| Mrs. J. Martin | |
| Director | |
| Pensions & Special Projects | File No. 5-8919 |
| Division | W.C. Harding |
| Treasury Board | 957-3499 |
| L'Esplanade Laurier | |
| 140 O'Connor Street | |
| Ottawa, OntarioK1A 0R5 |
October 26, 1989
Dear Mrs. Martin:
This is further to a recent telephone conversation with L. Gama Pinto of your Directorate.
We confirm that as a result of the Tax Court of Canada decision in the Arthur E. Walton case the interest element of instalment payments made to purchase past service1 for pension purposes will be treated as an amount contributed to a registered pension plan under paragraph 8(1)(m) or 60(j) of the Income Tax Act (the "Act"). Our new position will be generally applicable to such payments made after 1988.
In the case of a retired taxpayer in receipt of pension income throughout 1989, he will be able in 1989 to use paragraph 60(j) of the Act to deduct 1989 pension contributions in excess of the $3,500 limit under paragraph 8(1)(m) of the Act. Under the proposed pension reform legislation paragraph 60(j) will not be available for that purpose in the 1990 and subsequent taxation years. Further, the non-deductible amounts of such instalment interest for 1988 and previous years will be treated as non- deducted pension contributions carried forward under subsection 8(8) of the Act, and will be deductible in future years subject to the paragraph 8(1)(m) limit.
We trust that our comments are sufficient for your purposes.
Yours truly,
for DirectorFinancial Industries DivisionRulings Directorate