Line 11500 – Other pensions and superannuation

Note: Line 11500 was line 115 before tax year 2019.

Most pensions and superannuation that you receive are part of your total income and must be reported on your return.

Payments from a pension or superannuation plan are usually shown on a T4A slip or T3 slip.

Topics

Payments from annuities, pooled registered pension plans (PRPP), and registered retirement income funds (RRIF), including life income funds
Pensions from a foreign country
- United States individual retirement arrangement (IRA)
- United States Social Security
Pension income splitting
Completing your tax return
Questions and answers

Payments from annuities, pooled registered pension plans (PRPP), and registered retirement income funds (RRIF), including life income funds

An annuity is a plan that makes payments to you on a regular basis. It might be a general annuity, a payment from a registered retirement income fund (RRIF), or a variable pension payment.

These payments are part of your total income and must be reported on your tax return. Annuity payments are shown on a T4A slip, T4RIF slip, or T5 slip. Annuity, RRIF, and variable pension payments can be reported on different lines of your return depending on your situation.

If there is an amount in box 18 of your T4RIF slip, see Amounts from a deceased annuitant's RRIF.

If there is an amount in brackets in box 22 of your T4RIF slip, enter it on line 23200 of your return.

You may be able to claim the pension income amount depending on the type of pension or annuity payments you report on line 11500 of your return. See line 31400.

Pensions from a foreign country

Report in Canadian dollars your gross foreign pension income received in the year. Use the Bank of Canada exchange rate in effect on the day that you received the pension. If you received the pension at different times during the year, use the average annual rate. The average monthly rate and the daily rate are available by visiting the Bank of Canada.

Attach a note to your paper return showing the type of pension you received and the country it came from. In some cases, amounts that you receive may not be considered pension income and may have to be reported somewhere else on your return.

If there is a tax treaty with the country your pension is from, you can claim a deduction on line 25600 of your return for the part of your foreign pension income that is tax-free in Canada.

If you paid foreign taxes on your pension, you may be able to claim a foreign tax credit when you calculate your federal and provincial or territorial taxes (see line 40500). Do not subtract the taxes from your income when you report it.

Two common types of foreign pension are:

United States individual retuirement arrangement (IRA)

If you received amounts from an Individual Retirement Arrangement or converted an IRA to a “Roth” IRA during the year, contact the CRA.

You can claim a deduction on line 25600 of your return for the part of your foreign pension income that is tax-free in Canada because of a tax treaty.

United States Social Security

Report on line 11500 of your return the full amount in Canadian dollars of your U.S. Social Security benefits and any U.S. Medicare premiums paid on your behalf. You can claim a deduction for part of this income on line 25600 of your return.

Use the Bank of Canada exchange rate in effect on the day that you received the pension. If you received the pension at different times during the year, use the average annual rate. The average monthly rate and the daily rate are available by visiting the Bank of Canada.

Benefits paid to your children are considered their income even if you received the payments.

You may be able to claim the pension income amount. See line 31400.

Pension income splitting

You may be able to make a joint election with your spouse or common-law partner to split the payments that you reported on line 11500 of your return if you and your spouse or common-law partner were:

residents of Canada on December 31, 2022 (or on the date of death for the individual who died)
not living separate and apart from each other, because of a breakdown in your marriage or common-law relationship, at the end of the year and for a period of 90 days or more beginning in the year

To make this election, you and your spouse or common-law partner must complete Form T1032, Joint Election to Split Pension Income. The transferring spouse or common-law partner must report the full amount of income on line 11500 of their return and claim a deduction for the elected split pension amount on line 21000 of their return.

If you received a lump-sum payment, see line 13000.

Completing your tax return

Enter on line 11500 of your return:

the amount from box 016 of your T4A slips and box 31 of your T3 slips.
the gross amount of U.S. Social Security benefits that you received in Canadian dollars.
any gross foreign pension income in Canadian dollars.

If you are 65 years of age or older on December 31, 2022, or if, regardless of your age, you received an amount from an annuity, PRPP, or RRIF upon the death of your spouse or common-law partner (even if the amount is transferred to an RRSP), enter on line 11500 of your return all of the following:

amount from boxes 024, 133, or 194 of your T4A slips
amount from boxes 16 and 22 of your T4RIF slips (if the amount from box 22 is negative, enter it on line 23200 instead)
amount from box 19 of your T5 slips

For a summary of where retirement income should be reported, see the retirement income summary table.

Questions and answers

I received a pension from a foreign country and they withheld taxes. Can I get the tax they withheld back?

Report on line 11500 of your return, in Canadian dollars, the total amount of your foreign pension income received in the tax year. Attach a note to your paper return identifying the type of pension you received and the country it came from. You may be able to claim up to $2,000 on line 31400.

The CRA cannot refund taxes paid to a foreign country. However, you may be able to claim a foreign tax credit when you calculate your federal and provincial or territorial taxes.

Depending on the country and the tax treaty agreement, you may be able to stop the tax from being withheld in the other country by providing them with certification of residency.

You may be able to claim a deduction on line 25600 of your return if all or part of your foreign pension income is tax-free in Canada because of a tax treaty. If you do not know whether any part of your foreign pension is tax-free, contact the CRA.
I started receiving a social security pension from Germany last year. How do I calculate the tax-free portion?

Under the Canada-Germany tax treaty, the calculation of the tax-free portion of social security benefits received from Germany is based on the year the pension is first received. For more information, see Change to the taxation of social security pensions received from Germany by a resident of Canada.
My aunt received a pension from Italy for my late uncle who worked in the Italian armed forces. How does she report the income? My aunt's income includes the pension of $30,000 and interest income of $15,000.

For 2010 and previous tax years, the full amount of the Italian pension is reported in Canadian funds on line 11500 of the tax return. A portion of the Italian pension may be deductible on line 25600 depending on the amount of your aunt's income, the amount of any supplement paid, and military service.

The CRA would need to know the information in the letter she received from Italy. This letter contains details of the pension paid to her including the total paid, the supplement paid (if any), the number of contributions, and the period of time in military service. When you have the information, contact the CRA and we will be able to calculate for you any deductible portion to report on line 25600.

There is a different reporting method for Italian pensions for 2011 and later tax years based on the Canada-Italy Income Tax Convention signed on June 3, 2002 and which entered into force November 25, 2011.

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