Group RRSP Overhaul Considered
Jack Mintz is the Executive Director at the University of Calgary in Canada, and he is lobbying the Conservative government to reduce investors' taxes and increase their maneuvering room in products such as RRSPs and TFSAs. If he gets his way, financial advisers may have added flexibility in arranging these products for their clients, who may also retain more of their savings. Mintz argued that reducing the tax on savings will not only encourage more saving, it will allow people to accumulate wealth faster for retirement purposes.
He suggested four measures that if taken would leave more savings in the hands of investors. The first is to remove the tax discrimination against group RRSP's, which would remove a penalty indirectly imposed on employers for setting up these plans. Removing HST (harmonized sales tax) on financial services is another measure that he advocates to reduce tax on savings, and contribution limits to RRSP's should also be relaxed.