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“Until the CRA puts your personal TFSA contribution room back on your Notice of Assessment beside your RRSP contribution room (where it belongs), you’re going to stay confused unless you’re keeping detailed records yourself, because no financial institution is going to do it for you,” says Sandi Martin, a fee-only financial planner at Spring Personal Finance.

Also, you can’t withdraw money from one TFSA and put it into another without consequence. It will count as a new contribution and might put you over your limit for the year. And if your investments drop in value, you can’t simply top up your TFSA to make up the difference unless you have contribution room. If you have multiple TFSAs, make sure you keep track of your contributions.

What happens when I over-contribute?You will be taxed 1% of the excess amount every month that the extra money stays in your TFSA. Say you contributed $5,500 at the start of this year. Your contribution room is now at zero for 2014. Then last month, you withdrew $2,000 and then put back $2,000 yesterday. You are now in excess of $2,000.

(Yes, I know you withdrew $2,000, but that won’t be added to your TFSA room until 2015.)

If you don’t correct this until the end of the year, you’ll pay 1% of $2,000 from August to December or five months, which is a $100 penalty.

Do I have to do anything to accumulate contribution room such as file an income tax return or open an account? You automatically accumulate contribution room every year if in 2009, you were 18-years-old, had a Canadian social insurance number and were a resident of Canada.