If bank interest income is in the name of both spouses can this income be split 80% and 20% for tax purposes?

[jdolphin54]

My wife and I are joint owners of savings investments in banks. Can the interest derived from these bank savings accounts be split 80% to 20% for income tax purposes?

[TurboTaxKim]

According to CRA Attribution rules, what you need to do is determine who contributed to the investment and what percentage. You report the interest earned in the same proportion as the funds that were contributed into the account that earned the income. So if these were "your" funds, then you would claim the income on the T3 & T5 slips 100% in your name.

You cannot change the amounts strictly for tax advantages, and you should continue to report it with the same percentages each year, as changing this each year can trigger a review and possible reassessment from CRA.  Generally spouse's claim 50/50.