FHSA Tracking and the Tax Estimator

The FHSA: the best of both accounts

The First Home Savings Account helps first-time buyers save a down payment, and it combines two advantages:

• Contributions are tax-deductible, like an RRSP
• Qualifying withdrawals for a first home are tax-free, like a TFSA

The one rule that trips everyone up

Your FHSA room is used up by what you contribute, not by what your account is worth. Deposits use room; the growth on top never does. So your FHSA balance can climb above what you've put in — that's just growth, and it doesn't count against either cap.

Two caps to watch

• Annual limit: $8,000. Unused annual room carries forward one year (capped at $8,000 of carry-forward).
• Lifetime limit: $40,000.

Contributions count against both. NivoaFlow tracks each so you always know how much room is left before you over-contribute.

Eligibility: a Canadian resident, 18–71, who is a first-time home buyer (you haven't lived in a home you owned this year or the previous four). The account must be closed by the end of its 15th year, or the year you turn 71.

Tracking your FHSA in NivoaFlow

1. Open Plan → Tax → FHSA.
2. Set the year you opened your FHSA — this anchors your room. (Room math needs this, so set it first.)
3. Contributions transferred into an FHSA-flagged account are auto-detected; you can also enter any year manually.
4. The page shows annual room, lifetime room remaining, contributions to date, and your $40,000 cap.
5. If you withdraw for a qualifying first-home purchase, log it so the lifetime cap reflects reality.

The Tax Estimator

Under Plan → Tax → Tax Estimator, enter your annual income and province for a live projection: gross income, total tax, net income and marginal rate, a federal/provincial bracket breakdown, CPP and EI, and per-period take-home.

The estimator takes income and province only — it doesn't yet model RRSP/FHSA deductions directly. To see how a deductible contribution changes your bill, subtract the deductible amount from your income and re-run at the lower number. Save the result as your liability snapshot to keep it in your Tax Overview.

Avoiding an over-contribution penalty

Over-contributing costs 1% per month on the excess, same as RRSP and TFSA. Track every FHSA you hold across institutions so the running total stays accurate.

See also RRSP (deductible, retirement) and TFSA (tax-free, flexible).

General information, not tax advice. Always confirm your own room with the CRA.