Withdrawing from spousal or common-law partner RRSPs

This section will also apply to a spousal or common-law partner account under a specified pension plan (SPP).

A spousal or common-law partner RRSP is any of your RRSPs:

• to which your spouse or common-law partner contributed
• that received payments or transfers of property from your RRSPs to which your spouse or common-law partner had contributed
• that received payments or transfers of property from your RRIFs to which you had transferred amounts from your spousal or common-law partner RRSPs

Generally, only the individual who is entitled to receive payments from the RRSP (the annuitant) can withdraw funds from an RRSP.

Calculating the income you and your spouse or common-law partner have to report

If you contributed to any spousal or common-law partner RRSP or your spouse’s account under an SPP in 2021, 2022 or 2023, you may have to include in your 2023 income all or part of:

• amounts your spouse or common-law partner received in 2023 from any of their SPPs or unmatured spousal or common-law partner RRSPs
• commutation payments your spouse or common-law partner received in 2023 from any of their SPPs or matured spousal or common-law partner RRSPs
• amounts we consider your spouse or common-law partner to have received in 2023 from any of their SPPs or deregistered spousal or common-law partner RRSPs
• amounts your spouse or common-law partner received, or those we consider that they received, in 2023 from any of their spousal or common-law partner registered retirement income funds (RRIFs) that are more than the minimum amount for the year

See Example of how much income to report on each spouse's return.

Use Form T2205, Amounts from a Spousal or Common-law Partner RRSP, RRIF or SPP to Include in Income, to determine how much to include in your and your spouse's returns.

In all cases, the tax deducted has to be claimed by the individual to whom the slip is issued. In most cases, the information slip issued for the withdrawal will be in the name of the annuitant. However, report the income according to the calculations completed in Parts 1 and 2 of Form T2205.