# Will CRA garnish CPP?



## Chica (Jan 19, 2016)

Another thread on how Revenue Canada is garnishing someone's wages for not filing taxes for a few years has me wondering about something.

My ex left Canada at the end of 2013. I'm pretty sure he didn't file his taxes for that year. I rented our house back from the people we sold it to for awhile until I found another place to live (they had no plans to live there, investment property for them), and during the time I was there he got several notices from Revenue Canada that I kept marking "moved/return to sender" and I'm guessing they would have been reminders to file. 

He's hugely in arrears in his support payments - and yes FMEP is involved and he's in a country with reciprocal agreements for support enforcement but they're less than interested in dealing with foreigners, but occasionally a couple of hundred bucks is deposited into my account from FMEP. They've set up garnishes if he tries to collect any Canadian government benefits.

In April he'll be 60 and eligible for CPP. I don't know if he'll register for it then or not. I hope so!

Can Revenue Canada also garnish his CPP? Unless they check with Immigration to see when he left Canada as far as CRA knows my ex is in Canada and not filing his taxes since 2012. My estimate is he owes less than $1000 for 2013. And he has no Canadian income, or at least none FMEP can find, since then.

I'm just wondering if FMEP will have competition from CRA when it comes time to garnish the CPP and who might win that battle.


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## gardner (Feb 13, 2014)

https://www.rumanek.com/can-canada-revenue-agency-garnish-cpp-and-oas/



> Yes, Canada Revenue Agency can garnish CPP and OAS as well as all types of pensions.


I have no idea what exact circumstances might lead them to, but if your ex owes them enough, they will do it for sure. I believe you have an interest in knowing how much tax he owes because I believe the CRA's priority as a debt holder comes before yours -- the CRA can, and might come after YOU to recover money from support payments he made to you, if they think it should have gone to them first.

If he is eligible for CPP, this implies that he had conventional employment income whose taxes would have been deducted at source. If this was the principle source of income while he resided in Canada, I would think that the tax liability might not be huge.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

Generally speaking, CPP & OAS cannot be garnished to pay debts owed to a 3rd party.

See: http://www.advocacycentreelderly.or...&_OAS_Benefits_Exempt_from_Garnishment(1).pdf

However, CRA is not an ordinary creditor, and they can garnish CPP and OAS if money is owed to them. See https://www.rumanek.com/can-canada-revenue-agency-garnish-cpp-and-oas/

PS: However, I found a site that says CPP & OAS can be garnished by other government agencies, such as FMEP. https://www.cbabc.org/For-the-Public/Dial-A-Law/Scripts/Credit-Debt-and-Consumer/251. 
_*What cannot be garnished?*
If you receive BC Income Assistance, the Employment and Assistance Act says it cannot be garnished. Similarly, Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Pension (OAP) and Guaranteed Income Support (GIS) payments (by cheque or direct deposit) cannot be garnished by non-government creditors. But most government benefits like Employment Insurance and CPP can be garnished to pay other government bodies such as CRA or FMEP. These government garnishments are not paid into court—they go directly to the government agency. _


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## Chica (Jan 19, 2016)

Thanks for the links. The FMEP website is also pretty helpful and when I log into my account I can see what measures they've taken, so I know they're set to garnish any government benefits he applies for. There's a whole lot more they could be doing to him if he still lived locally.

He was self employed. He didn't have an employer for years, so no business would be filing tax forms and deducting from his pay. We used an accountant who filed our taxes plus the business GST. Revenue Canada would have no clue how much money he earned in 2013 unless he files his taxes. I don't know either. He took his computer that had Sage accounting and all the business income and deductions. And all the banker's boxes with the business information files from previous years. I have a rough idea of his 2013 income, I just don't know the exact amount.

Him being financially irresponsible was one of the reasons for the break up. Not an uncommon scenario. I just want my money. I just don't want CRA to bump me and FMEP out of the way to get it.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

If he was self-employed and not filing his taxes, he would not have paid into CPP for that period, because it comes up as a payment due on the income tax return. So there is a good chance he has little or no CPP coming to him - in fact his unpaid contributions to CPP would be part of the arrears on his income taxes. So I wouldn't build up any great hopes of getting a windfall from CPP. Maybe FMEP has the right to ask CPP for an accounting of his CPP entitlement.

OAS of course is not a contributory plan. So his entitlement is based strictly on age and years of residency in Canada. (Of course proving his qualifying years of residency might be tricky if has no tax records, left the country in 2013, and is trying to fly below the government's radar.) But if he is choosing to live off the grid, and doesn't apply for his OAS, I don't know how CRA (or anyone else) would start garnishing it, especially since you are not obligated to start taking it at 65 anymore.


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## Chica (Jan 19, 2016)

He did work for various employers who did the payroll deductions & T4s for 30 years before taking his side business full time, so there should be a few hundred dollars a month eligible in CPP. I don't expect to make a windfall. He's around 6 figures in arrears and I know I'll never see it, but anything that makes the deadbeat's life a little more difficult I'm all for it. 

The only thing I'm concerned about is the case worker at FMEP said it's her experience when people are in hiding they don't usually try to collect their benefits. On the other hand, he doesn't like to leave money on the table, so I'm guessing free money from his former country would be something he's apply for.


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