| 19(1) | File No. 5-9521 |
| A.B. Adler | |
| (613) 957-8962 |
February 22, 1990
Dear 19(1)
This is in reply to your letter dated January 30, 1990 concerning the treatment of withdrawals from spousal RRSPs and RRIFs under subsections 146(8.3) or 146.3(5.1) respectively of the Income Tax Act ("Act").
You provided the following scenario for our consideration.
| Taxation Year for Deduction By Contributor | Date of Depositto SpousalRRSP | Amount |
| 1986 | February 5, 1987 | $1,000 |
| 1987 | January 1, 1988 | $1,000 |
| 1988 | March 1, 1989 | $ 500 |
The entire amount is withdrawn from the spousal RRSP on January 1, 1991.
We concur with the view presented in your letter that $500 would be attributed to the contributor under subsection 146(8.3) of the Act and the remaining amount withdrawn would be income of the RRSP annuitant under, presumably, paragraph 146(12)(b) of the Act. in our view subsection 146(8.3) of the Act, revised applicable to the 1986 and subsequent taxation years, contemplates a three year period in which deductible RRSP premiums are paid.
For your information, as a consequence of a 1986 amendment to the Act, subsection 146(8.3) is now also applicable where the spouse has an income inclusion under subsection 146(8) of the Act.
The Technical Notes in respect of the amendment state that the purpose of this amendment was to conform with the amendment to subsection 146(2) of the Act which permits withdrawals from RRSP's prior to maturity.
We are also of the view that the wording in subsection 146.3(5.1) of the Act that refers to subsection 146(5.1) is consistent with the wording in the latter provision.
Enclosed, for your use, is a photocopy of relevant form T2205 for 1988 entitled "Calculation of amounts to be included in income out of a spousal RRSP of RRIF".
We trust that our comments will be of assistance to you.
Yours truly,
for DirectorFinancial Industries DivisionRulings Directorate