Five Tax Moves Canadians Should Consider before June 30th

1. Max out your TFSA for 2026

Most Canadians know about their Tax Free Savings Account and if you’ve been following you’ll know that as of January 1st 2026 you gained another $7,000 of contribution room. What some Canadians don’t realize is that any room you have accumulated but haven’t used carries forwards. If you’re still logged into your CRA my account (I told you not to log out!) you can check your contribution room right on your CRA account.

If you’re a Canadian Adult who was 18 or older as of 2009 when the account launched, you could have up to $102,000 assuming you haven’t contributed to your TFSA. If you have made contributions (and even withdrawals) your TFSA room might not line up with whats on your CRA my account. Best option here is to track your contributions and withdrawals tto make sure you’re not overcontributed.

Why does the additional $7,000 of TFSA room matter so much? Well, unlike the RRSP you won’t get a tax deduction or generate any tax savings on dollars going into your TFSA. However, any gains you make, through dividends, interest, capital gains are tax free forever. This means that you could put $100,000 into your TFSA today and in 10 years if it grew to $200,000 you could withdraw $200,000 tax free.

Another benefit of the TFSA is that withdrawals have no impact on future government benefits like Old Age Security (which has a clawback of 15% per dollar above $93,454) or the Guaranteed Income Supplement. If you’re entering into retirement and have access to these benefits - it may make sense to review and see if withdrawals from your TFSA might keep you in the money!

2. Check your RRSP Contribution room

Most Canadians think about their RRSP in February when the contribution deadline is fast approaching and ads are everywhere from every bank asking them to contribute. I find that mid/early year is the best time to review your RRSP strategy where theres no deadline pressure and you can make an informed decision on how much to contribute based on your current and future income.

Your 2026 RRSP contribution limit is 18% of your 2025 earned income up to a max of $33,810. The best way to find this information is on you guessed it your CRA account. Because you didn’t close your CRA My account (right) you will be able to find your 2026 RRSP contribution limit on there, or on your Notice of Assessment if you’ve received it after filing your 2025 tax return.

You don't have to deduct your RRSP contribution in the same year you made it. If your income was lower in 2025 than you expect it to be in future years, you can carry the deduction forward and use it in a higher-income year — where it's worth more. This is a straightforward and often overlooked strategy.

One thing to note while you’re on your CRA my account, while the annual maximum is $33,810 past contribution room to your RRSP that you didn’t use carries forwards indefinitely. For example if you had $30,000 of RRSP room in 2025 and you contributed $20,000 the remaining $10,000 carries forwards to 2026.

Another thing I am seeing more and more of is undeducted RRSP contributions. These are contributions you’ve made to your RRSP but you didn’t claim on your tax return (ie you didn’t actually get the tax refund). While this can be a strategy, generally most people would want to claim their RRSP contributions when they make them. This is another thing to look for.

3. Review your Tax Installment Payments

If you’re self employed, a business owner, or have rental or investment income you may have to make installment payments in 2026. The CRA requires Canadians to pay installments quarterly if installments are needed. This means that March, June, September and December come with a tax bill owing to the CRA.

Missing or underpayment of an installment isn’t an inconvenience, CRA will charge interest and potentially penalties for late payments. How do you know if installment payments are coming for you? General if you have owed more than $3,000 in net tax in either of the two previous tax years, the CRA will expect installment payments. The nice thing is they will send you a lovely reminder in February and August with the suggested amounts.

4. Plan your donations before the end of the year

Most Canadians donate towards the end of the year for tax benefits and theres nothing wrong with that. But Making charitable donations under year end pressure often means leaving significant tax savings on the table. Again, thinking about your donation strategy through the year can make things a little easier.

One strategy that most people don't know about is donation of securities in kind. Instead of donating cash using your bank account or credit card, you can actually donate stocks, ETFs etc in kind to a registered charity. When does this make sense? If you hold an investment in a non-registered account with significant capital gains, selling it and then donating the cash triggers a tax event. You’ll pay tax on the growth before the charity sees a dollar. But if you transfer the security in kind to a charity, they receive the full value, you receive a tax credit on the full value and no capital gains taxes are owed.

This one is a bit confusing so let's walk through an example. Let's say you hold shares of Royal Bank in your non-registered account and your shares were bought for $5000 and they are now worth $10,000. If you wanted to make a $10,000 donation to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region, you could sell the shares of RY which would trigger a $5,000 capital gain, and include $2,500 in your income. If you’re in a 30% tax bracket you’d owe $750 in taxes on the gain come April. However, if you instead transfer your shares in kind (you literally send the Food Bank shares) the CRA will grant you the donation tax credit on the full $10,000 and will not tax you on the $5,000 capital gain. This strategy is far more tax efficient.

The reason that mid-year planning matters here is that in-kind donations take time to arrange. Many of our clients do so through a Donor Advised Fund which can streamline the process, but any institution should be able to do so with some advanced notice.

5. Review your income splitting opportunities

If you and your spouse are in different tax brackets, you may be paying more tax as a household than you need to. Income splitting can help shift some of the income from the higher income spouse, to the lower income spouse and even out your total tax bill as a household.

Here are a few of the most effective income splitting tools available to Canadian couples:

Spousal RRSP contributions: Instead of contributing to your own RRSP, a higher income spouse can contribute to a spousal RRSP. The contributor (the higher income earner) still receives the deduction, but withdrawals are taxed in the hands of the lower income spouse, ideally at a much lower tax rate. The only caveat is that contributions must remain inside the Spousal RRSP for 3 calendar years or withdrawals will be attributed back to the contributor. So if retirement is on the horizon this should be looked at.

Pension Income Splitting: If you or your spouse are already receiving eligible pension income, you can move 50% of that income to your spouse for tax purposes. This doesn’t require any money actually changing hands, it's done on your tax return to shift income.

Prescribed rate loan: a higher income spouse can loan money to a lower income spouse at the CRA's prescribed rate to invest. Any investment returns are then taxed in the lower income spouse's hands rather than the higher earners. This strategy is a little bit more advanced, but when the prescribed rate is low, it can be locked in going forwards and represent tax savings for the household.

Ready to Put These Into Action?

Tax planning is most powerful when it's proactive — not reactive. If any of these moves resonated with you and you're not sure where to start, I'd love to help. [Book a complimentary planning conversation here] and we can walk through which of these strategies make the most sense for your specific situation.