Cash and Security Management
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      Withdrawing from a FHSA account

      Learn about the different types of First Home Savings Account (FHSA) withdrawals and how to submit the request

      Withdrawals from your FHSAs without tax consequences

      A withdrawal from an FHSA is not required to be included in your income if it is:

      When your withdrawal is not a qualifying withdrawal, designated amount, or an amount otherwise included in your income, it is a taxable withdrawal. A taxable withdrawal must be included as income on your income tax and benefit return.

      Making qualifying withdrawals from your FHSAs

      If you meet all of the qualifying withdrawal conditions, you can withdraw all of the property from your FHSAs tax-free. You can do this either in a single withdrawal or a series of withdrawals.

      There is no minimum number of days that contributions or transfers to your FHSAs must stay in your FHSAs before you can use them as a qualifying withdrawal.

      You do not need to repay the qualifying withdrawals that you make from your FHSAs.

      If you are buying or building a qualifying home together with another individual, both of you can make a qualifying withdrawal from your own FHSAs as long as you both meet all of the conditions to make a qualifying withdrawal.

      A qualifying withdrawal is a withdrawal from your FHSA where all of the following conditions are met:

      • You must be a first-time home buyer for the purposes of making a withdrawal
        This means you did not live in a qualifying home (or what would be a qualifying home if located in Canada) as your principal place of residence that you owned or jointly owned at any time in the current calendar year before the withdrawal (except the 30 days immediately before the withdrawal) or the previous 4 calendar years

        A "first-time home buyer" for the purpose of making a qualifying withdrawal is different than a "first-time home buyer" for the purpose of opening an FHSA.

      • You must have a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home with the acquisition or construction completion date of the qualifying home before October 1 of the year following the date of the withdrawal.
      • You must not have acquired the qualifying home more than 30 days before making the withdrawal
      • You must be a resident of Canada from the time that you make your first qualifying withdrawal from one of your FHSAs until the earlier of the acquisition of the qualifying home, or the date of your death
      • You must occupy or intend to occupy the qualifying home as your principal place of residence within one year after buying or building it
      • You must fill out Form RC725 Request to Make a Qualifying Withdrawal from your FHSA and give it to your FHSA issuer. 

      Please Note: Form RC725 Must be Wet Signed

      You can withdraw amounts from your RRSPs under the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) and make a qualifying withdrawal from your FHSAs for the same qualifying home, as long as you meet all of the conditions at the time of each withdrawal.

      Making designated withdrawals from your FHSAs

      If you have an excess FHSA amount, one of the ways that you may be able to reduce or eliminate it is to make a designated withdrawal. The amount of the designated withdrawal is not required to be included as income on your income tax and benefit return in the year.

      Make sure to fill and attach Form RC727 for Designated Withdrawals

      Please Note: Form RC727 must be wet-signed

      How to submit the request.

      From the client's contact record, start by navigating into the Servicing (Service Request) tab, which is found in the middle panel of the contact record.

      Then click on Cash and Security Management.

      Step 1: 

      • Select Withdraw

       

      Step 2:

      Specify the Request Type. The four request types are:

      • Eft-Out
      • Withdraw to Investment Account 
      • Send Cheque to Address
      • Send Cheque to Third party

      Step 2:

      • The second property you will be asked to specify is the From Account. 
      • Select the FHSA

       

      Step 3:

      • Since the FHSA account is a registered account, an Offset account must be selected, this is typically the associated cash account.
      • If you select withdraw to an investment account, select the To account. 

      Step 4:

      • If the Request is an EFT Out, select the bank account (Skip this step if not applicable).

      If a cheque is being sent to a third party, please ensure you attach the Letter of Direction (LOD) before submitting the request.

      Step 5:

      You will be prompted to specify: 

      • FHSA Type:
        • Designated Withdrawal
        • Qualifying Withdrawal
        • Taxable Withdrawal
      • Amount Type: Is the withdrawal Full or Partial?
      • Source of funds: Are the funds from the assigned Optimize Model, or All?

      Step 6:

      You will be shown a summary of all the details of the FHSA withdrawal. 

      • Enter the Amount
      • Attach From RC725 for Qualifying Withdrawals
      • Attach Form RC727 for Designated Withdrawals
      • Review the details of the request
      • Click Submit