The claim amount is not the tax saving
Line 31400 uses an eligible pension income amount limited to CAD 2,000. That number is not a guaranteed refund, a deduction of CAD 2,000 from tax, or cash paid to every pension recipient. This tool deliberately reports the claim amount and unused space below its ceiling; it does not apply an unverified federal or provincial tax-credit rate.
Choose each source carefully. The supported categories are RPP lifetime retirement benefits, RRIF income and RRSP annuity payments reported in box 16, plus explicit excluded CPP/QPP, OAS, ordinary RRSP cash withdrawals and US IRA income. Other slip categories and elected split income are outside this tool’s category model; use the CRA chart and federal worksheet for them.
Why age and the source matter
The example has CAD 1,200 from an RPP lifetime pension, CAD 1,000 RRIF income and CAD 10,000 CPP. At age 65, the two supported eligible sources total CAD 2,200, capped at a CAD 2,000 claim amount. CPP is excluded. At age 64 with no death condition, the RRIF amount is excluded, leaving CAD 1,200 eligible and CAD 800 unused below the cap.
For the supported RRIF and RRSP-annuity rows below 65, check the death box only if the payment was actually received because of the spouse’s or partner’s death. Being widowed alone is not evidence that an unrelated payment meets that condition. RPP lifetime pension eligibility in this model does not require reaching 65. Ordinary RRSP cash is never reclassified as an annuity merely because the recipient is retired.
Keep transfers and split elections separate
Use income net of amounts transferred that do not qualify, rather than the entire account balance or a raw distribution with an eligible transfer embedded in it. The income trace lets you spot a source incorrectly included in a total. Three sources do not produce three separate CAD 2,000 allowances; the cap applies to the aggregate supported eligible income.
A T1032 election may create different eligibility for the receiving partner. That calculation needs the recipient’s age and the form’s source-specific instructions, so this worksheet does not silently treat incoming split income as an ordinary RPP. It also does not calculate provincial pension amounts, unused credits carried to a spouse, foreign treaty exclusions or the final return. Confirm the amount against the filing-year worksheet.
Official sources and scope
Checked 6 October 2026. These are bounded Canadian worksheets, not a completed return or an agency decision.