CRA Form T1090 Designated Benefit: How to Complete and File

CRA Form T1090 lets the legal representative of a deceased RRIF, PRPP, or ALDA plan holder and the surviving spouse or common-law partner jointly move plan income off the deceased’s final return and onto the survivor’s return. It applies when the plan pays into the estate rather than directly to the survivor. Filing it can cut the family’s total tax bill sharply, because the survivor may sit in a lower bracket, have credits to apply, or roll the funds into their own RRSP or RRIF and defer the tax entirely.¹

When Form T1090 Is the Right Tool

When the last annuitant of a Registered Retirement Income Fund dies, the Income Tax Act deems that person to have received the full fair market value of the RRIF immediately before death.² That whole amount lands on the deceased’s final return, often at the top marginal rate. The same rule catches PRPP members and ALDA annuitants.³

Form T1090 comes into play when two things are both true. First, payments from the plan are going to the estate, not straight to the survivor. Second, a qualifying survivor is a beneficiary of that estate. A qualifying survivor is the deceased’s spouse or common-law partner, or in some cases a financially dependent child or grandchild. When those conditions are met, the legal representative and the qualifying survivor can jointly designate all or part of the estate payment as a “designated benefit,” which is then taxed to the survivor rather than the deceased.⁴

When You Don’t Need the Form

Two other arrangements handle RRIF income on death without a T1090:

If the plan or the will named the spouse or common-law partner as successor annuitant, the RRIF simply continues in the survivor’s name. Nothing goes on the deceased’s final return.⁴
If the spouse or common-law partner is the sole beneficiary and the eligible portion is transferred directly into their own RRSP, RRIF, PRPP, or eligible annuity by December 31 of the year after death, the CRA also treats nothing as received by the deceased at death.⁴

T1090 covers everything else: the funds pass through the estate, and you want to shift the tax to the survivor.

How to Complete the Form

Download the current version from the CRA forms page at canada.ca.¹ At the top, enter the year the payment was made to the estate. That is not always the year of death, since payments can fall in a later calendar year. You need a separate T1090 for each plan the deceased held, for each year in which payments went from that plan to the estate, and for each qualifying survivor.⁵

Section 1: Identification

Enter the deceased’s name and Social Insurance Number, then the legal representative’s name and capacity (executor, administrator, or liquidator, depending on the province). Add the qualifying survivor’s name, SIN, and relationship to the deceased.

At the bottom of Section 1, identify the plan itself: the carrier, administrator, or issuer that held the RRIF, PRPP, or ALDA; the fund, plan, or annuity name; and the registration or account number. The T4RIF slips issued after death, or the original plan documents, will have this information.

Section 2: Calculating the Designated Amount

Four lines control how much can be moved to the survivor:

Line 1: Total paid from this specific plan to the estate in the year at the top of the form that qualifies as a designated benefit for the named survivor.
Line 2: The portion of Line 1 already reported in box 36 of the T4RIF slip issued to the estate. Box 36 amounts are tax-paid, meaning the carrier already treated them as not taxable to the estate.
Line 3: Line 1 minus Line 2. This is the maximum you can designate.
Line 4: The amount actually being designated. You can pick anywhere from zero up to Line 3.

Line 4 is the decision. Designating the full amount makes sense when the survivor is in a lower bracket or plans to roll the funds into their own RRSP. A partial designation can work better when the deceased’s final return has unused credits or losses that would soak up part of the income at little or no tax cost, leaving only the balance to the survivor.

Section 3: Signatures

Both the legal representative and the qualifying survivor sign and date the form using the YYYYMMDD format. The CRA will not process a T1090 that carries only one signature.

Where and When to File

The qualifying survivor attaches a copy of the completed T1090 to their own T1 return for the year the payment was made to the estate.⁵ The legal representative files the form with the deceased’s final return, which goes by mail to the tax centre for the deceased’s province of residence.

The final return deadline depends on the date of death. Deaths between January 1 and October 31: the final return is due April 30 of the following year. Deaths between November 1 and December 31: six months after the date of death.⁶ File the T1090 by the same date. Miss it, and the entire plan value stays on the deceased’s final return.

How the Survivor Reports and Defers the Amount

Once the designation is made, the survivor picks up the designated amount as income. Where it goes on the T1 depends on the survivor’s circumstances:

Line 11500 if the survivor received the funds because a spouse or common-law partner died, or if the survivor was 65 or older on December 31 of the year of receipt.⁷
Line 13000 in any other case, such as a financially dependent child or grandchild under 18.

The tax often disappears at the next step. A qualifying survivor can transfer the designated benefit into their own RRSP, RRIF, PRPP, or an eligible annuity. The transfer must happen in the year the funds are received or within 60 days after the end of that year.⁷ For an RRSP contribution, report it on Schedule 7 and claim the deduction on line 20800. For a RRIF or eligible annuity, claim the deduction on line 23200. The income inclusion and the deduction offset each other, and the funds keep growing tax-deferred.

PRPPs and ALDAs

The form works the same way for Pooled Registered Pension Plans and Advanced Life Deferred Annuities. When payments from a deceased member’s PRPP account or a deceased annuitant’s ALDA go to the estate, the legal representative and the qualifying survivor can jointly designate all or part of the amount on Form T1090. The designated portion is taxed to the survivor; anything not designated stays on the deceased’s return.⁴

Mistakes That Cost Money

A few errors turn up over and over. Using one T1090 to cover multiple RRIFs will get the form kicked back; each plan needs its own. A single signature will also get it kicked back; both parties have to sign. When a plan pays into the estate across two calendar years, one T1090 is not enough; you need one for each year.

The costliest mistake is not filing at all. If no one claims the designated benefit, the full plan balance is taxed on the deceased’s final return, and the survivor loses the chance to roll it into a sheltered account. A completed T1090 paired with a rollover into the survivor’s own RRSP or RRIF keeps the money working tax-deferred instead.

1
Canada Revenue Agency. T1090 Joint Designation on the Death of a RRIF Annuitant, PRPP Member, or ALDA Annuitant
2
Department of Justice Canada. Income Tax Act – Section 146.3
3
Department of Justice Canada. Income Tax Act – Section 147.5
4
Canada Revenue Agency. Death of a RRIF Annuitant, PRPP Member, or ALDA Annuitant
5
AGF. Joint Designation on the Death of a RRIF Annuitant, PRPP Member, or ALDA Annuitant (PDF)
6
Canada Revenue Agency. Filing and Payment Due Dates – Prepare Tax Returns for Someone Who Died
7
Canada Revenue Agency. Death of a RRIF Annuitant