# RRSP carry forward amount question



## digitalatlas (Jun 6, 2015)

Hi,

I've been reviewing the schedule for RRSP contributions and it's not jiving with what my understanding has been for many years. Maybe I'm having a brain fart, but perhaps someone can help me with this. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/rrsp-reer/cntrbtng/menu-eng.html

So i've got a contribution limit from last year of about $16,000, as per my NOA. I'm making a contribution of about $3000 to an RRSP before the end of the first 60 days of 2016. At the end of Schedule 7, it says that my unused RRSP contributions for carry forward to a future year is $0.

Now, if my limit is $16,000, and I contribute $3000, shouldn't that mean that I have $13,000 to carry forward to a future year? I've gone through the schedule by hand, and indeed the calculations are all correct, and give me $0 at line 17....but this is contrary to what I understood about carrying unused contribution room forward. What am I missing in my understanding of this process?

Thanks


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## digitalatlas (Jun 6, 2015)

i don't mean to reply to my own post, but on reading into this further, it seems that you can only carry forward an amount for which you made a contribution, but you did not claim a deduction....is that right?

so, if you don't make a contribution, you can't carry anything over, even if you have the full limit of 18% of your income. but if lets say you contribute $5000 of your $16,000 limit, but don't claim a deduction, you can carry over $5000 to be deducted in a future year...

so if you don't contribute anything, you can't carry over the opportunity to make deductions in a future year....is this right? it seems wrong....but I don't know anymore.


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## GreatLaker (Mar 23, 2014)

You are confusing contribution room with unused contributions.

If your limit is $16,000 and you contribute $3,000, then you will have $13,000 of contribution room to carry forward to future years.

Unused contributions means you contributed money in past years, but did not claim it as a deduction. Say your income was $25k in 2014 and you made a $3,000 RRSP contribution, but when doing your 2014 taxes you expected your 2015 income to be $50k. It would make sense to not claim that $3,000 contribution in 2014, carry it forward as an unused contribution, and claim it on your 2015 taxes, since you would be in a higher tax bracket in 2015, so the contribution would result in a higher refund if claimed in 2015 than 2014. Unless you made a contribution and did not claim it as a deduction, your unused contributions will always be $0.


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## digitalatlas (Jun 6, 2015)

ok, that's what I thought about unused contributions, and yes, i have never contributed without claiming the deduction, so line 17 on schedule 7 (which is amount B on my NoA) correctly states $0, and i checked previous years, and this has always been the case.

i think i figured out what was causing me confusion. i changed jobs a couple years ago, which has a pension adjustment. that was also around the time when CRA stopped sending me the paper Notice of Assessment with the breakdown for RRSP contributions for the following year. The online version of the NoA doesn't give the calculations. And the numbers didn't look right to me, I thought I should have more contribution room, but between the pension adjustment and my own contributions, I guess it works out about right, but it'd be great if i could see the calculation on the NoA. Any way to get an electronic version of the NoA that looks like the old ones with the RRSP limit calculations spelled out?


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

I'll have to check my last paper NOA but I don't believe it shows the calculation either. I seem to recall it having "starting RRSP contribution room", "amount added" and "new total". This would be just the calculated numbers ... not the calculation itself.

For the PA ... this reduces the RRSP contribution room one earns. Are you saying you moved from a job with no PA (which implies no pension) to one that does?

If so where one is receiving a T4, box 52 will list the PA amount. The trick will be determining the "earned income" as this is not necessarily the same as "employment income" which is listed in box 14.


If you want the detailed steps to confirm the numbers, use the link below then search for the "Chart 3 - 2015 RRSP Deduction Limit" to see the steps one would have used when filing the 2014 tax return.
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/t4040/t4040-e.html#chrt_3


Cheers


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

digitalatlas said:


> The online version of the NoA doesn't give the calculations.


It's a bit hidden, but it's there. If you click on the RRSP tab you'll first see the basic notice of assessment information.

But there's another link on the RRSP page you can click to see the detailed calculations. This will show you how they arrived at that number.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Cool ... always love when I can drill into the details and I'm sure it will help the OP trace down what's happening.


Thanks James.


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