2016 tfsa contributions

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nile
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2016 tfsa contributions

Post by nile »

My wife got a letter from revenue Canada today informing her that she contributed twice in 2016.
When I look at the bank statement it says the bill payment was made January 3rd 2017 but when I look at the financial institution statement it says it occurred on December 30th 2016. I set both of ours up for the exact same dates and mine was processed correctly. Is this something I should try and correct or just forget about
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AltaRed
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Re: 2016 tfsa contributions

Post by AltaRed »

If you can prove the Bill Payment data entry was made (entered) on January 3rd, I'd chase the FI down and have them correct the problem. You are clearly in the right.

If you scheduled a Bill Payment for Jan 3rd ahead of time, I can see why the FI may have chosen to process it on Dec 30th....to be sure payment was actually in place on the next business day, that being Jan 3rd. Advance scheduling such a Bill Payment for this sort of thing carries this sort of risk. I would not ever do that, but that said, you still have a case if you have the confirmation printout to demand the FI make the revision with a revised data set sent to CRA. If you don't do that, your wife has likely been incurring penalties since Jan 3rd.
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spanting
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Re: 2016 tfsa contributions

Post by spanting »

I will bet that is iTrade. I had exactly the same problem yesterday.
Made a contribution on January 4, 2017 which curiously enough was backdated
to December 30, 2016. That was then corrected on January 4, 2017.
All this shows up on my January 2017 tax-free savings account statement.
I talked to Felix yesterday. He told me they backdated them thinking
the intent was to make a contribution in 2016 rather than 2017.
The longer he talked about this, the less I believe him. I told him so.
While I waited on the phone, they apparently talked to CRA. They are
going to straighten it out.
I should imagine CRA may be fairly annoyed at them.
We have had our accounts there for quite some time. This is the only time
there is ever been an issue.
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AltaRed
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Re: 2016 tfsa contributions

Post by AltaRed »

FWIW, I have my TFSA at iTrade but have never had that issue. But then I don't initiate my transfer (deposit) request to the TFSA until the first business day of the new year.

That said, there is no way a 'back office' at any brokerage should be making their own decision to backdate a critical type deposit/transfer of this nature. :shock: I'd definitely raise bloody hell on that misguided financial institution.

It is unfortunate the OP did not notice it until CRA picked up on it, and at the risk of being critical, does the OP (or wife) not look at their monthly brokerage statements? Surely everyone quickly reviews their monthly financial statements of every kind every month.
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Koogie
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Re: 2016 tfsa contributions

Post by Koogie »

AltaRed wrote: 06 Jun 2017 18:10 If you don't do that, your wife has likely been incurring penalties since Jan 3rd.
Isn't that assuming that the "second" contribution was for an amount over the full 5.5K and that she had no outstanding contribution space ? I see none of that information in the post.
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Re: 2016 tfsa contributions

Post by AltaRed »

Koogie wrote: 07 Jun 2017 10:33
AltaRed wrote: 06 Jun 2017 18:10 If you don't do that, your wife has likely been incurring penalties since Jan 3rd.
Isn't that assuming that the "second" contribution was for an amount over the full 5.5K and that she had no outstanding contribution space ? I see none of that information in the post.
Yes, that was an assumption on my part...partly because the OP and his wife appears to be super diligent in getting the most out of contribution time and value. I shouldn't assume though. :?
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nile
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Re: 2016 tfsa contributions

Post by nile »

it was with i trade
i spoke with them this am but i dont have trading authority so will call tomorrow with wife present
yes we are both maxed out and put her 5.5 k over in 2016
i dont check check these statements often as i only do 1 trade per year
i just noted that my bank tranfers were dated jan 3 2017 for both of us so I ASSumed it was ok
my transfer was ok so I dont see why hers would be all F***d up
live and learn
wont do anything until after Jan 1 2018
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