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RC243 or T1-OVP: which form your situation needs

An over-contributed TFSA is reported on Form RC243 by June 30. An over-contributed RRSP is reported on Form T1-OVP within 90 days of year end. An FHSA uses Form RC728. Three accounts, three forms, three deadlines.

Three registered accounts, three different returns. A TFSA over-contribution is reported on Form RC243; an RRSP over-contribution on Form T1-OVP; an FHSA excess on Form RC728. The deadlines are not the same either, and the RRSP one is the earliest by a wide margin.

Nothing below tells you which account you over-contributed to. That part you already know. What follows is the paperwork that goes with each.

TFSA: Form RC243, due June 30

The CRA’s instruction is a numbered sequence: remove the excess amount, complete the forms, send them in. The forms are the “TFSA Return (Form RC243)” and its “Schedule A - Excess TFSA Amounts” (canada.ca).

On timing, the same page is exact: “Submit your TFSA Return, any additional forms, and your payment to the CRA by June 30 of the calendar year after the year the tax applies. For example, if you owe tax on your TFSA in 2024, you must file by June 30, 2025” (canada.ca).

Mailed returns go to the TFSA Processing Unit at either the Sudbury Tax Centre or the Winnipeg Tax Centre, or through “Submit documents” in a CRA account (canada.ca).

RRSP: Form T1-OVP, due 90 days after year end

Different form, and a deadline four months earlier. The CRA: “If you have to pay this 1% tax, send your completed T1-OVP, 2025 Individual Tax Return for RRSP” and related plans “to your CRA and pay the tax no later than 90 days after the end of the year in which you had the excess contributions” (canada.ca).

There is a simplified version. For excess contributions made from January 1, 1991 to December 31, 2025 that are subject to tax, the CRA directs you to the “2025 Simplified Individual Tax Return”, one for each applicable tax year. Mandatory group RRSP or pooled pension plan contributions are the exception: those take the full T1-OVP (canada.ca).

FHSA: Form RC728

Newest account, newest return. “If you have an excess FHSA amount, you must file Form RC728, First Home Savings Account (FHSA) Return” together with its “Schedule A, Excess FHSA Amounts, to report your excess FHSA amount and determine the amount of tax payable” (canada.ca).

What the late filing costs, worked

The T1-OVP carries its own penalty on top of the tax. The CRA sets it at “5% of your balance owing” plus “1% of your balance owing for each month that your T1-OVP return is late, to a maximum of 12 months” (canada.ca).

On a balance owing of $400, filed five months late, that is $20 for the flat 5% plus $20 for the five monthly points, so $40 on top of the $400. Interest is separate: the CRA compounds it daily on the unpaid tax and the unpaid penalty, and calculates it “starting on the 91st day of the following year” (canada.ca).

The three forms side by side

TFSARRSPFHSA
ReturnRC243T1-OVP (or the simplified version)RC728
Schedule for the excessSchedule A of the RC243included in the returnSchedule A of the RC728
Deadline the CRA statesJune 30 of the following year90 days after year endsee the RC728 return

Two of these can be in play at once for the same person in the same year, on two different clocks. That is the practical reason the paperwork gets missed.

What every one of them asks for

Dates. The CRA is blunt that the usual slips will not do: “send documents that identify the exact months of all RRSP” and related-plan “contributions and RRSP” or “RRIF withdrawals you made in 2025. Please note RRSP receipts, T4RSP and T4RIF slips do not contain this information” (canada.ca).

A dated ledger of what went in and out, by month, across every account, is the thing the form is built around. If it does not already exist it has to be reconstructed from statements at the point when a deadline is already running.

Two neighbouring situations: what a waiver request has to show is in asking the CRA to waive a TFSA penalty, and what happens when the CRA writes first is in the CRA letter about a TFSA over-contribution. What the TFSA tax itself adds up to month by month is worked through in what the TFSA over-contribution penalty actually costs.

Keeping the record the form asks for

Hudson Bay Finance makes a contribution-room tracker that holds a dated record of every contribution and withdrawal, by account, in the shape these returns ask for. TFSA tracking is free; RRSP, FHSA and RESP unlock together once.

Common questions

Which form do I file for a TFSA over-contribution?
Form RC243, the TFSA Return, together with its Schedule A for excess TFSA amounts. The CRA's filing deadline is June 30 of the calendar year after the year the tax applies.
Which form do I file for an RRSP over-contribution?
Form T1-OVP, or the simplified version of it where that applies. The CRA states the tax and the return are due no later than 90 days after the end of the year in which you had the excess contributions.
Is there a separate form for an FHSA excess amount?
Yes. The CRA requires Form RC728, the First Home Savings Account Return, with its Schedule A to report an excess FHSA amount and work out the tax payable.
What happens if I file the T1-OVP late?
The CRA charges a late-filing penalty of 5% of the balance owing plus 1% of the balance owing for each month the return is late, to a maximum of 12 months.

Related situations

Open the tracker See what the unlock covers

Written by Mo Kechout All answers