Amira and her husband, Owen, are both 40 years of age and own a small bungalow in the B section of Brossard. They have one daughter, Ellie, born in November of 2015.

Amira is the Eastern Canada Sales Co-ordinator for Clearwater Mutual Funds. Owen is a Project Manager who sub-contracts to a small real estate investment company where he oversees building projects (i.e. for tax purposes he is considered to be self-employed and bills the company directly, but pays his own business expenses).

Since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, Amira has been teleworking, having taken over the family office at home. She believes she is eligible to claim the full $400 ($2 a day) for home office expenses for employees in 2020. Amira earned $72,200 in salary and $7,500 in bonuses in 2020 and received $2,214 in Child Tax Benefits for the year. The couple paid $900 a month for daycare (Ellie only turned 5 after the September 30^th cut-off for kindergarten in 2020) for 9 months in 2020, as they kept Ellie home over the summer and were not required to pay.

Owen was unable to work for 2 months in 2020 when the construction industry was shut down in Quebec. During that period he received $4,000 in CERB benefits. For the remainder of 2020, Owen billed the real estate investment company $60,250, and paid business-related expenses of $12,900.

Each contributed $200 a month to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). Amira also contributed $150 a month to a Defined Benefit Pension Plan (DBPP, a type of Registered Pension Plan) sponsored by Clearwater.

Upon her grandfathers death several years ago, Amira inherited $25,000 which she invested in Clearwater mutual funds in a non-registered account. She received a 2020 T5 slip indicating amounts of $500 in eligible Canadian dividends received and capital gains of $1,100.

Owens parents, who are retired, have gifted Owen $2,500 every December since Ellies birth in 2015, which Owen then immediately contributed to an RESP for Ellie before year-end.

Only Amira has opened a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA). She contributed $1,000 each year for 2017, 2018 and 2019, then withdrew $500 in 2020 for an unexpected dental expense.

How much can Amira contribute to her TFSA as of January 2021? Please explain. Refer to Table C at the end of the Case Study.

Amiras TFSA room as of January 2021

Explanation