I'm a Canadian citizen residing in the US on a TN, and my spouse has no income. I contributed to her Spousal RRSP in 2014 while we were both Canadian residents and we moved to the US in 2015.
Is she now able to withdraw from that SRRSP as a non-resident and file a section 217 return to offset the 25% tax? Or would filing section 217 return mean the CRA would treat her as a resident and those withdrawals as being taxable income for myself (the contributor) rather than my spouse since the contributions were made in the last 3 calendar years?
Section 217 for Spousal RRSP withdrawal?
Moderator: Mark T Serbinski CA CPA
The waiting period for re-attribution of spousal RRSPs is suspended immediately for non-residents, so she is free to take out the money and it will not be attributed to you. So she could have taken this money out instatntly after becoming non-resident.
She does not become a resident by filing S.217. She merely elects to be treated like a resiwnt, thereby reporting all Cdn income on her return, and all non-resident income (and income for which NR tax was withheld) on the schedule A portion. She would report ypur world income on page 1 only to ensure that no spousal amounts are incorrectly transferred to her on schedule 1.
She does not become a resident by filing S.217. She merely elects to be treated like a resiwnt, thereby reporting all Cdn income on her return, and all non-resident income (and income for which NR tax was withheld) on the schedule A portion. She would report ypur world income on page 1 only to ensure that no spousal amounts are incorrectly transferred to her on schedule 1.
After 20 years, I am severely cutting back on responses. Do not ask specifically for my help. There are a few others on this board that can answer most questions. All the best