How to Claim RESP on Your Tax Return: EAPs, AIPs, and the T4A Slip

To claim an RESP on your tax return, start with the type of payment that came out of the plan, because that decides who reports what. A withdrawal of the subscriber’s original contributions (a Post-Secondary Education payment) is not reported by anyone and produces no tax slip. An Educational Assistance Payment (EAP) is taxable to the student and goes on Line 13000 of the beneficiary’s T1, using Box 042 of the T4A. An Accumulated Income Payment (AIP) is taxable to the subscriber, also on Line 13000, using Box 040, and it carries an extra 20% federal tax calculated on Form T1172.

Identify Which Type of Payment You Received

The RESP promoter classifies every dollar leaving the plan into one of three buckets, and each has its own tax treatment.

Post-Secondary Education (PSE) payments return the subscriber’s original contributions. That money was contributed with after-tax dollars, so PSE withdrawals are not taxable to anyone and no T4A slip is issued.
Educational Assistance Payments (EAPs) consist of government grants (the Canada Education Savings Grant, the Canada Learning Bond, and provincial incentives) plus investment earnings that grew inside the plan. EAPs are paid to the beneficiary and are taxable in the beneficiary’s hands.¹
Accumulated Income Payments (AIPs) let the subscriber withdraw the investment earnings when the beneficiary does not pursue post-secondary education. AIPs are taxable to the subscriber at their marginal rate plus an additional 20% federal tax (12% for Quebec residents).²

Income earned inside the plan is not taxed while it stays there.³ Tax only comes into play once money leaves the account, and only for EAPs and AIPs.

The T4A Slip and the Two Boxes That Matter

The RESP promoter issues a T4A slip (Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income) for any calendar year in which taxable payments came out of the plan.⁴ Two boxes carry the numbers you need:

Box 042 shows the total EAPs paid to the beneficiary during the year. This amount goes on Line 13000 of the beneficiary’s T1 return.⁵
Box 040 shows AIPs paid to the subscriber. This amount also goes on Line 13000, and the subscriber must complete Form T1172 to calculate the additional tax.⁵

PSE withdrawals do not appear on a T4A at all. If you received both a PSE payment and an EAP in the same year, only the EAP shows up on the slip. Check that the social insurance number on the T4A matches your records before filing; a mismatch can delay processing or trigger a reassessment.

Reporting an EAP as the Student

If you are the beneficiary, take the amount in Box 042 of your T4A and enter it on Line 13000 (Other Income) of your T1 General return.⁶ Tax software will prompt you to enter T4A data and place the amount for you. On paper, transcribe it exactly; small errors can produce a notice of reassessment.

Most students owe little or no tax on EAPs. The federal basic personal amount for 2025 is $16,129 and is indexed each year, so roughly the first $16,000 of income is effectively sheltered from federal tax.⁷ A full-time student with no other significant income can often receive several thousand dollars in EAPs without owing federal tax at all. Tuition credits claimed on Schedule 11 can reduce any remaining tax if your income is higher.

Reporting an AIP as the Subscriber

If you are the subscriber and the beneficiary did not attend a qualifying program, you may eventually receive an Accumulated Income Payment. The tax hit is larger here. AIPs are added to your regular income and are also subject to an additional 20% federal tax (12% for Quebec).²

The reporting sequence is straightforward. Enter the Box 040 amount on Line 13000. Complete Form T1172 to calculate the additional tax. Then put the T1172 result on Line 41800.⁸ Combined with a subscriber’s marginal rate, the effective tax on an AIP can exceed 50% at higher income levels.

One important condition sits behind all of this: the promoter can only pay an AIP if the plan has been open at least 10 years with every living beneficiary aged 21 or older and none eligible for EAPs, or all beneficiaries have died, or the plan has existed for 35 years.⁸ Subscribers trying to collapse a newer plan sometimes discover this the hard way.

Rolling an AIP Into Your RRSP

You can avoid the 20% additional tax by transferring the AIP directly into your RRSP, up to your available contribution room. The transfer must occur in the year the AIP is received or within the first 60 days of the following year.⁸ You still complete Form T1172 to document the transfer and claim the offsetting deduction. The rollover does not erase the tax; it defers it until you draw from the RRSP later. What it removes is the 20% surcharge, which is why most subscribers use it when they can.

Contributions and Grants: Nothing to Claim, but Watch the Cap

RESP contributions are made with after-tax dollars. They produce no deduction, and there is no line on the T1 to report them. Interest on money borrowed to contribute is not deductible either.⁹

Government grants like the CESG and the Canada Learning Bond are deposited straight into the plan and are not income to the subscriber or the beneficiary when they arrive.¹ Tax on those grants only arises later, when they flow out inside an EAP paid to the student.

Over-contribution Penalty

The lifetime contribution limit for all RESPs held for one beneficiary is $50,000, combined across every subscriber and every plan.⁹ Government grants do not count toward this cap. If contributions go over, each contributing subscriber owes 1% per month on their share of the excess for every month it remains in the plan.¹⁰ A $5,000 over-contribution costs $50 a month, or $600 a year, until withdrawn. Subscribers in this position file Form T1E-OVP (Individual Tax Return for RESP Excess Contributions) to calculate and pay the tax. Withdrawing the excess right away stops the meter.

1
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Canada Education Savings Grant
2
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). RESP – Accumulated Income Payments
3
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). How a Registered Education Savings Plans Works
4
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). T4A Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income
5
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). T4A Slip – Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income – Personal Income Tax
6
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Line 13000 – Other Income
7
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Line 30000 – Basic Personal Amount
8
Government of Canada. Registered Education Savings Plans Payments, Transferring and Rolling Over Registered Education Savings Plans Property
9
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Registered Education Savings Plans Contributions
10
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs)