27
FEATURE ARTICLE
Our tax system generally taxes all sources of
income, but income from an RDSP does not reduce
the Canada Child Benefit,
13
the GST/HST credit,
14
the OAS,
15
the GIS
16
or the tax credit for medical
expenses.
17
Conclusion
In most provinces, the RDSP is coordinated with the
provincial laws: the assets and payments are fully
exempt for the beneficiary and there is no impact
on social benefits. In Québec, the positioning of
the RDSP is better than it was: in 2008, the LDAP
threshold was set at $300 a month, but since 2014
it has been $950.
Currently, Québec, New Brunswick and Prince
Edward Island are the only provinces that do
13 S. 122.6 ITA, under the definition of "adjusted income."
14 Subsec. 122.5(1) ITA, under the definition of "adjusted income."
15 Subsec. 180.2(1) ITA, under the definition of "adjusted income."
16 S. 2, Old Age Security Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. O-9 (hereafter "OASA"), under the
definition of "income."
17 Subsec. 122.51(1) ITA.
not fully exempt LDAPs, but Québec is the only
province that does not index the maximum SSP
threshold by law over time ($950 per month).
The maximum threshold in New Brunswick, for
example, is adjusted to reflect changes in low
income, and the maximum threshold in PEI is set
by the National Council of Welfare.
Since the goal of the RDSP is to protect the
financial security of a disabled person for the long
term, we can only hope that legislative changes
will be made soon, to avoid discouraging people
from opening an RDSP for fear of ending up with
an EMTR of 100%.
