The RRIF minimum withdrawal is a percentage of your account’s value on December 31 of the previous year, multiplied by a prescribed factor that rises with your age. Once your RRSP is converted to a Registered Retirement Income Fund (which must happen by December 31 of the year you turn 71), you have to take at least that minimum out every year, and every dollar counts as fully taxable income.1Canada Revenue Agency. RRSP Options When You Turn 71 There is no maximum, only a floor.
How the Minimum Is Calculated
Your financial institution takes the fair market value of the RRIF on December 31 of the prior year and multiplies it by a factor tied to your age at the start of the current year.2Canada Revenue Agency. Minimum Amount From a RRIF
Under age 71, the factor is 1 divided by (90 minus your age). A 65-year-old, for example, has a divisor of 25, producing a 4% factor. On a $500,000 RRIF, that’s a $20,000 minimum.
From age 71 onward, a fixed CRA table replaces the formula:3Canada Revenue Agency. Chart – Prescribed Factors
- Age 71: 5.28%
- Age 72: 5.40%
- Age 75: 5.82%
- Age 80: 6.82%
- Age 85: 8.51%
- Age 90: 11.92%
- Age 95 and older: 20.00%
The schedule is designed to draw the account down over your expected remaining lifetime. At 72 you pull out roughly one in eighteen dollars; by 95 it’s one in five.
When the Payment Has to Happen
No minimum is required in the calendar year you first open the RRIF. Starting the year after, you must receive at least the minimum by December 31.4Canada Revenue Agency. Receiving Income From a RRIF How you spread the amount out is up to you: monthly, quarterly, annually, or a single late-year lump sum. Most institutions need instructions by early December to guarantee a lump-sum payment clears before year-end.
You can always take more than the minimum. Doing so triggers withholding tax on the excess, which is a separate issue from whether the withdrawal itself is a good idea.
Using a Younger Spouse’s Age to Lower the Minimum
You can base the minimum on your spouse’s or common-law partner’s age instead of your own. A younger age means a smaller factor and a smaller mandatory withdrawal, leaving more inside the tax shelter to compound.2Canada Revenue Agency. Minimum Amount From a RRIF
The election has to be made before the carrier makes any payment from the RRIF, and once made, it’s permanent. You cannot switch back to your own age later, even after divorce or the death of your spouse.5Justice Canada. Income Tax Act RSC 1985, c 1 (5th Supp) – Section 146.3
A quick example: a 72-year-old with a $600,000 RRIF has a minimum of $32,400 at 5.40%. If their spouse is 65, the 4.00% formula factor applies instead, cutting the minimum to $24,000 and keeping $8,400 in the account for another year.
How the Withdrawal Is Taxed
RRIF withdrawals are fully taxable in the year you receive them. Your financial institution reports the total on a T4RIF slip.6Canada Revenue Agency. T4RIF Statement of Income From a Registered Retirement Income Fund – Slip Information for Individuals The income is taxed at your marginal rate. Federal rates in 2026 run from 14% to 33%, with provincial and territorial tax on top pushing combined top marginal rates to roughly 55% in the highest-tax provinces.7Canada Revenue Agency. Tax Rates and Income Brackets for Individuals
Because RRIF income stacks on everything else you receive, a large withdrawal can push you into a higher bracket. Taking only the minimum keeps taxable income as low as possible. In a low-income year, though, deliberately withdrawing more can make sense if you’d otherwise face higher rates later.
Withholding on Amounts Above the Minimum
No tax is withheld at source on the minimum itself. You receive the full amount and settle up on your return. Anything above the minimum triggers mandatory withholding at these rates for residents outside Quebec:8Canada Revenue Agency. Frequently Asked Questions – RRSPs/RRIFs
- Up to $5,000: 10%
- $5,001 to $15,000: 20%
- Over $15,000: 30%
Quebec residents have lower federal withholding (5%, 10%, 15% at the same tiers) plus 14% Quebec tax withheld on the excess.9Revenu Québec. Payments From an RRSP, a VRSP, a PRPP or a RRIF Withholding is only an installment toward the final bill. If your marginal rate is higher, you’ll owe more at tax time; lower, and you’ll get a refund.
If You Live Outside Canada
If you’ve left Canada, RRIF payments face a flat 25% non-resident withholding tax.10Canada Revenue Agency. Non-Residents and Income Tax A tax treaty can reduce it. Under the Canada-U.S. treaty, periodic RRIF payments are generally taxed at 15% instead of 25%. A payment qualifies as periodic if the year’s total doesn’t exceed the greater of twice the minimum or 10% of the fund’s fair market value at the start of the year. Anything above that reverts to 25%.
Pension Credit and Splitting With a Spouse
Once you turn 65, RRIF income opens two tax breaks worth using. It qualifies for the federal pension income amount, a non-refundable credit on up to $2,000 of eligible pension income, and most provinces match it.11Canada Revenue Agency. Line 31400 – Pension Income Amount Under 65, RRIF income only qualifies for this credit if you received it because of a spouse’s death.
You can also split up to 50% of eligible RRIF income with your spouse or common-law partner for tax purposes.12Canada Revenue Agency. Pension Income Splitting If you’re in a higher bracket, moving half your withdrawal to a lower-income spouse’s return can substantially cut the household bill, and both spouses can then claim the pension credit on their own returns.
Effect on OAS and GIS
RRIF withdrawals count as net income for Old Age Security. The OAS recovery tax begins when net world income exceeds $95,323 for 2026, clawing back 15 cents of OAS for every dollar above the threshold during the July 2027 to June 2028 payment period.13Government of Canada. Old Age Security Pension Recovery Tax Between the spousal-age election and pension splitting, there’s room to keep more of your OAS.
For lower-income retirees, the Guaranteed Income Supplement is income-tested and RRIF withdrawals are counted. Every dollar of RRIF income can cut the GIS payment significantly. If you’re likely to qualify for GIS, drawing down your RRSP before age 71 (while withdrawals are voluntary) and shifting future savings into a TFSA can help, since TFSA withdrawals don’t count as income for GIS or OAS.
Taking the Minimum in Kind
You don’t have to sell investments to meet the minimum. You can transfer securities directly from your RRIF into a non-registered account, and the fair market value on the transfer date counts toward the withdrawal. The taxable income is identical to a cash withdrawal of the same amount, but the position stays intact and you avoid the cost of selling and rebuying. The cost base in the non-registered account resets to the transfer-date value for future capital gains calculations.