The TFSA limit determines how much you can deposit in your Tax-Free Savings Account each year.
The TFSA limit for 2018:
| Year | TFSA Annual Limit | TFSA Cumulative Limit |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| 2010 | $5,000 | $10,000 |
| 2011 | $5,000 | $15,000 |
| 2012 | $5,000 | $20,000 |
| 2013 | $5,500 | $25,500 |
| 2014 | $5,500 | $31,000 |
| 2015 | $10,000 | $41,000 |
| 2016 | $5,500 | $46,500 |
| 2017 | $5,500 | $52,000 |
| 2018 | $5,500 | $57,500 |
More about the annual TFSA limit:
Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) were first introduced in Canada in 2009. Most Canadian financial institutions now offer them. A TFSA allows any Canadian over the age of 18 to save or invest money in a tax-free account. “Tax free” means that you don’t pay taxes on the money you make inside your TFSA. That means things like interest payments, stock dividends or capital gains.
However, there’s a maximum amount of money you can deposit into your TFSA each year. Currently, this annual maximum is $5,500. Luckily, your total contribution is cumulative, so you can roll over this contribution room year to year. So the amount you can save will go up each year, whether you deposit money or not. It doesn’t matter how much the savings or investments in your TFSA are worth; the only thing the government limits is how much you can put in.
Your TFSA limit if you’ve never contributed before
If you don’t have a TFSA and you turned 18 before 2009, then you could open one and contribute a maximum of $57,500.
Your TFSA limit if you already have a tax-free savings account
Have you already opened a TFSA and started saving? That’s great. If you’ve never withdrawn money from your account, you can keep adding until you hit the current TFSA limit.
READ: Here’s why investing at the start of the year is so important
If you have withdrawn money from your TFSA in the past, that’s fine! You will get that room back, but not until the following year.
Your financial provider will likely alert you if you hit your TFSA limit for a single account. But keep in mind that you can open more than one TFSA, with more than one financial institution. Say you deposited $40,000 in a TFSA at one bank, and $40,000 in a second TFSA at another. Neither bank would flag your account, but you would still be over the limit. Ultimately it is up to you to confirm that you stay within your TFSA limit.
This story was originally published on CanadianBusiness.com
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