yet so I don't know what's my actual limit. Should I discontinue contributing to the group RRSP? Does this also mean that my RRSP contributions will be taxed?
  2. I am trying to understand what's given in my T4. The box 20 in my T4 is empty, but box 52 shows an amount that's equal to my employer contributions (DPSP) for 2020. From what I understand so far, box 20 is supposed to show the amount I contributed to the group RRSP. Why would that be empty?
  3. I used to work in Singapore prior to moving to Canada. After moving to Canada, I transferred my savings from Singapore to Canada. I have already paid tax on that money in SG. Do I need to report this information anywhere while filing tax? Will this money be taxed again in Canada?
Appreciate the help! Happy to provide more information if needed.
Thank you!
 

Naheulbeuck

Hero Member
Aug 14, 2015
315
191
  1. Since I did not have any Canadian income for the previous year (2019), I assume my RRSP contribution limit would have been zero for 2020? If yes, then will I be penalized for contributing more than I should have? I don't have an account with CRA yet so I don't know what's my actual limit. Should I discontinue contributing to the group RRSP? Does this also mean that my RRSP contributions will be taxed?
  2. I am trying to understand what's given in my T4. The box 20 in my T4 is empty, but box 52 shows an amount that's equal to my employer contributions (DPSP) for 2020. From what I understand so far, box 20 is supposed to show the amount I contributed to the group RRSP. Why would that be empty?
  3. I used to work in Singapore prior to moving to Canada. After moving to Canada, I transferred my savings from Singapore to Canada. I have already paid tax on that money in SG. Do I need to report this information anywhere while filing tax? Will this money be taxed again in Canada?
1. You will be fine, unless you made $3m between November 2020 and December 2020...
CRA allows for up to 2,000 of excess contribution, next year your contribution room will be significantly higher than your current RRSP contribution and you will go back down to 0 excess contribution. Keep contributing, it will reduce your income and gets you an additional 3% through employer matching.

2. box 20 is for a pension plan not for a RRSP plan, those are reported on a separate RRSP slip for each of the plans you contribute to. Box 52 will reduce your contribution room along with your contribution to the RRSP but again, it is unlikely that both are above the 2,000 allowed excess.

3. You do not need to report your savings that money is after tax and fine, however you do need to report any income earned in 2020 in Singapore. Since you are a tax resident in Canada, you may have to pay taxes on it and get a credit for foreign taxes paid, there is a tax treaty so it shouldn't be too significant but on that you will need to contact an accountant with knowledge of this particular treaty to process your taxes if you have income from Singapore in 2020.