POOLED REGISTERED PENSION PLANS: PENSION SAVIOR – OR A NEW TAX ON THE POOR?
August 23, 2012 – James Pierlot and Alex Laurin
Ottawa should rethink the tax rules for Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPPs) or they will not realize their potential to be a good pension savings vehicle for Canadians, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Pooled Registered Pension Plans: Pension Savior – or a New Tax on the Poor?” authors James Pierlot and Alex Laurin show that PRPPs should be avoided by many low- to mid-income Canadians, and also that they could be vastly improved by changes to proposed tax rules.
“As currently proposed, PRPPs present only the appearance of reform because they are for the most part a re-release of an existing retirement savings vehicle –RRSPs – with a new coat of paint,” said James Pierlot, a pension specialist and member of the Pension Policy Council of the C.D. Howe Institute.
