On January 14 I decided to see if my T5s were available yet for my ING Direct (now Tangerine) bank accounts. They were so I printed them out and added them to my ever-growing pile of tax information for my 2013 return. Along the way, I learned how Tangerine.ca handles joint accounts: it’s not the way the CRA wants you to do it. I was also misinformed by Tangerine about how they would report the interest on our joint USD account. And one of my children got a T5 but another one didn’t. No wonder tax time is confusing! Here’s how to get your income tax slips for your Tangerine ING Direct  Accounts.

Finding Your Tangerine Income Tax Receipts Including T5 s and RRSP Contribution Slips

1. Go to tangerine.ca
2. Click on the tab: I’m a Client, let me in!
3. Log in to your account.
4. From the list of links down the left side of the screen, click on My Documents.
5. Click on Tax Receipts.
6. In the Choose a Year: field, from the drop-down list select the year you’re interested in. Receipts for the past 7 years will be provided if you have banked with Tangerine for that long. If your 2013 forms are ready, it will be the first choice.
7. A list of your Tax Receipts will be displayed. Examples of available tax receipts may include under the heading Savings Tax Receipts “T5 – Interest earned”
   • my full name as a link.
   • my child’s name and my name as a link.

   Under the heading RSP – RRSP contributions (First 60 Days)

   • my full name as a link
   • Spousal – followed by both spouse’s names

   Under the heading RRSP contributions (Balance of Year)

   • my full name as a link.
   • Spousal – followed by both spouse’s names

   (Unfortunately, I don’t have any Streetwise Funds so I don’t know how they display the tax forms for people who invest in those in a non-RRSP, non-TFSA account.)

8. To see a tax form, I click on the appropriate link. For example, I click on Mrs. Bet Crooks to see my T5.
9. The system will ask if you wish to open the form with Adobe Acrobat or whether you want to save the file.
   1. Click to select the radio button beside Open with Adobe Reader.
   2. Click on the OK button.
10. Use the icons on the document to print or save the file. (You may need to use the File, Save command to save the file depending on your version of Adobe Reader.)
11. When you are finished, close the document.
12. Click on Log Me Out to leave the ING Direct Tangerine website.
    For increased security, clear your browser cache and close your browser session.

What’s on my T5 from Tangerine?

You may have more than one Investment Savings Account at ING Direct Tangerine, especially if you like to save money in separate accounts for vacations, home renos and a new vehicle. ING Direct Tangerine will add up the interest from each of those accounts and include it as a single number on your T5. If you participated in the TFSA Kickstart program, you may have been paid interest into your non-TFSA account (usually your chequing or savings account). This interest may also be included on your T5. You can double check the value if you want by adding up the amounts of interest you earned from each account. To do that, click on

1. Click on the name of a specific savings account.
2. Click on the Account Info button
3. UPDATE 2016 02 13: If you hover your cursor over the question mark symbol after the Current Interest Rate: XX% ? In the box of information at the start of the account, it will state the Interest, Previous Year ($):
4. Make a note of the amount.
5. Repeat for each account.
6. If you participated in the TFSA Kickstart program, you may have to check your Transaction History for your accounts to find where the interest was paid. That amount will not show on the Interest Earned in the Previous Year summary. You’ll have to find it and add it to your notes.
7. Add up the total and see if it matches your T5.

Mine almost did. It did not include the interest earned by my joint USD savings account.

Why Is There No Slip for my Tangerine US Dollar Account?

ING Direct (Tangerine) did not advise me on the T5 as to which bank accounts’ interest was being reported on the slip. By adding up the information for my various accounts, I discovered they had reported all of the interest I earned on my Canadian dollar accounts, but not the interest I earned on my USD account. I wasn’t sure if they didn’t report the USD interest because

• the amount was less than the equivalent of $50 CAD
• the account was a joint account, or
• the account was in USD and they need me to calculate the amount in CAD-equivalent before reporting it on my taxes

So I phoned Tangerine to ask. I was told that because the account is a joint account, and because my husband is listed as the “primary account holder” that the interest has been included in his tax receipts. I was also told that the amount will have been converted into CAD.

I asked my husband to print his tax receipts so that I could check whether this information is correct.

It’s not.

The USD interest is not reported on his T5 either. I think it may be because

• the $$ amount is too small; or
• the amount is USD not CAD

Taxpayers can choose how to convert USD earnings, using the actual exchange rate on the day of each payment or using an annual average exchange rate set for this purpose by the Bank of Canada. That may be why it hasn’t been converted and included. (NOTE: Banks must issue a T5 if you make over $50 CAD in interest on an investment. They don’t have to if you make less. You do legally have to report the interest to the CRA, though, if even it’s just 50 cents.)

Declaring Interest from Joint Accounts to the CRA

One thing to remember is that the CRA expects you to report the interest on joint accounts properly. The amount is supposed to be split and reported by each person holding funds in the account “in the ratio that they contributed the funds to the account.” So if my mother and I held a joint account but all of the money in the account came from her, she would have to report 100% of the interest. If I had contributed one-quarter of the money to the account, she would report 75% of the interest and I would report 25%.

Why Is There Only a T5 for One of my Children?

ING Direct Tangerine will only issue a T5 if the interest earned by the account is at least $50. So if one of your children earns, say $50.01 in interest and the other earns only $49.99 you will only get a T5 for one of the children. NOTE: Legally in almost all cases because of income attribution you must claim the interest for both children on your taxes filed with the CRA whether you get a T5 or not!

Why am I Being Issued a T5 for My Child’s Bank Interest?

In almost all cases, due to attribution rules, parents must pay taxes on interest earned by children under 18.

My Conclusions

Always check whether you received more interest than was reported on your T5s. Check for

• a child’s account earning less than $50
• a small account earning less than $50
• a US dollar account

Always split the interest earned on a joint account according to the CRA rules, not according to the T5.

Related Reading

• Bank of Canada Exchange Rates: Daily and Average Annual
• Which is Better Tangerine or PC Financial: Part Two Cheques, Interest, Overdrafts and Chequing
• Faster Receipts for Tangerine RRSP Contributions in the First 60 Days of the Year
• How to Get Your Income Tax Slips (T5s, RRSP slips) for your PC Financial Accounts

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Did you find anything quirky when printing your tax receipts for your ING Direct Tangerine accounts? Please share your experiences with a comment.