You’re collecting HST on every invoice, filing your returns on time, and remitting what the CRA says you owe. Everything looks fine. But here’s what we see over and over again when we look under the hood: most small businesses are paying more GST/HST than they need to, because they’re not claiming all the input tax credits they’re entitled to.
Sometimes it’s a bookkeeping oversight. Sometimes it’s a misunderstanding of what qualifies. Either way, the result is the same, money that should be in your account is sitting with the CRA. At Cassar CPA, we review your books, identify missed credits, and recover the overpaid tax. From our offices in Toronto and Oakville, we’ve helped small business owners across the GTA get back thousands of dollars they didn’t realize they were owed.
A tax dispute is any disagreement between you and the CRA over what you owe. That can look different depending on your situation.
Sometimes it starts with an audit. The CRA selects your return for review, often because something flagged in their risk-assessment system, and an auditor asks to see your books, bank statements, and supporting records. If the auditor decides you underreported income or overclaimed deductions, they issue a reassessment. That reassessment changes your tax bill, sometimes by a lot.
Other times, a notice of assessment just doesn’t look right. A legitimate deduction gets denied. A credit disappears. Interest and penalties start compounding on a balance you don’t believe you owe. The CRA charges 7% annual interest on overdue tax as of Q2 2026, and it compounds daily, so the longer a disputed amount sits unresolved, the more expensive it gets.
That’s when many business owners freeze. Or worse, ignore it. Both are costly mistakes, because the CRA has strict deadlines baked into the dispute process.
GST/HST recovery requires someone who knows the rules cold and can spot the patterns in your books that point to missed credits. Our team brings that combination of tax knowledge and hands-on accounting experience.
Cassar CPA Professional Corporation
Cassar CPA Professional Corporation
Cassar CPA Professional Corporation
Cassar Business Services Inc.
We go through your records period by period, matching what you claimed against what you could have claimed. The goal is straightforward: find the gap and close it.
Under the Excise Tax Act, most GST/HST registrants have up to four years from the due date of the return for the reporting period in which the ITC could first have been claimed. That means if you’ve been underclaiming for years, there’s likely a window to recover past credits. We go back through your prior returns, identify the missed ITCs, and file the necessary adjustments with the CRA.
Recovery is only half the picture. We also look at your processes going forward, how expenses are coded, whether your accounting software is set up to capture ITCs correctly, and whether your invoices from suppliers include the information the CRA requires. For purchases under $150, simplified documentation rules apply. Above that, you need the supplier’s name, their GST/HST registration number, the date, the amount of tax paid, and a description of the goods or services. Missing any of those details can invalidate a claim during an audit.
The rate you charge customers depends on where they’re located, not where your business is. An Ontario-based consultant invoicing an Alberta client should charge 5% GST, not 13% HST. We’ve seen businesses overcollect and underreport, or the reverse, both create problems. We check that your rates are applied correctly and that your filings match.
If your annual taxable revenue (including GST/HST) is $400,000 or less, you may be eligible for the Quick Method of accounting. Instead of tracking exact ITCs, you remit a flat percentage of your HST-included revenue. For some businesses, particularly service-based firms with low expenses, this can mean keeping more of the tax you collect. We run the numbers both ways to see which method saves you more.
Technically, any GST/HST registrant could benefit. But in our experience, certain situations produce the biggest recoveries.
Businesses that switched accountants or bookkeepers during the review period. Transitions create gaps. The new team may not have picked up where the old one left off, and ITCs from the changeover period often fall through the cracks.
Owners who handle their own bookkeeping. You’re focused on running the business, nobody expects you to know every ITC rule. But the credits you miss add up fast. A professional review typically uncovers claims that far exceed the cost of the engagement.
Incorporated professionals. Doctors, dentists, lawyers, and consultants often have a mix of taxable and exempt services, which makes ITC eligibility more complicated. Healthcare professionals in particular deal with exempt supplies that limit their ITC claims, but not on everything. The line between what’s recoverable and what’s not requires careful analysis.
Businesses with high startup or capital costs. If you bought equipment, renovated office space, or invested heavily in the early years, the GST/HST on those purchases is significant. New registrants can even claim ITCs on inventory and capital property held at the date of registration.
13% (5% federal GST + 8% provincial). This is the rate most GTA businesses deal with on a daily basis.
Most registrants can claim missed ITCs for up to four years from the due date of the return for the period in which the credit could first have been claimed. After that, the credit is gone. This is the single most important deadline in GST/HST recovery.
50% limit. You can only claim half the GST/HST paid on client meals and entertainment expenses. This is one of the most over- and under-claimed categories we see.
$30,000. Once your taxable revenue exceeds $30,000 in four consecutive calendar quarters (or a single quarter), you must register for GST/HST. You have 29 days after crossing the threshold to register. Voluntary registration before that point lets you start claiming ITCs on startup expenses.
Up to four years from the due date of the return for the reporting period in which the ITC could first have been claimed. If you’ve been underclaiming since 2022, there’s still time, but the window closes as each period ages out.
Filing adjustments to claim missed ITCs is a normal part of GST/HST compliance. It’s not a red flag. The CRA expects businesses to correct their returns when errors are found. That said, we make sure every claim is properly documented before it’s filed.
It depends on the scope, how many reporting periods, how complex your business structure is, and how your books are organized. We’ll give you a clear picture after an initial look at your situation.
The Quick Method limits which ITCs you can claim, generally, only credits on capital property purchases over $30,000 (before tax). But we can review whether the Quick Method is still the right fit for your business. If switching to the regular method would recover more than you’d save on the Quick Method, we’ll show you the math.
No. The big firms, Grant Thornton, BDO, PwC, market recovery reviews to corporations and municipalities. But small businesses leave just as much on the table, proportionally. You don’t need a dedicated tax department to have underclaimed ITCs. You just need someone to look.
“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 had a professional review of your GST/HST claims in the past few years, there’s a good chance money is sitting with the CRA that belongs to you. The four-year window means the clock is always running on older periods.
Book a discovery meeting with our team. From our offices in Toronto and Oakville, we work with business owners across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond.
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
