RC243-SCH-A Schedule A - Excess TFSA Amounts

What is Form RC243-SCH-A?

RC243-SCH-A, Schedule A – Excess TFSA Amounts, is a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) schedule. If you have an excess Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) amount at any time in the calendar year, you use it to determine the total excess TFSA amounts that are subject to the 1% tax on excess TFSA contributions. A completed Schedule A is attached to Form RC243, Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) Return, and its total goes on line 1 of Section 1, Part A of that return.

The blank above is the current CRA edition of the schedule, RC243-SCH-A E (26).

When you have an excess TFSA amount

You have an excess TFSA amount as soon as the total of all TFSA contributions you made in the year (other than a qualifying transfer or an exempt contribution) exceeds your TFSA contribution room at the beginning of the year plus any qualifying portion of a withdrawal made in the year up to that time. Your contribution room is made up of the annual TFSA dollar limit ($7,000 for 2024 to 2026), any unused room from the preceding year, and any withdrawals made in the previous year (excluding qualifying transfers or specified distributions). Use your actual contribution room, not the annual dollar limit alone. A full year of non-residency does not add new annual room.

If, at any time in a month, you have an excess TFSA amount, you are subject to a 1% tax on your highest excess TFSA amount in that month. A remaining excess can continue into later months. Qualifying withdrawals reduce it; new contribution room eliminates it only to the extent it is sufficient.

Contributions made while you were a non-resident of Canada may be subject to a separate 1% tax per month. That separate non-resident tax is calculated on Schedule B; an excess contribution can also require Schedule A.

How to fill out Schedule A

Schedule A has two sections. Section 1 is a month-by-month chart, January to December, with columns A to H; you must fill it out for every month, even a month with no transactions. Section 2 collects the highest excess amount of each month and adds them up. Report all amounts in Canadian dollars.

1. Enter your TFSA contribution room at the beginning of the year in Column D. It is repeated on each line of every month in which a transaction occurred. 2. For each month, list every contribution in Column A and every withdrawal in Column B, in date order. Do not include qualifying transfers, exempt contributions or specified distributions. A contribution and a withdrawal made on the same day go on separate lines. 3. In Column C, add each new contribution to the last amount reported, so the column shows your running total of contributions. 4. Column E is Column C minus Column D, your excess TFSA amount without considering withdrawals. If the result is negative, enter 0. 5. Column F is the running total of the previous qualifying portions of withdrawals: add the last amount in Column G to the last amount in Column F. 6. Column G is the qualifying portion of a withdrawal: the lesser of (E minus F) and the withdrawal in Column B. 7. Column H is the excess amount in your TFSA after the withdrawal: E minus F minus G. 8. At the end of each month, enter the highest amount in Column H for that month on the corresponding line (1 to 12) of Section 2. 9. Add lines 1 through 12 of Section 2 to get line 13, the total of your excess TFSA amounts, and enter it on line 1 of Section 1, Part A of Form RC243.

The schedule's first pages carry the CRA definitions and a worked example; the current file is on canada.ca under "RC243-SCH-A".