I did exactly this right before the end of 2023, so my T4RIF and RRSP slips were applicable to the 2023 tax year. I believe it's important to use them both in the same year since:
1. You need the RRSP deduction on line 20800 to cancel out the Pension income to be declared on line 11500 from your 2024 T4RIF, otherwise you will be paying tax on the transfer amount in 2024.
2. You also have to declare the transfer on line 5 of the Pension Income Worksheet to cancel out the Pension income amount on line 1 of the same worksheet (from line 11500 of the tax form). This is to ensure the transfer amount does not contribute to the $2000 Pension Income Deduction.
3. For the RRSP part, you also have to indicate this is a transfer which will not impact your contribution room. This is accompished by entering the RRSP deduction amount in both the appropriate Contribution box and also into the Designated Transfer of eligible income amount box of the RRSP T-Slip entry form.
Using the steps above I was able to submit my 2023 taxes and they were accepted and reviewed with no issues. I have received my notice of assessment and all is correct.
Regarding your main question, as far as I know it is your option whether you declare an RRSP deduction in the first 60 days as applicable to the current or previous tax year. The convention is to use the previous year (as per the TurboTax form labels), but I don't think it is mandatory. In your case I believe you would likely want to declare this special LIF to RRSP transfer deduction in 2024 (using the March-December contribution box of the 2024 tax forms). I am not a tax accountant, so please check my advice with a professional, or call the CRA to confirm.
Sign In
Canada (English)
EN
