A lot of Canadians weren’t actually that great at saving before the pandemic. Many lived during the last decade in relative ease, knowing that we had a strong economy that was only getting stronger. However, what we probably weren’t aware of was the increasing debt that both our country and others racked up.
Then the pandemic hit, bringing the Canadian government’s debt up another $15 trillion between January and September for a grand total of $272 trillion as of writing. We’re actually leading the charge in debt, ahead of countries like Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
So, Canadians started to get their affairs in order, and that included their cash. In many cases, it meant opening up or taking advantage of a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA). With another TFSA contribution limit on the way in January, many are looking for another opportunity during perhaps another market crash. But before you do, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has a word of warning.
The TFSA can be taxable
The TFSA can be taxed, but only under certain conditions. The TFSA is meant to get Canadians investing in Canadian business. So, the first problem is if Canadians are investing in companies outside Canada. If so, you’re subject to taxation on those returns. This can be a serious problem, as with a market crash, there were tons of great companies that saw the share price plummet. Just make sure those shares are Canadian. This also means making sure you’re investing in a company on the Canadian market, as many companies are listed on both the TSX and NYSE, for example.
Second, you can be subject to tax if you go beyond the TFSA contribution limit. If the TFSA was limitless, you could invest any time you wanted, as much as you wanted, and potentially make a killing! The CRA doesn’t want to miss out on those taxes. So, it creates a limit year by year. That way, if there’s a huge initial public offering (IPO), you only have a couple thousand to invest, rather than a hundred thousand.
You also can’t use your TFSA like a business. This happens if you’re making huge trades, trading too often, or making too much money basically. This is a bit of a grey area, so you must be careful. It seems the number right now the CRA is going off of is $250,000. If you make that much in returns, the CRA will want to take a closer look at how you’re making that money.
Finally, beware the TFSA contribution limit! Yes, I already mentioned this, but there’s another problem. You have $69,500 worth of contribution room this year. But let’s say during the pandemic ,you took out $20,000 to help with bills. Now, you’ve made that money back and want to put it back in your TFSA. Not so fast!
If you’ve already reached the TFSA contribution limit for the year, you cannot put money in your TFSA again, or it will be subject to taxes. You have to wait until next year, and then check out MyAccount on CRA or call CRA to see how much room you have available. Don’t mess it up!
Bottom line
The TFSA is an excellent tool to use during the pandemic, but be careful. You don’t want to take full advantage and then fall under these categories. If you do, it’ll make that TFSA contribution limit basically worthless.
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