[Fall 2025 GPS] Five Year-End Tax Tips

James Schofield - Dec 10, 2025

Here are a few practical tax-saving strategies to close out the year!

  1. Tax loss selling – After three consecutive positive years for most portfolios, you may not have many opportunities for tax-loss selling, but the basic idea is that selling investments with a market value below their cost base, you use tax losses to offset capital gains. Losses can be carried back three years or carried forward indefinitely. If you undertake tax-loss selling, ensure you do not repurchase the same security within 30 days of the sale.

 

  1. RRSP withdrawals – depending on your income in 2025, it may make sense to withdraw from your RRSP before year end. If your income will be close to $0, it often makes sense to withdraw at least the basic personal amount ($16,129) before year end. In certain situations, it may be beneficial to withdraw more. When you contributed to RRSPs, you deducted those contributions from your income, now is your chance to withdraw the money while you’re in a low tax bracket.

 

  1. Withdraw from your TFSA – When you withdraw from your TFSA, you regain an equivalent amount of room in the following calendar year. By withdrawing in December, you’ll have to wait less than 1-month to get that room back, whereas on a January withdrawal, you’ll have to wait 11+ months to regain that room.

 

  1. Contribute (or withdraw) from RESPs – For students attending post-secondary institutions,consider RESP withdrawals before year-end. Withdrawals of grant and growth are taxable to beneficiaries, and it is much better tax planning to have this income in a year with low or no income. For younger beneficiaries, we typically recommend making contributions at the beginning of the year, if possible. Still, for those who have not already done so, it’s better to do it at the end of the year than not at all. Making RESP contributions is particularly important for beneficiaries who turned 15, 16, or 17 in 2025 because these are the last years to receive a matching grant, and there are specific eligibility rules for ages 16/17.

 

  1. Make an In-Kind Charitable Donation – Gifting publicly-traded securities, including mutual funds and segregated funds, with accrued capital gains “in-kind” to a registered charity or a foundation not only entitles you to a tax receipt for the fair market value of the security being donated, but it also eliminates capital gains tax.