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A survey on TFSA direct transfer cost
February 5, 2023
6:55 am
COIN
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In my experience it varies from 0 to $125, When possible, I wait until the GIC(s) mature and take the cash out (and put it back the following year).

February 5, 2023
9:57 am
Jowett
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Norman1 said
According to Financial Service as an exempt supply… from a Toronto tax law firm, "financial services", as defined under subsection 123(1) of the Excise Tax Act, are GST exempt.

One such service is

(a) the exchange, payment, issue, receipt or transfer of money, whether effected by the exchange of currency, by crediting or debiting accounts or otherwise,

  

I was charged 5 per cent GST by Scotia itrade on a RRIF transfer fee of $150 from itrade to a bank. As an aside they also took two and a half months to effect the transfer.

February 5, 2023
10:20 am
Bill
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I can see it can be confusing, is a transfer of an account (especially if the fee is represented as for account transfer services) with various investment vehicles in it "a transfer of money"?

Try filing for GST paid in error rebate, it's form GST 189, type 1C rebate, CRA will refund GST/HST where someone paid under circumstances where it wasn't subject to GST/HST.

February 5, 2023
11:31 am
Norman1
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Unfortunately, there are exclusions. One exclusion to the definition of "financial services" is

(q) the provision, to an investment plan (as defined in subsection 149(5)) or any corporation, partnership or trust whose principal activity is the investing of funds, of

(i) a management or administrative service, or

(ii) any other service (other than a prescribed service),

if the supplier is a person who provides management or administrative services to the investment plan, corporation, partnership or trust,

A Scotia iTRADE RRIF is set up as a trust. There is a trust company, The Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Company, that is the trustee and also provides administrative services to the RRIF trust, like transferring investments out.

Exclusion (q) could be why GST was charged on that particular RRIF transfer. Maybe "principal activity is the investing of funds" doesn't apply to a RRIF trust as it would to a mutual fund trust?

It looks like a fairly technical area of tax law. One could try to file for a GST error rebate, as Bill mentioned, and see what CRA says.

February 5, 2023
1:03 pm
Bill
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It's possible that the service provided by BNS Trust to iTrade is HST/GST-taxable while the service charge from iTrade to customer is HST/GST-exempt as they are separate transactions, services, between different pairs of parties.

The poor CRA agent, having to do a fair bit of technical research to decide on a few dollar rebate claim, but it would be nice to have a precedent for these types of fees at the retail level.

February 9, 2023
7:10 pm
BlueSky
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Maxa Financial - $0 in, $100 out
https://maxafinancial.com/fee-for-service/

February 10, 2023
6:52 am
RetirEd
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BlueSky: In referencing your link in the above post, I noted this:

Interac Flash Disabling Fee $40.00

The cheeky buggers! It behooves me to point out that cutting the antenna wire on any contactless card disables it for free. While various contactless cards may have SLIGHT differences in where their loop antenna runs (cards with the same size and shape of contact pad have identical loop location in my experience), a standard paper punch hole on the right edge of the card exactly half-way up the right edge and 1 mm or less from the edge will kill the contactless function without interfering with any other functions (slide-in, side-swipe or signature) that exist. If you have a transparent card, you can actually see the antenna, as on some Amex cards, and make a much less noticeable alteration. And of course one can always just tell the curious that you sometimes hang your card from a lanyard inside your shirt or jacket when out shopping.

Alternatively, sawing a 6mm slot into the card from the right edge, about a quarter of the way down from the top, will do the trick, but look strange to bank employees or merchants. Don't mess with the left edge of the card to avoid damage to the contact pad or jamming in a reader slot.

I've done this for five years with all my cards, both debit and credit. You can test it by trying a contactless payment to make sure it's blocked. If it doesn't work, extend the hole upward by 2mm with another punch.

Hey, if they charge this much for it, there must be a demand other than from me. Using contactless even once allows a stolen card to be used at any store you frequent, to a user-settable maximum you may not be aware of!

Remember that most issuers will re-enable contactless payments when replacing or upgrading a card, if it has previously been disabled. You'd have to remember to re-disable it.

Contactless is safer for the merchant, but a disaster for the purchaser!
RetirEd (nerd for over a half-century!)

Peter: if you think this is better placed in another thread, just move it. I placed it here because BlueSky's link led to the charge notice.

RetirEd

February 25, 2023
7:46 am
hwyc
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Previously #4 2023Jan05

FT to FI Direct Transfer Out In Notes
EQ free free
Oaken free free
Peoples Trust free free
Hubert free free
Manulife Bank free free from direct inquiry
Wealthsimple free free Reimbursement available
Tangerine Bank $50 free No fee transfer between Tangerine Investment
( typical ) $50 free
MAXA $100 free
TD Direct Investing $150 ?


- '?' - information not found on their website yet
- Partial transfer or full transfer to be differentiated if it matters
- Total transfer cost = transfer-out cost + transfer-in cost - reimbursement
- FI to FI direct transfer process always initiated at the transfer-in side

Survey thread - please do not post individual opinions/discussions, or go off topic. Click PM to send suggestion, correction  

January 6, 2024
12:34 pm
HermanH
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If I directly transfer $1000 TFSA and am charged a $50 transfer fee, the amount is withheld by the bank losing the TFSA funds.

Since this fee is taken from TFSA funds, does this mean that I have withdrawn $50 to pay the transfer fee and am thus able to re-deposit an additional $50 to my $950 TFSA in the next year, in order to return the pre-transfer TFSA level to $1000?

January 6, 2024
2:15 pm
BillieBob
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HermanH said
If I directly transfer $1000 TFSA and am charged a $50 transfer fee, the amount is withheld by the bank losing the TFSA funds.

Since this fee is taken from TFSA funds, does this mean that I have withdrawn $50 to pay the transfer fee and am thus able to re-deposit an additional $50 to my $950 TFSA in the next year, in order to return the pre-transfer TFSA level to $1000?  

According to the thread linked below, it is considered money lost that’s why it’s best to withdraw at the end of a year and then redeposit the next year into your other (or new) TFSA account.

https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/forum/tax-free-savings-accounts/tfsa-transfer-charges/

January 9, 2024
10:01 pm
AndreyG
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This is useful bit of information. Thank you for the folks who compiled it.
Does the fee situation apply only to TFSA accounts or to RRSP accounts as well?

Another interesting aspect is transfer time. I spoke recently to TD DI about transferring in registered accounts from EQ bank. TD DI rep told me it will take a month! Wealthsimple offers to do it in ... few days? Need to talk to real person to confirm.

January 9, 2024
10:14 pm
Norman1
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Wealthsimple is just offering to send out the transfer paperwork to EQ Bank in a few days.

It is not under Wealthsimple's control how long EQ Bank will take to process the transfer request after it is received and mail the cheque and return paperwork back to Wealthsimple.

August 17, 2024
7:02 am
hwyc
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hwyc said
Previously #28 Feb-25, 2023

FT to FI Direct Transfer Out In Notes
EQ free free
Oaken free free
Peoples Trust free free
Hubert free free
Manulife Bank free free from direct inquiry
Wealthsimple free free Reimbursement available
Tangerine Bank $50 free No fee transfer between Tangerine Investment
( typical ) $50 free
MAXA $100 free
TD Direct Investing $150 free partial from EQ in May 2024


- '?' - information not found on their website yet
- Partial transfer or full transfer to be differentiated if it matters
- Total transfer cost = transfer-out cost + transfer-in cost - reimbursement
- FI to FI direct transfer process always initiated at the transfer-in side

Survey thread - please do not post individual opinions/discussions, or go off topic. Click PM to send suggestion, correction    

August 17, 2024
7:12 am
hwyc
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AndreyG said
...
Another interesting aspect is transfer time. I spoke recently to TD DI about transferring in registered accounts from EQ bank. TD DI rep told me it will take a month! ...  

I mailed the authorization form to TDDI on May 20th, 2024. EQ balance down on May 29th and shown on TDDI by June 6th. Looks like it's still done by snail mail with a cheque.

August 17, 2024
8:19 am
dickyran333
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Interactive Brokers: $0 transfer in and $0 transfer out
Questrade: $0 transfer in and $150 for both partial and full transfer out
Meridian CU: $0 transfer in and $75 transfer out
Motusbank: $0 transfer in and $50 transfer out
Motive Financial: $0 transfer in and $50 transfer out

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