Your RRIF tax slip is the annual statement your financial institution sends showing everything paid out of your Registered Retirement Income Fund during the year and the tax already withheld. If you live in Canada, that slip is a T4RIF. If you live abroad, it’s an NR4. You’ll use it to report the income on your tax return and to claim credit for tax your institution has already sent to the Canada Revenue Agency.
T4RIF or NR4: Which One You Get
Canadian residents receive a T4RIF, formally the Statement of Income From a Registered Retirement Income Fund.1Canada Revenue Agency. T4RIF Statement of Income From a Registered Retirement Income Fund It covers every payment made from your RRIF in the calendar year, including the required minimum and anything you took above it.
If you’ve moved outside Canada, your payer issues an NR4 instead.2Canada Revenue Agency. NR4 Statement of Amounts Paid or Credited to Non-Residents of Canada The default Part XIII withholding rate for non-residents is 25% of the gross payment.3Canada Revenue Agency. Rates for Part XIII Tax A tax treaty can lower it. For U.S. residents receiving periodic RRIF payments, the Canada–U.S. treaty caps the rate at 15%.4Department of Finance Canada. Convention Between Canada and the United States of America
The Boxes That Matter on a T4RIF
You don’t need to know every numbered box on the slip, but four of them do the work at filing time.
Box 16 shows the total taxable amount paid out of the RRIF during the year, including both the minimum and anything above it.5Canada Revenue Agency. T4RIF Statement of Income From a Registered Retirement Income Fund Box 24 breaks out the excess portion, meaning the amount you withdrew beyond your required minimum. Withholding tax applies only to that excess, not to the minimum itself.6Canada Revenue Agency. T4RIF Statement of Income From a Registered Retirement Income Fund – Slip Information for Individuals Box 28 is the total income tax your institution deducted, which you’ll claim as tax already paid. Box 22 typically shows amounts paid from a deceased annuitant’s RRIF to a beneficiary; where it goes on your return depends on your age and your relationship to the deceased.
When the Slip Should Arrive
Financial institutions must file the T4RIF information return by the last day of February following the year the income was paid. If that day falls on a weekend, the deadline moves to the next business day.7Canada Revenue Agency. Due Date, Penalties and Interest Expect your slip to reach you by late February, roughly two months before the April 30 personal filing deadline.
Most banks mail a paper copy and also post an electronic version to online banking. Your CRA My Account usually mirrors the slip once the issuer has submitted the data.8Canada Revenue Agency. Tax Slips: Get a Copy of Your Slips The online version is fine to file from if the paper copy goes missing.
If nothing has arrived by mid-March, call the financial institution first. If you still can’t get it, the CRA says to file on time using your own records — bank statements and withdrawal confirmations — and estimate the figures. Once the correct slip comes in or you spot an error later, wait for your notice of assessment and then use Change my return in CRA My Account, ReFILE through certified software, or mail Form T1-ADJ to your tax centre.9Canada Revenue Agency. Changing a Tax Return Online adjustments take about two weeks; paper takes about eight.
Where the Numbers Go on Your Tax Return
The reporting line depends on your age on December 31. If you were 65 or older, the Box 16 amount goes on Line 11500 (pension income).6Canada Revenue Agency. T4RIF Statement of Income From a Registered Retirement Income Fund – Slip Information for Individuals If you were under 65 and the payment doesn’t fall into a special category such as an amount received on the death of a spouse, it goes on Line 13000 (other income).10Canada Revenue Agency. 2025 Income Tax and Benefit Guide for Non-Residents and Deemed Residents of Canada
The tax withheld in Box 28 goes on Line 43700, where it reduces your balance owing or increases your refund.6Canada Revenue Agency. T4RIF Statement of Income From a Registered Retirement Income Fund – Slip Information for Individuals Keep the slip and any supporting records for at least six years from the end of the tax year they cover, in case the CRA reviews or audits your return.11Canada Revenue Agency. Keeping Records
Why You May Still Owe Tax at Filing
Your institution does not withhold any tax on the minimum withdrawal. Withholding kicks in only on the excess, and the rates rise with the size of that excess.12Canada Revenue Agency. Frequently Asked Questions (RRSPs/RRIFs)
- Up to $5,000 of excess: 10% withheld (5% federal in Quebec, plus separate provincial withholding).
- $5,001 to $15,000: 20% withheld (10% in Quebec).
- Over $15,000: 30% withheld (15% in Quebec).
If the minimum is your only RRIF activity and pushes you into a taxable bracket, nothing has been prepaid on it. That’s the usual reason a retiree filing a straightforward return ends up with a balance owing. You can ask your institution to withhold voluntarily, or arrange quarterly instalments, to avoid the surprise.
The Pension Income Amount and Spousal Splitting
Reporting on Line 11500 has a second benefit beyond bookkeeping: RRIF income there qualifies for the pension income amount, a non-refundable federal credit worth up to $2,000 that you claim on Line 31400. The credit is 15% of the eligible amount, so at the $2,000 ceiling it takes about $300 off your federal tax, with a parallel provincial credit in most provinces on top. RRIF income reported on Line 13000, for recipients under 65, does not qualify. Amounts transferred from a RRIF to another RRSP, RRIF, or annuity also don’t count.13Canada Revenue Agency. Line 31400 – Pension Income Amount
If you’re 65 or older at year-end, you can allocate up to 50% of eligible RRIF income to a spouse or common-law partner, which lowers a combined tax bill when one of you is in a higher bracket. Both of you must be Canadian residents on December 31, and you can’t have been living apart because of a relationship breakdown for 90 days or more that includes December 31. You each sign Form T1032 and attach a matching copy to both returns. The receiving spouse doesn’t have to be 65, and the allocated portion can qualify them for their own pension income amount, effectively doubling the household’s access to that credit. RRIF income received before age 65 generally doesn’t qualify for splitting unless it was received because of a spouse’s death.14Canada Revenue Agency. Pension Income Splitting
Slips Issued After the Annuitant’s Death
How the slip is issued after a RRIF holder dies depends on who inherits. If a spouse or common-law partner was named as successor annuitant in the contract or the will, the RRIF continues in their name. The fund’s fair market value is not treated as income of the deceased, and the surviving spouse simply starts receiving payments and slips as if the RRIF had always been theirs.15Canada Revenue Agency. Death of a RRIF Annuitant, PRPP Member, or ALDA Annuitant
If a spouse is a designated beneficiary but not a successor annuitant, income earned in the RRIF from the day after death through December 31 of the following year shows up in Box 16 of a T4RIF issued in the beneficiary’s name. For any other beneficiary, such as a child or the estate, that post-death income appears in Box 22 instead.15Canada Revenue Agency. Death of a RRIF Annuitant, PRPP Member, or ALDA Annuitant
If You’re a U.S. Citizen With a Canadian RRIF
U.S. citizens and green card holders holding a Canadian RRIF have obligations on both sides of the border. The IRS eliminated Form 8891 at the end of 2014, so there’s no separate form to defer RRIF income under the treaty. Distributions are included in U.S. gross income under normal rules, and you claim a foreign tax credit on Form 1116 for the Canadian tax withheld.16Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2014-5517Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Tax Credit
Two reporting requirements still apply. If your RRIF combined with any other foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 in aggregate value at any point during the year, you must file FinCEN Form 114 by April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15.18FinCEN.gov. Report Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts If your total specified foreign financial assets exceed $50,000 on the last day of the year (or $75,000 at any point during the year) for a single filer living in the U.S., you also file Form 8938 with your tax return; the thresholds double for married couples filing jointly. Failing to file Form 8938 can bring a $10,000 penalty on its own.
Under the Canada–U.S. treaty, periodic RRIF payments to U.S. residents are capped at 15% Canadian withholding, which you then claim as a credit on Form 1116 against your U.S. tax on the same income.4Department of Finance Canada. Convention Between Canada and the United States of America If your Canadian institution withheld more than the treaty rate, request a refund of the excess from the CRA rather than trying to credit it on your U.S. return.17Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Tax Credit Cross-border RRIF filings are one of the areas where the cost of a mistake tends to exceed the cost of getting professional help.