RRIF withdrawals are taxable income in Canada. The amount you receive from a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) is generally included in your income for the year, whether it represents your required minimum or money withdrawn above it. What often causes confusion is withholding tax. A taxable withdrawal does not necessarily have tax deducted before you receive it. Under the 2026 RRIF withholding rules, the required annual minimum generally has no income tax withheld at source. The portion you elect to withdraw above that minimum is generally subject to withholding.
- How RRIF Withdrawals Are Taxed
- No Tax Is Normally Withheld From the RRIF Minimum
- 2026 RRIF Withholding Tax Rates on Amounts Above the Minimum
- Monthly RRIF Payments Can Have a Higher Withholding Rate Than Expected
- Withholding Tax Is Not Your Final RRIF Tax Bill
- How RRIF Withdrawals Appear on Your Tax Return
- Questions About Tax on RRIF Withdrawals
How RRIF Withdrawals Are Taxed
Money can grow inside a RRIF without the investment earnings being taxed annually while they remain in the fund. Once money is paid out of the RRIF, however, the payment generally becomes taxable income.
Your RRIF carrier reports the applicable income on a T4RIF slip. The tax ultimately payable is determined through your income tax return alongside your other taxable income. As a result, there is no single income tax rate that applies to every RRIF withdrawal. Your final result depends on your taxable income and the federal and provincial or territorial tax rules that apply to you.
No Tax Is Normally Withheld From the RRIF Minimum
The minimum amount required from your RRIF generally has no income tax deducted at source. That rule sometimes creates the impression that the minimum is tax-free, but it is still taxable income.
For example, if your 2026 minimum is $10,000 and you withdraw exactly $10,000, the carrier would generally pay the full amount without withholding income tax. The $10,000 remains reportable RRIF income. Depending on your overall tax position, you could therefore owe tax when filing your return even though nothing was deducted when the payment reached you.
You can ask the payer to deduct additional tax voluntarily. That can be useful when you would rather have tax collected throughout the year instead of potentially facing a larger balance when you file.
2026 RRIF Withholding Tax Rates on Amounts Above the Minimum
For Canadian residents outside Quebec, the 2026 lump-sum withholding rates generally applied to the portion above the RRIF minimum are:
| Excess RRIF withdrawal | 2026 withholding rate |
|---|---|
| Up to and including $5,000 | 10% |
| More than $5,000 up to and including $15,000 | 20% |
| More than $15,000 | 30% |
Quebec uses federal withholding rates of 5%, 10% and 15% for those respective bands, with Quebec provincial withholding handled separately.
Consider a RRIF with a $12,000 minimum for 2026. If you request a $17,000 payment, $5,000 is above the required minimum. The withholding requirement generally applies to that $5,000 excess rather than the entire $17,000 payment. At the 2026 rate for a Canadian resident outside Quebec, $500 would be withheld from the excess portion.
The bands are not progressive like income tax brackets. An excess payment of $8,000 does not have the first $5,000 withheld at 10% and the remaining $3,000 at 20%. The applicable 20% rate is used for the $8,000 excess amount. Our separate RRIF withholding tax rates guide goes further into these deductions.
Monthly RRIF Payments Can Have a Higher Withholding Rate Than Expected
Breaking an elected excess withdrawal into smaller instalments does not necessarily reduce the withholding rate. When monthly, quarterly or other periodic payments are made to fulfil one request for an annual amount, the rate is generally determined from the total excess requested for the year.
For instance, requesting $18,000 above your minimum and having that amount distributed over 12 monthly payments does not turn it into twelve separate $1,500 withdrawals for withholding purposes. The 2026 rate outside Quebec is based on the $18,000 request, placing the excess at the 30% withholding rate. Each instalment can therefore have withholding applied to its excess portion at that rate.
A genuinely separate additional withdrawal requested later can be treated as a new request. However, a series of requests made over a short period to obtain lower withholding can be considered together when determining the appropriate rate. The practical point is simple: changing the payment frequency does not reliably change the withholding that applies to an amount you have already elected to receive.
Withholding Tax Is Not Your Final RRIF Tax Bill
The percentage deducted by your financial institution is a withholding amount, not a calculation of the final income tax owed on the withdrawal. It works as a tax prepayment that is accounted for when you file your return.
Your actual tax could be higher than the amount withheld. It could also be lower, potentially producing a refund after the rest of your income, deductions and credits are taken into account. This is especially important with the minimum payment because no withholding may occur even though the entire taxable amount still forms part of your income.
For that reason, the cash deposited into your bank account should not be treated as an indication of the withdrawal’s final after-tax value. When planning an optional withdrawal, look at the additional taxable income it creates rather than relying on the percentage withheld at source.
How RRIF Withdrawals Appear on Your Tax Return
Your carrier issues a T4RIF, Statement of Income from a Registered Retirement Income Fund, showing the relevant amounts for the year. Box 16 generally reports the taxable amount from the RRIF, while box 24 identifies the portion above the required minimum for information purposes. Any income tax deducted is also reported on the slip.
The reporting line can depend on your age and circumstances. If you were 65 or older at the end of the tax year, qualifying RRIF income is generally reported on line 11500. Certain amounts received because of a spouse’s or common-law partner’s death can also use that line. Other RRIF income may instead be reported on line 13000.
Questions About Tax on RRIF Withdrawals
Can you have tax withheld from your RRIF minimum voluntarily?
You can request additional withholding even when the payer would not otherwise be required to deduct tax from the minimum. This can help cover an expected tax liability rather than leaving the entire amount until tax-filing time.
Can no tax be withheld from an extra RRIF withdrawal?
There is an exception where a payer may not be required to deduct tax from a lump-sum payment if your reportable income from all sources indicates that you will have no tax liability and the applicable TD1 requirements are satisfied. This exception does not apply to non-resident withholding.
Are RRIF withdrawals taxed differently after age 65?
The withdrawal remains taxable, but age 65 can affect other tax provisions. Qualifying RRIF income received at age 65 or older can, for example, qualify for the federal pension income amount and may be eligible for pension income splitting with a spouse or common-law partner. Our RRIF income splitting guide covers the latter separately.
Does transferring RRIF money directly to another registered plan create the same tax result as withdrawing it?
Certain direct transfers of eligible RRIF property or excess amounts can receive different tax treatment from an ordinary cash withdrawal when the statutory requirements are met. Taking the money personally and then depositing it elsewhere should not be assumed to produce the same result.
