Money you put into a workplace pension plan comes off your income for the year. Line 20700 is where that Registered pension plan (RPP) deduction goes.
What you can claim
Generally, you can deduct the total of all amounts from:
- box 20 of your T4 slips
- box 032 of your T4A slips
- your union or RPP receipts
The three add up to one figure. A slip box and a receipt can cover different contributions in the same year, so read what each document is for before adding it in.
How much you can deduct
Guide T4040, RRSPs and Other Registered Plans for Retirement, sets out how much you can deduct if you contributed:
- more than a set amount to an RPP and your information slips show a past-service amount for service before 1990
- an amount to an RPP in a previous year for a period before 1990 that you have not fully deducted
Those two situations have their own limits, and the CRA's line page sends you to the guide rather than settling them itself.
Contributions to a plan outside Canada
You may be able to deduct the contributions that you made to a pension plan in a foreign country. To find out how much you can deduct, see line 20600.
Which form supports it depends on the arrangement: Form RC267 for employee contributions to a United States retirement plan for temporary assignments, Form RC268 for cross-border commuters, and Form RC269 for a foreign pension plan or social security arrangement that is not a United States plan.
What your document must show
The CRA's page for this line does not spell out the fields an RPP or union receipt has to carry. What the claim rests on is plain enough from the instruction to add the amounts up:
- the contribution amount
- the issuing plan or union, so it is clear the money went to a registered pension plan and not somewhere else
If your T4 slip and a receipt both cover the same contribution, that contribution is claimed once, not twice.
What to keep
Keep your T4 and T4A slips for the year, together with any union or RPP receipts. If you contributed to a foreign plan, keep the completed RC267, RC268, or RC269 with them.
Do not send them in with your return — keep them in case the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) asks to see them.
Dossier tags a pension contribution receipt when it arrives and files it with the slips for the same year, so the pieces of the total sit together.
Official CRA sources
- Line 20700 – Registered pension plan (RPP) deduction
- Guide T4040, RRSPs and Other Registered Plans for Retirement
Source: Canada Revenue Agency (canada.ca). Not tax advice.