March 1, 2023 is the deadline to contribute to your RRSP for the 2022 tax year. This is the last day that you can contribute to your or your spouse’s RRSP if you want to take advantage of the deduction for your 2022 tax return this April.
How to make a RSRP contribution?
Contact our office as soon as possible to make a one-time contribution to your RRSP account, if you have the appropriate banking information on file.
OR
Contribute online to your RRSP account via your bank:
1. Log into your Bank, Credit Union or Trust company online banking website and select “Add New Payee” and follow their prompts.
2. Enter payee name as “Assante Financial Management Ltd.” *Be advised, “Ltd.” May not be required*
3. Your Assante account number can be found on your online account or investment statement. This is YOUR number for your RRSP investment.
*If the bank account owner does not match the RRSP account owner, the purchase will not be processed.
4. Your transaction will tax approximately 12 to 48 hours to appear in your Assante account.
How much can I contribute to my RRSP?
You can contribute 18% of the earned income you reported on your 2021 tax return or $29,210, whichever is less. You can also take advantage of any unused contribution room from prior tax years.
Be aware, your RRSP limit is impacted by regular contributions and company savings plans. Please contact our office for any questions with regards to your RRSP contribution.
Why is it important to meet the deadline?
The deadline is important because you’ll reap immediate benefits when it comes to your tax return. And tax savings are the biggest benefit of an RRSP to begin with! You can learn more about how RRSPs work here.
What happens if you miss the RRSP contribution deadline?
If you cannot contribute before the March 1st deadline any remaining contribution room rolls over and is added to your limit for the following year. You only need to meet the deadline if you want to apply those contributions towards your 2022 tax return.
How RRSP tax deadlines work
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) lets you make RRSP contributions for the previous tax year in the first 60 days of the following year. They do this to give you time to calculate how much employment income you earned in the last tax year.
Come tax time, depending on when you made your RRSP contributions you may receive multiple RRSP contribution receipts. The first receipt will reflect all contributions made between March 2nd and December 31st, 2022. Any additional receipts will reflect any contributions you make in 2023 before the March 1 deadline.
Keep in mind, you do not need to wait for your official RRSP receipts to file taxes. If you know the amount you contributed, you can report it on your return. The official receipts are necessary if you are audited.
Want to avoid deadline stress next year?
Did you procrastinate on your RRSP contributions this year? You’re not alone. A full 60% of Canadians tend to wait until the last two weeks before the deadline to contribute.
But the last-minute scramble is stressful — and costly in the long run. When you wait until the bitter end of the year to save, you miss out on the potential for compounding growth in your investment accounts.
Talk to our office to set up automatic contributions to your RRSP account to avoid this stress.
What should I do with my RRSP tax refund?
If you have been paying income tax and contributing to your RRSP throughout the year, you’ll probably receive a nice tax return after filing your personal tax return. It may feel like the government is giving you free money, but it’s the other way around. The government is paying you back for the loan you gave throughout the year.
If you’re on track to reach your financial goals and want to use the money to go on a vacation or put a down payment on a new car, do it! But remember that money could grow to be worth much more in the future if you choose to invest it back into your RRSP or a TFSA.
For reference the 2023 TFSA limit was increased to $6,500.
As always please do not hesitate to reach out to our team if you have any questions,