Old Age Security Return of Income (OASRI)

Non-resident seniors who receive Canadian old age security (OAS) payments may have to pay recovery tax on those payments.

As a non-resident senior who receives OAS payments, you must submit an Old Age Security Return of Income (OASRI) so that we can determine if you have to pay recovery tax and also to ensure that your OAS payments are not interrupted. If you are a resident of a country with which Canada has a tax treaty, you may not have to file this return. For more information on this exception, see tax-treaty countries.

Note
The CRA does not issue OAS payments. Contact Service Canada with any questions about the amount of your cheque, to report a lost or stolen cheque, etc.

OASRI

The information on your annual OASRI lets us determine if your net world income is more than the threshold. If your net world income is higher than the threshold for the tax year, recovery tax will be deducted from your monthly OAS payments.

Note
Information on the OASRI return is only used to calculate your recovery tax. We do not calculate any other Canadian income tax from this return.

Recovery tax

Recovery tax:

• is an additional tax that is used to repay all or part of the OAS payments received by higher-income pensioners;
• applies only if your net world income is more than the threshold for the tax year.

Thresholds (in Canadian funds) are:

• $69,562 for the 2012 tax year,
• $67,668 for the 2011 tax year,
• $66,733 for the 2010 tax year,
• $66,335 for the 2009 tax year,
• $64,718 for the 2008 tax year,
• $63,511 for the 2007 tax year,
• $62,144 for the 2006 tax year, 
• $60,806 for the 2005 tax year, 
• $59,790 for the 2004 tax year, 
• $57,879 for the 2003 tax year, 
• $56,968 for the 2002 tax year.  

How is recovery tax calculated?

The recovery tax rate is 15%, and applies only to the income that is above the threshold for the applicable year ($69,562 for 2012). The thresholds for each year are provided above.

Notes
The recovery tax cannot be more than the amount of old age pension income, including supplements, received in the year.

Under no circumstances will the non-resident tax and the recovery tax add up to more than the total OAS pension income, including supplements, received in the year.

To calculate your recovery tax, complete the chart below. However, if any of the following situations applies to you, do not complete this chart and, instead, contact us for the special rules and calculation to apply in these situations:

• you immigrated to Canada or emigrated from Canada in 2012 and you received OAS payments during the part of the year that you were a non resident;
• you received OAS payments throughout 2012, and you were a resident of one of the tax-treaty countries listed below for part of 2012 and for the other part of that year you were resident in a non-listed country; or
• you were a resident of the Philippines in 2012.

Note
We offer a printer-friendly version of this chart.

Here is an example of how recovery tax is calculated:

If you are subject to the OAS recovery tax for 2012, your future monthly OAS pension payments, starting with the one for July 2013, might have recovery tax deducted from them.

Tax-treaty countries

Because of the terms of the tax treaty between Canada and each country listed below, non-resident seniors living in these countries do not have to file an OASRI or pay recovery tax unless they plan to move, before July 1, 2014, to a country that is not listed.

Argentina	Ireland	Romania
Australia	Israel	Senegal
Azerbaijan	Ivory Coast	Spain
Bangladesh	Kenya	Sri Lanka
Barbados	Malaysia	Switzerland
Bulgaria	Malta	Tanzania
Cyprus	Mexico	Trinidad and Tobago
Dominican Republic	New Zealand	Turkey
Ecuador	Norway	United Kingdom
Finland	Papua New Guinea	United States
Germany	Peru	Zambia
Greece	Poland	Zimbabwe
Hungary	Portugal

In addition, you do not have to file an OASRI or pay recovery tax if one of the following situations applies:

• you were a resident of Brazil in 2012 and you are a Brazilian national;
• you were a resident of the Philippines in 2012 and your 2012 Canadian pensions total $5,000 or less.

Notes
If you were a resident of a non-listed country at any time in 2012 and you received OAS payments during that period, you have to file this return.

If the tax treaty your country of residence has with Canada is amended, you may no longer have to file this return.

Net world income

Your net world income is the total of all the income you are paid or credited in a year from sources both inside and outside Canada minus allowable deductions. You must include in the calculation the following types of income:

• pensions;
• social security;
• interest;
• dividends;
• rental property;
• capital gains;
• business;
• employment.

When calculating your net world income, do not reduce the income by any tax that has already been withheld.

Filing due date

Generally, your Old Age Security Return of Income (OASRI) must be filed on or before April 30 of the year after the tax year.

Note
Filing your annual OASRI on time also helps ensure that your old age security pension is not interrupted by Service Canada.

Other Canadian tax returns

You may have to file a separate 2012 Canadian income tax return if you:

• filed Form NR5, Application for a Reduction in the Amount of Non-Resident Tax Required to be Withheld, and it was approved for the tax year in question. In this case, you must file a section 217 tax return;
• filed Form NR6, Undertaking to File an Income Tax Return by a Non-Resident Receiving Rent or Timber Royalties, and it was approved for the tax year in question. In this case, you must file a section 216 tax return;
• received Canadian-source employment or business income;
• received taxable Canadian-source scholarships, fellowships, bursaries, or research grants;
• received a capital gain from disposing of taxable Canadian property.

For more information about filing a Canadian income tax return, see Filing your income tax return.

Forms and Publications

• Guide T4155, Old Age Security Return of Income Guide
• Form T1136, OAS Return of Income