Your corporation is doing well. Revenue is steady, you’ve built up retained earnings, and now you’re staring at a corporate tax bill that feels bigger than it should. The question isn’t whether you’re paying tax, every successful business does. The question is whether you’re paying more tax than the rules actually require.
At Cassar CPA, we work with incorporated professionals, owner-managed businesses, and CCPCs across Toronto to build corporate tax strategies that reduce what you owe, protect access to the small business deduction, and put your retained earnings to work the right way. From our offices in downtown Toronto and Oakville, we’ve spent over fifteen years helping Toronto business owners make their corporations more tax-efficient, not at year-end, but all year.
Corporate tax planning needs depth across both strategy and execution. Our team covers both sides, the technical knowledge to find the savings, and the disciplined day-to-day work to make sure the strategy actually gets implemented.
Cassar CPA Professional Corporation
Cassar CPA Professional Corporation
Cassar CPA Professional Corporation
Cassar Business Services Inc.
Most incorporated business owners think about tax once a year, when their accountant files the T2. By then the year is closed, the decisions have been made, and the bill is what it is. Real corporate tax planning happens before that, and it’s usually the small, well-timed decisions made throughout the year that compound into the biggest savings.
Declaring a bonus in December versus January changes which tax year it lands in, for both your corporation and you personally. That single choice can shift thousands in tax depending on your income trajectory and your corporation’s year-end.
Paying yourself a higher salary in a given year creates RRSP contribution room you can use the following year. Paying yourself primarily in dividends doesn’t. Whether that trade-off works in your favour depends on your other retirement savings and your long-term plan.
Buying equipment, vehicles, or technology before your fiscal year-end versus after can mean the difference between deducting the cost this year or waiting twelve months. Accelerated write-off rules amplify the impact.
Loans from the corporation to a shareholder need to be repaid within one year after the corporation’s year-end, or the full amount gets added to your personal income under section 15(2) of the Income Tax Act. Structured properly, shareholder loans are a useful tool. Structured carelessly, they become a tax problem.
These are the decisions that compound. A Toronto incorporated professional who plans well over five years can save tens of thousands compared to one who just hands the books to an accountant in March.
The SBD is the most valuable tax break available to a Canadian-controlled private corporation. It reduces the federal corporate tax rate on the first $500,000 of active business income from 15% to 9%. For Toronto-based CCPCs, the combined federal-Ontario small business rate is currently 12.2%, dropping to 11.2% on July 1, 2026 after the Ontario Budget cut the provincial rate from 3.2% to 2.2%. Compared to the 26.5% general corporate rate, that’s a significant savings, but it’s not automatic. We make sure you keep it.
This catches a lot of successful CCPCs off guard. Once your corporation’s passive investment income, interest, dividends, capital gains earned inside the corporation, exceeds $50,000 in a year, your federal small business deduction starts shrinking by $5 for every $1 of passive income above the threshold. At $150,000 of passive income, the federal SBD is gone entirely. Ontario does not apply the grind provincially, but the federal hit alone can cost you up to $30,000 in extra corporate tax. We help you structure corporate investments so the grind doesn’t catch you.
How you pay yourself out of the corporation isn’t a one-time decision, it’s an annual one. Salary creates RRSP room (18% of earned income, up to the $33,810 limit for 2026), generates CPP contributions, and is deductible to the corporation. Dividends don’t create RRSP room or CPP, but they’re taxed differently personally through the dividend tax credit system. The right mix depends on your other income, your retirement strategy, and your cash needs. We run the numbers both ways every year.
Your corporation’s year-end doesn’t have to match the calendar year. A non-December year-end opens up planning options for bonus accruals, dividend timing, and matching income to lower personal tax years. Many Toronto incorporated professionals, particularly medical professionals, benefit from a non-December year-end. We help you choose and, if it makes sense, change it.
Buying equipment, vehicles, or technology for the corporation? Both the federal government and Ontario have introduced accelerated write-off rules that let you deduct more of the cost in the year of purchase. The Ontario 2026 Budget aligned with federal changes to allow enhanced first-year CCA claims on most depreciable assets. Timing those purchases around your year-end can shift significant tax.
Loans from the corporation to a shareholder need to be repaid within one year after the corporation’s year-end, or the full amount gets included in the shareholder’s personal income under section 15(2). Family members on payroll need to be performing real work at reasonable rates. We make sure both are structured properly so they don’t blow up in an audit.
When your corporation earns investment income, part of the tax paid is refundable when dividends are issued (Refundable Dividend Tax on Hand). Capital gains realized inside the corporation create a Capital Dividend Account balance that can be paid out tax-free. Most owner-managers don’t track these properly. We do.
It depends on your income, your expenses, and your goals. Incorporation gives you the small business deduction (9% federal on the first $500,000 of active business income), the ability to defer personal tax by leaving income in the corporation, and flexibility in how you pay yourself. The trade-off is the cost, incorporation fees, ongoing compliance, separate T2 filing. As a rough guide, the math usually works once your business income meaningfully exceeds your personal living expenses. We model both scenarios for you.
If your CCPC earns more than $50,000 of investment income in a year, your federal small business deduction starts shrinking. By $150,000 of passive income, the federal SBD is gone. For a corporation hitting the full grind, that’s up to $30,000 in extra federal tax. If you’ve been letting cash accumulate inside the corporation and investing it, you may already be in grind territory without realizing it. We can model your position and recommend restructuring options.
At minimum, twice a year, once before your fiscal year-end to make timing decisions, and once after the books are closed to plan the next year. Our clients with more complex situations meet with us quarterly.
Yes. The decisions you make over the next ten to twenty years about how to build retained earnings, manage RDTOH, structure the Capital Dividend Account, and time your eventual share sale or wind-up will determine how much of your business value you actually keep. Long-term corporate tax planning often saves more at exit than during operations.
A significant one. Filing your T2 is compliance, getting the return done after the year is over. Corporate tax planning is the work that happens before and throughout the year that determines what the T2 actually shows.
“Their diligent approach and personal care have saved me thousands of dollars in taxes over the years!”
"You simply won’t get this quality of service from a big firm.”
“I’ve been working with Matt for a while now and I recommend him as much as I can to my friends and family”
“Cassar CPA has saved me a lot of time, money, and headache!”
“We love Matt and his team! We use them for our NFP organization and they’re always fast, flexible, and knowledgeable”
“Fantastic and knowledgeable team with very forward thinking practices.”
"Matt and his team provide clients efficient and speedy turnaround on monthly accounting and year-end services, while at the same time acting as an advisor on various finance matters.”
If you haven’t reviewed your corporate tax strategy in the past year, or if your business has grown to the point where the standard playbook isn’t enough anymore, it’s time for a conversation.
Cassar CPA Professional Corporation works with small business owners, incorporated professionals, and entrepreneurs from our offices in Toronto (WaterPark Place, 20 Bay Street) and Oakville (132 Trafalgar Road). We serve clients throughout the Greater Toronto Area, including:
Toronto · Oakville · Mississauga · Brampton · Vaughan · Markham · Richmond Hill · Etobicoke · Burlington · Milton · Halton Hills · Other GTA & Halton Region Communities
Toronto Office
WaterPark Place 20 Bay Street, 11th Floor
Toronto, ON M5J 2N8
