Reporting the EAP portion of RESPs in the 1040

[formerpatriot]

Hi Ron,
Just a follow-up on some of the things you wrote.
It just happened that yesterday we took out a first slice of $5000 from my son's RESP.
I asked that the whole $5000 be in the form of EAP.
The RESP is at NBDB (online brokerage).
The $5000 will be added to my son's taxable income for 2020.
Here's where my story differs from yours:
The $5000 could not be deposited into my son's bank account.
It could only be deposited into my own bank account.
But of course NBDB will issue the appropriate tax forms in my son's name.
I guess different banks/brokerages have different ways of doing things.
But in the end they all handle the tax forms correctly... unless the sponsor and the beneficiary have left Canada (or so it would appear).

[Ron.Henderson]

That might be how it worked with us as well - the RESP was actually done by the grandparents so I never touched the money. I can't remember if they received it and passed it on, or if it went directly to the kid.

[Ron.Henderson]

When you do the second installment, just be a bit careful. I messed up, asked for $5000 at the start of the semester then $20,000 in December, to cover the rest of the year. The bank did 80 percent EAP so the kid wound up with $20,000 taxable income and only one semester's tuition expenses. Oops. Wasn't too bad in the end, about $700 in taxes owed, which I mostly recovered the following year by scheduling things properly.

[Lrod373]

That would work beautifully, I will ask Scotia if they would do that...at the end, you want to have a paper trail that the funds went to your son/child and NOT to you.

[Lrod373]

@FormerPatriot
Thanks for your post, I contacted Scotianbank and they told exactly what you posted. The EAP (growth) can be deposited into my or my daughter's account BUT, all the Tax forms will be issued on her name. This clarifies many things...

[Lrod373]

Scotiabank confirmed that the funds can go to our account or the children account (we are all NR). More importantly, the Tax forms will be on my daughter/son's name....