摘要：Canadian pensioners are now allowed to split income from an employer pension and, in
the case of people 65 and older, income from a registered retirement income fund, a
registered retirement savings plan (rrsp) annuity, and some other forms of annuity. In
this commentary, I argue that pension income splitting has no efficiency benefits and
involves significant revenue sacrifices. From an equity perspective, pension income
splitting benefits some of the least needy taxpayers in Canadian society and inhibits
equality between men and women. Administratively, pension income splitting under the
current rules is inferior to a number of other methods of achieving the same distributional
outcomes; in particular, it imposes tax liabilities on the lower-income spouse, who may
lack the means to pay those liabilities. There are better ways of achieving the
government’s goals, such as allowing for retroactive conversion of personal to spousal
rrsps or transferring basic rate tax room as opposed to tax liabilities. There are also
better ways of spending money on older Canadians—for example, expanding the reach
of the guaranteed income supplement.
