RIF withdrawal – COVID Update

On March 25, 2020, the federal government introduced a change to the Registered Income Fund (RIF) withdrawal rules to ease the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With this change, you now have the option to reduce the minimum annual amount you are required to withdraw from your RIF by up to 25%.

This reduction is intended to help those who have seen their RIF balances impacted by the ongoing crisis. Because this is a temporary measure, it is only available for the 2020 tax year.

To take advantage of this legislated change for your Oaken RIF, you must provide Oaken with a signed letter of direction. This letter must include clear instructions for Oaken to proceed with the change and you must also specify the percentage by which you wish the minimum annual withdrawal to be reduced, to a maximum reduction of 25%.

Note that in order to qualify, you must meet the following conditions:

• You must not have already withdrawn the full 2020 minimum amount at the time you request the reduced withdrawal amount.
• If you have selected an Annual withdrawal frequency you must not have received payment at the time of your request.
• If your RIF withdrawal is set up as Monthly, Quarterly, or Semi-Annual, you must still have remaining payments at the time of your request