6 Employment Expense Tax Return tax and accounting engagements in full — what the client came to us with, what we did, and what it was worth. Each one is specific to employment expense tax return work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Structure rebuilt
Holding Structure Added, $23,000 Saved Annually — Employee with Foreign Investment, Toronto
Client: An employee with foreign investment accounts · Where: Toronto, Ontario · Engagement: 6 weeks, fixed fee
Annual saving$23,000
ReorganisationTax-neutral
StructureMatches operations
The situation
An employee with foreign investment accounts in Toronto, Ontario was carrying a rental property reported without any capital cost allowance analysis, and every option for fixing it ran through a reorganisation that had to be done without triggering tax.
What we did
Working with the client's lawyer, we carried the capital loss back against gains reported in the prior three years and generated a refund rather than a carry-forward balance and prepared the elections, resolutions and valuations the structure needed to stand up.
The result
The structure now matches the business. Annual saving of $23,000, and the reorganisation itself was tax-neutral.
Case Study 2 · Scaling without breaking
Second-Province Expansion Handled, $17,500 Of Cash Released — Self-Employed Consultant, Windsor
Revenue at a self-employed consultant in Windsor, Ontario was up sharply and cash was tighter than ever. Underneath it sat three years of returns filed without the slips that had been mailed to an old address.
What we did
We filed the outstanding T1135 disclosures under the voluntary disclosure route before the CRA raised them. Every new obligation — registration, remittance frequency, provincial filing — was set up before it was triggered, not after.
The result
$17,500 of cash was released from the working capital cycle, and the expansion completed with every registration and filing obligation covered from day one.
Client: A retiree drawing from three sources · Where: Burnaby, British Columbia · Engagement: 11 weeks, fixed fee
Overpayment refunded$138,000
Late remittances sinceZero
ScheduleAutomated
The situation
Remittances at a retiree drawing from three sources in Burnaby, British Columbia were consistently late by a few days, which was enough to trigger penalties every quarter. Behind it sat RRSP room accumulated over eight years and never used in a high-income year.
What we did
We pulled the full slip history from the CRA record, refiled the affected years by adjustment request, and recovered the credits that had been missed, then moved the remittance dates into a scheduled process rather than a monthly decision.
The result
Penalties stopped from the following remittance onwards, and $138,000 of overpaid instalments was refunded.
Case Study 4 · Backlog brought current
6 Years Filed, $127,000 Removed From The Assessed Balance — Physician in Their First, Winnipeg
Client: A physician in their first year of practice · Where: Winnipeg, Manitoba · Engagement: 10 weeks, fixed fee
Years filed6
Assessed balance removed$127,000
CollectionsStopped
The situation
A physician in their first year of practice in Winnipeg, Manitoba had not filed for 6 years. The CRA had issued arbitrary assessments, and the business was carrying medical expenses claimed on a calendar-year basis when a shifted window was worth far more on top of a growing interest balance.
What we did
We started with the oldest year and worked forward so each year's closing balances fed the next. We reset the medical expense claim window, transferred credits between spouses, and applied the tuition and disability amounts to the return that used them, filing the years in sequence rather than all at once.
The result
Every year is now filed and assessed on actual figures. The notional assessments were vacated and $127,000 of the estimated balance came off, with a payment arrangement covering the rest.
Case Study 5 · Planning that cut the bill
$73,000 Saved By Correcting What Prior Filings Had Missed — Commissioned Salesperson, Calgary
Client: A commissioned salesperson · Where: Calgary, Alberta · Engagement: 3 weeks, fixed fee
Saving identified$73,000
RecurringYes
Positions documentedAll
The situation
A commissioned salesperson in Calgary, Alberta asked for a second opinion on employment expense tax return after three years of rising tax. The review found foreign accounts that had crossed the T1135 threshold two years earlier.
What we did
We built the comparison first — current structure against two alternatives — and then carried the capital loss back against gains reported in the prior three years and generated a refund rather than a carry-forward balance.
The result
First-year saving of $73,000, with the same benefit recurring. Every position taken is documented and supported in the file.
Case Study 6 · Records and systems rebuilt
Books Rebuilt From Source, $15,500 In Unclaimed Input Tax Found — Gig-Economy Driver, Moncton
Client: A gig-economy driver · Where: Moncton, New Brunswick · Engagement: 6 weeks, fixed fee
Unclaimed tax found$15,500
Records rebuilt13 months
ProcessDocumented
The situation
A gig-economy driver in Moncton, New Brunswick could not answer basic questions about its own numbers, because a rental property reported without any capital cost allowance analysis sat between the bank statements and the ledger.
What we did
We filed the outstanding T1135 disclosures under the voluntary disclosure route before the CRA raised them, then documented the process so the work does not depend on any one person remembering how it was done.
The result
Records rebuilt and reconciled, $15,500 recovered in input tax credits that the old file could not support, and a documented monthly process now in place.
Reviewed for the 2025 tax year by Udit Gupta, Certified Tax Accountant. Figures describe representative engagements of this type; outcomes depend on your own facts. Client names and identifying details are omitted for confidentiality.
