Every few weeks a small business owner asks us the same question in slightly different words. A friend told them about the HST quick method, it sounds like free money, and they want to know why their last bookkeeper never mentioned it. The honest answer is that the quick method is neither a loophole nor […]
Almost every owner who calls us about a CRA letter asks the same thing first. Why me? The honest answer is that it is rarely personal, and it is usually not luck either. The Canada Revenue Agency scores your return before a human being ever opens it. Something in your file scored high enough to […]
Live in Ontario and earn income in Quebec? A former CRA auditor sets out which Quebec tax obligations are real, which are not, and what to file.
Last updated August 2026. The day you hire your first employee, you stop being just a business owner. Payroll makes you a collection agent for the federal government, and the rules that come with that job start running the moment you write the first pay cheque. That sounds heavier than it is. Payroll for one […]
Last updated August 2026. There is a line in Canadian tax that most owners cross without noticing. One quarter you are a small business quietly invoicing without sales tax, and the next you owe the government money you never collected. The line is $30,000, and the part that catches people is that the CRA decides […]
How Canadian owner managers actually get paid, with the 2026 CPP, RRSP and paperwork numbers behind the salary vs dividends decision.
Last updated July 2026. Almost every profitable sole proprietor we meet asks the same question, usually in the same month their accountant hands them a tax bill that made their eyes water. Should I incorporate? The honest answer is that incorporating is not a tax trick. It is a business decision that happens to have […]
Canada’s Auditor General found the CRA’s own tax chatbot was right only about a third of the time. Here is what that means for trusting AI with your taxes.
Every year, a lot of Canadians leave money on the table. Not because they earn too little to matter, but because they never file a return, so the benefits tied to that return never show up. The GST credit, the Canada child benefit, provincial top ups, all of it runs through your tax return. Skip […]
You open your mail and there it is. A letter from the Canada Revenue Agency letting you know your business has been selected for an audit. Your stomach drops, and your mind starts racing through every receipt you did not save and every HST return you filed in a rush. Take a breath. We have […]
