Figure out how much you can put into a TFSA this year and next
How much room do you have in your Tax-Free Savings Account? For many it’s not a simple question. The amount you’re allow to put into this tax-sheltered account depends on your age and how much you may already have in it.
Advertisement
As a reminder, a TFSA allows any Canadian over the age of 18 to save or invest money in a tax-free account. “Tax free” means that you don’t pay taxes on the money you make inside your TFSA. That means things like interest payments, stock dividends or capital gains. (Don’t get us started about the name. Yes, it’s called a savings account, but it’s designed to hold investments).
Compare the Best TFSA Rates in Canada* >
Every year more room gets added to the contribution limit for everyone 18 and older—and it’s cumulative meaning your contribution room builds each year. Assuming the TFSA contribution limit for 2022 will be $6,000, same as for this year, if you turned 18 before the year 2009, your maximum lifetime TFSA contribution limit will be $81,500.
If you take money out of the TFSA, you get that room back on January 1 the following year. Just don’t go over your limit. Doing so will invite stiff penalties.
So how much room do you have? Try our tool to find out. (Note that in the second box below, you should not “double count” contributions that you have withdrawn and then legitimately re-contributed in the following calendar year or beyond, as this could lead to a false over-contribution warning.)
* Note that the calculator assumes next year's contribution limit will be the same as this year’s.
This tool is designed for future planning purposes only and cannot account for past adjustments to contribution room due to withdrawals (other than those made within the past year). If you think you might be close to your allowable contribution room limit please contact the Canada Revenue Agency to verify this information.
Compare the Best TFSA Rates in Canada »
Updated May 2021.
If a link has an asterisk (*) at the end of it, that means it's an affiliate link and can sometimes result in a payment to MoneySense (owned by Ratehub Inc.) which helps our website stay free to our users. It's important to note that our editorial content will never be impacted by these links. We are committed to looking at all available products in the market, and where a product ranks in our article or whether or not it's included in the first place is never driven by compensation. For more details read our MoneySense Monetization policy.
A one-time bump in Sam’s income triggered an Old...
MoneySense partners share their answers to questions that we...
Supply chain woes and chip shortages could be the...
If you own an incorporated business, you can pay...
Fifteen high-quality "vintage" stocks that outperformed the S&P 500;...
Learn more about ETF investing from Jonathan Chevreau at...
We dug into the differences between these seemingly similar...
Can you take it with you? After quitting his...
Reserve your free tickets for the Canadian Financial Summit,...
Canada's Big Six banks have another big earnings quarter;...