Yes, CRA can seize your RRSP and other savings…
If you owe tax, your RRSP retirement savings are vulnerable to the greedy hands of the Canada Revenue Agency. And don’t think it doesn’t happen.
This year, more than ever before in the DioGuardi experience, clients are coming for help after the CRA has already seized funds from their RRSP accounts. One client reported that, in addition to grabbing his RRSP at a major bank, the CRA called the issuer of his whole life policies to discover if any money in the policy was invested in a RRIF. (Fortunately, in this case, the answer was no, and the cash value of the policy was protected from CRA.)
Adding insult to injury, when the CRA forces the sale of your RRSP investments, the amount is added to your taxable income for the year, creating an additional tax liability which can, depending on the sum seized by CRA, be devastatingly high.
It is breathtakingly easy for the Taxman to issue a Requirement to Pay letter to a financial institution. It does not require prior certification of the debt. No judge orders the seizure. You are not given the benefit of a hearing before the demand to pay letter is sent to the financial institution. In most cases, you won’t even be aware that the demand letter has been issued. After the fact comes the dreadful discovery that your life savings have been wiped out by a single letter from the CRA.
When you owe tax, a self-directed RRSP in a money market account is not the safest place to build your retirement nest egg. If you have the option to withdraw funds at any time, the CRA can seize the money. There are safer choices.
If your RRSP money is in a GIC, or another locked-in investment, the CRA cannot immediately force the withdrawal. However, as soon as the investment matures, the CRA can enforce the garnishment before you have the chance to roll the funds over into a fresh investment. We know of one client who lost his RRSP savings this way, when the bank simply forwarded the money to CRA on the maturity date.
TFSA Savings Can Also Be Seized
Savings in a TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account) will also be at risk if the money is not in a locked-in investment. And, as with an RRSP, as soon as a GIC matures, your financial institution is obliged to forward the funds to the CRA.
The only good news in all this is the fact that a s.224 Demand to Pay order expires at the end of 12 months. So if you investments don’t mature within a year, they may be safe on maturity – unless the CRA refreshes the s.224 demand
It all comes down to this: Don’t assume anything is immune from CRA seizure. If you owe tax, get help now. Before your savings are gone.