Regulations Governing Individual Pension Plans

By Essie Osborn


The law has set guidelines for bodies sponsoring any pension plan. Those provided for individual pension plans indicate that only an active and incorporated firm can sponsor its employees. The members of such a plan must be employees earning T4PS or T4 employment wages from the sponsoring company. This means that employees of other companies cannot be included in the plan.

There is a formula provided by law to guide calculation of benefits by individual members. Members can personally calculate their entitlement when the plan matures. This will depend on the amount contributed and the duration of time the contributions have been made. The formula cannot be changed in the course of the plan. The contributor will not be slapped with unexplained fees or hidden charges that affect the amount he takes home.

The law stipulates the areas where contributions to such schemes can be invested. The aim is to provide secure options and avoid any loss that may be occasioned through volatile investment. Managers are required to adhere to these rules on investment options. It will secure the future for investors eliminating the danger of loosing retirement investment. The regulations are available to firms as they register.

Employers can deduct member contributions from corporate income. An actuary sets the amount to be contributed by a sponsor. The actuary performing the calculation must be certified and licensed to practice. This ensures legitimacy of resultant figures. The schemes cover both connected and non-connected members. The non-connected are those who are paid highly by the sponsor.

The sponsor does not pay from his income. The money remitted for the IPP comes from entitlements to the employees. These contributions do not form part of the taxable income by the members. The fee must however be reported on box 52 while filing annual returns. This will facilitate pension plan adjustment according to the formula stipulated by the income tax act.

Deductions are calculated based on the formula available when one is registering for the scheme. The formula captures several factors including the age of contributors and their level of income. T4 earning history is also a factor to offer a fair amount to contributors. The actuary is allowed to make several assumptions to cushion the managers and contributors from a tough investment environment.

The term designated plan is used because only particular individuals are supposed to benefit. This makes the scheme subject to restrictions on maximum funding. Because of the maximum funding restrictions, the assumptions used by the actuary should be ITR-mandated. This allows the calculations to deliver a constant figure for people working in the same category depending on their income and the benefits they wish to accrue from the scheme.

Regulations for IPPs do not apply uniformly to all schemes. Actuaries have the freedom to make independent assumptions in some cases. The figures generated through independent assumptions differ. The contributor should understand the formula as much as it is expected that the management firm will inform him about his maturity amount. The amount deducted must be entered in the income statement on regular basis.




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