The U.S.-resident beneficiary of her deceased mother’s individual pension plan (IPP) received monthly benefits thereunder that were eligible for the 15% Treaty-reduced rate under the Treaty – but thereafter the IPP was wound up by virtue of having reached the end of a 10-year guarantee period. CRA rejected the taxpayer submission that the IPP winding-up distribution was “simply an extension of the periodic guarantee payments,” and found that, since it was a lump sum payment as referenced in the definition of “periodic pension payment” in s. 5 of the Income Tax Conventions Interpretation Act, it was subject to withholding at 25%.
CRA went on to gratuitously state:
[A]ny additional payment that an IPP may be required to make in a particular year to comply with the IPP minimum amount rules in [Reg.] 8503(26) … is not considered to be a periodic pension payment. … Similarly, a commutation payment made to a member or a beneficiary of a member in full or partial satisfaction of their entitlement to benefits under a defined benefit RPP is not a periodic pension payment.