Form T1213(OAS) is the request you send to the Canada Revenue Agency to reduce or stop the recovery tax being withheld from your monthly Old Age Security payments when your current-year income will be lower than the return CRA used to set those deductions. Approval means Service Canada adjusts your cheques in real time instead of making you wait until you file to recover the money.1Canada Revenue Agency. T1213OAS Request to Reduce Old Age Security Recovery Tax at Source
When Filing Makes Sense
CRA sets your OAS recovery tax deductions on a July-to-June cycle using the income from your most recently filed return. Your 2026 return, filed in spring 2027, drives deductions from July 2027 through June 2028.2Canada.ca. Old Age Security Pension Recovery Tax That lag is the whole reason the form exists. If last year was unusually high and this year is back to normal, CRA will keep clawing back based on income you’re no longer earning.
The form is worth filing when a specific event pushed one year’s income up and it won’t repeat. Common triggers:
- A one-time capital gain from selling a property, cottage, or investment
- A large RRSP or RRIF withdrawal that won’t recur
- Retirement or job loss partway through the prior year
- A drop in rental or investment income
If the projected over-deduction is only a few dollars a month, the paperwork may not be worth it. If CRA is on track to hold back hundreds of dollars a month you won’t actually owe, the form pulls that cash back into your monthly pension.
What Goes on the Form
Form T1213(OAS) runs two pages. The identification block at the top asks for your name, Social Insurance Number, address, and phone number.1Canada Revenue Agency. T1213OAS Request to Reduce Old Age Security Recovery Tax at Source The rest is a projection of your income for the current year.
Estimated Income for the Year
Eleven lines cover the major income sources: employment earnings, the OAS pension itself (before deductions), CPP or QPP benefits, other pensions, taxable dividends, interest and investment income, net rental income, taxable capital gains, RRSP income, RRIF income, and a catch-all line. Line 12 is the total. The number you put here is what you genuinely expect to earn this year, not a copy of last year’s figures.
Deductions and Credits
The next block lets you subtract carrying charges, interest expenses, and other deductions. Line 16 is your estimated net income, and this is the figure CRA measures against the recovery tax threshold. Further down, the form asks about non-refundable credits such as the disability amount, medical expenses, and charitable donations, along with refundable amounts like tax already withheld from other sources or instalments you’ve paid.
Reason for the Request
The final section asks you to explain why your income is dropping. This is where the request is won or lost. Be specific and quantitative. Something like “I sold my rental property in 2025 for a $60,000 capital gain. No similar sale is planned for 2026, and I expect net income of approximately $80,000” gives CRA a basis to approve. “My income will be lower this year” does not.
Attach documentation wherever you can: a letter from a former employer confirming the end of employment, a closing statement for a property sale, a broker statement showing a completed investment disposition. The more concrete the evidence, the easier the approval.
How to Send It In
The fastest route is electronic. Sign in to CRA My Account, open the Submit Documents service, select “Contact Centre and International Correspondence” as the topic, and upload the completed form together with your supporting documents.
If you prefer paper, mail the form to the Sudbury Tax Centre, PO Box 20000, Station A, Sudbury ON, P3A 5C1. Fax works too, at 1-833-697-2401. Keep a copy of everything you send, whichever channel you use.
When to Send It
CRA doesn’t publish a guaranteed turnaround for T1213(OAS), so leave a buffer. If you want the reduction in place before the new July deduction cycle starts, get the form in well before April 30. Once CRA approves, it notifies Service Canada, which adjusts your OAS payments for the remainder of the calendar year. The approval only covers that year. If your circumstances stay the same the following year, you file again.
What the Form Does Not Do
T1213(OAS) changes timing, not liability. It does not reduce how much recovery tax you actually owe. That is set by your real net income when you file your return, calculated on line 23400.3Canada.ca. Repayment of Old Age Security Pension If your income ends up higher than projected, you’ll owe the difference at tax time. If it comes in lower than projected, you’ll get more back. The form simply prevents CRA from parking money it will eventually have to return.
If You Live Outside Canada
Form T1213(OAS) is not the right document for non-residents. If you live outside Canada and receive OAS, you file Form T1136, the Old Age Security Return of Income, by April 30 each year. Miss the deadline and CRA suspends your OAS payments starting in July, and a late-filing penalty of 5% of the balance owing plus 1% per full month (to a maximum of 12 months) applies on top.4Canada.ca. Old Age Security Return of Income (OASRI) Guide for Non-Residents
Residents of certain treaty countries are exempt from filing T1136 entirely, provided they lived in the exempt country at the end of the tax year and don’t plan to move to a non-exempt country before July 1 of the following year. Exempt jurisdictions include the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, and Switzerland, among others. CRA’s T1136 guide lists every qualifying country.4Canada.ca. Old Age Security Return of Income (OASRI) Guide for Non-Residents