You can’t escape paying tax on income, but you may be able to split some of your income with your spouse. And if your spouse is in a lower tax bracket, you’ll pay less tax as a couple. Here are three scenarios that illustrate some of the tax-saving strategies available through income splitting.

Using a prescribed rate loan – Kim and Henry

Kim, an executive at a health care firm, is the couple’s primary income earner, and Henry is a self-employed photographer. The couple saves tax in several ways, all involving investments.

If Kim simply gave Henry money to invest to pay less tax on income and returns, attribution rules would pass the tax bill back to Kim. She decides instead to use a prescribed rate loan. Kim loans $100,000 to Henry that she received as an inheritance. She charges Henry interest at the government’s prescribed rate, currently 2%, and investment income is taxable to Henry at his lower rate. It takes a large loan like this and a significant difference in marginal tax rates for the strategy to be worthwhile.

In addition, the couple uses an easy and effective investment technique: Kim covers household bills and expenses so Henry can use his earnings to invest in a non-registered account – again, benefiting from his lower tax rate.

Kim also gives money to Henry that he contributes to his Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), which attribution rules allow.  

Employing your spouse – Mark and Laura

Mark owns an event planning business. His wife Laura works with him part-time to bring in new business, largely through social media. Previously, Laura was being paid by the company with dividends taxed at her personal rate. But when the new Tax on Split Income (TOSI) rules took effect on January 1, 2018, their previously acceptable income-splitting arrangement was in jeopardy. Laura was working fewer than 20 hours per week, which subjected her dividends to tax at the highest marginal rate.

The couple had a decision to make – switch payment to salary, which was not subject to the TOSI rules, or meet the new requirements. They preferred the relative simplicity of dividends over the paperwork that salary involved. So now Laura works a minimum of 20 hours per week and continues to receive tax-friendly dividends. The couple still benefits from income splitting, and Laura keeps time records to demonstrate they are onside of TOSI rules.

Splitting RRIF income – Amelia and Hasan

A retired couple, Amelia and Hasan are making the most of their retirement income by paying less tax where possible. Hasan had been the higher-income earner and he established a Spousal Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), now a Spousal Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF). Amelia withdraws funds from the Spousal RRIF to help support the couple’s lifestyle, which is taxable at her lower rate.

Hasan takes the minimum required withdrawals from his RRIF and splits half of his RRIF income with Amelia. This strategy saves tax and helps Hasan prevent Old Age Security (OAS) clawback by lowering his net income.

The couple also shares their Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits. The government uses a formula to determine the exact split, based on giving Amelia and Hasan an equal share of the combined pension they earned while living together.