A growing Ontario employer was remitting Employer Health Tax without claiming the exemption it still qualified for. We corrected the filings and recovered $9,800.
An Ontario company had crossed into EHT remittances as payroll grew, but its associated-employer group had been calculated incorrectly, costing it the annual exemption it was still entitled to. We reviewed the group structure, recalculated the exemption allocation, and filed amended EHT returns for the open periods. Roughly $9,800 was refunded and the ongoing remittance was reduced.
Employers withhold CPP, EI and income tax and remit on a schedule set by their average monthly withholding. Late remittance carries a penalty of 3% to 10%, rising to 20% for a repeat failure with gross negligence in the same year.
Why it bites: Payroll penalties compound quietly. An employer that drifts one cycle late each quarter can owe more in penalties than in the tax it was late paying.
The CRA requires business records to be kept for six years from the end of the tax year they relate to, in a form that allows the return to be verified.
Why it bites: Where records cannot support the return, the CRA is entitled to assess on its own estimate — and the burden of disproving that estimate falls on the taxpayer.
Every engagement above was priced as a fixed fee agreed before the work started, and paid only once the client had reviewed the result. If any of this looks like your situation, the first step is a free 15-minute call — we will tell you plainly whether there is anything worth doing.
Reviewed for the 2025 tax year by Udit Gupta, Certified Tax Accountant. Figures describe a real engagement; outcomes depend on your own facts. Client details are omitted for confidentiality.
