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- Working after 65: what a paycheque does to GIS, OAS, and CPP
Wages and self-employment earnings get special treatment in the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS): the first $5,000 is ignored, and so is half of the next $10,000. The OAS recovery tax has no such exemption, and CPP contributions on work income become optional at 65 for people who already receive CPP. - Why GIS stops in July, and how it starts again
The Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and the Allowance are renewed each July using the income on the previous year's tax return. When Service Canada has no income information, the benefit can stop until the information arrives. The law allows back payments for no more than 11 months before the month the request is received. - The age amount: a tax credit for people 65 and over that shrinks long before the OAS clawback
The federal age amount is a tax credit for people who are 65 or older by December 31. For the 2026 tax year it is up to $9,208, and it shrinks by 15% of net income above $46,432. That is less than half the income at which the OAS clawback starts, so a RRIF withdrawal or a pension split can change it. - A TFSA after 60: withdrawals that GIS and the OAS recovery tax do not count
Money taken out of a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) is not taxed and is not counted as income for the Guaranteed Income Supplement or the OAS recovery tax. A TFSA has no upper age limit and no required yearly withdrawal. The 2026 contribution limit is $7,000, and amounts withdrawn are added back to contribution room on January 1 of the next year. - Sponsored parents and OAS: the pension, the GIS, and the sponsorship years
A parent or grandparent sponsored to Canada can get a partial Old Age Security (OAS) pension after 10 years of residence after age 18. Since October 1, 2025, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and the Allowance are not paid for the whole sponsorship, which lasts 20 years outside Quebec and 10 years in Quebec. Four events, such as the sponsor's death, end that bar early. - Selling the family home after 60: the exemption, the cottage, and what the GIS and OAS see
A gain on the sale of a home that was the family's principal residence for every year it was owned is usually exempt from tax, but the sale still has to be reported on Schedule 3 and Form T2091. A family can designate only one home for each year, so a cottage or a former rental can leave part of a gain taxable. A taxable gain counts as income for the GIS and the OAS recovery tax, while an exempt gain does not. - CRA, Service Canada, and grandparent scams: the signs that actually tell them apart
The real Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) may ask for your Social Insurance Number on the phone to confirm who you are, so that request alone does not show a call is a scam. The clearer signs are a demand for payment by gift card, cryptocurrency, or e-Transfer, a threat of arrest, and a text message that claims to be from the CRA. Hanging up and calling back on a number you found yourself is the check the CRA describes. - Turning 71 with an RRSP: the RRIF minimum, a younger spouse, and what counts as income
An RRSP has to be cashed out, moved to a RRIF, or used to buy an annuity by December 31 of the year its owner turns 71. A RRIF then pays a yearly minimum set by a CRA table, starting at 5.28% of the balance at age 71. Every dollar taken out of a RRIF counts as income for the Guaranteed Income Supplement and the OAS recovery tax. - Pension income splitting: what moves, what never can, and how it affects OAS and the GIS
Spouses and common-law partners can report up to 50% of one person's eligible pension income on the other person's tax return, using Form T1032 each year. What counts depends on the age of the person giving the income, and OAS and CPP never count. The split changes each person's net income, which can change the OAS recovery tax, while the GIS for a couple looks at combined income. - OAS at 65 or 70: what deferral adds and what it can cost
Old Age Security (OAS) rises by 0.6% for each month it is delayed after 65, up to 36% at 70, and it rises a further 10% at 75 either way. No Guaranteed Income Supplement is paid while OAS is delayed, and the waiting does not make the supplement larger. Deferral avoids the recovery tax only in the years when no OAS is paid.