The appellants purchased a pre-construction home and made RRSP withdrawals under the Home Buyers Plan in 2021 and 2022.
The Minister assessed the 2022 withdrawals as income, arguing there were insufficient funds in the RRSPs at the end of 2021 to apply the deeming rule in s. 146.01(2)(d) of the Income Tax Act.
The Tax Court allowed the appeals, holding that the deeming rule creates a legal fiction unconstrained by the actual year-end account balance, and referred the assessments back to the Minister.
