6 Pension Income Splitting 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 pension income splitting work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Objection and relief
Notice Of Objection Allowed In Full, $107,000 Reversed — Taxpayer with US-Source Dividends, Kelowna
Client: A taxpayer with US-source dividends · Where: Kelowna, British Columbia · Engagement: 7 weeks, fixed fee
Amount reversed$107,000
ObjectionAllowed in full
Account balanceNil
The situation
A taxpayer with US-source dividends in Kelowna, British Columbia had been reassessed for $107,000 and had 16 days left on the objection deadline. The reassessment rested on three years of returns filed without the slips that had been mailed to an old address.
What we did
We filed the objection inside the deadline with a complete submission rather than a placeholder, and filed the outstanding T1135 disclosures under the voluntary disclosure route before the CRA raised them.
The result
The appeals officer allowed the objection in full. $107,000 was reversed and the account returned to a nil balance.
Case Study 2 · Planning that cut the bill
$33,000 Cut From The Annual Tax Bill — Employee with Foreign Investment, Lethbridge
Client: An employee with foreign investment accounts · Where: Lethbridge, Alberta · Engagement: 8 weeks, fixed fee
First-year saving$33,000
RepeatsAnnually
Filing positionUnchanged in risk
The situation
An employee with foreign investment accounts in Lethbridge, Alberta was compliant but paying more than it needed to. The prior year had been filed correctly and still left foreign accounts that had crossed the T1135 threshold two years earlier on the table.
What we did
We modelled the current position against the alternatives before changing anything, then pulled the full slip history from the CRA record, refiled the affected years by adjustment request, and recovered the credits that had been missed.
The result
The change saved $33,000 in the first year and repeats annually. Nothing about the filings became more aggressive; the position is simply the one the rules already allowed.
Case Study 3 · Cash and remittance control
Instalments Rebased, $46,000 Of Cash Returned To The Business — Recently Separated Taxpayer, Calgary
Client: A recently separated taxpayer · Where: Calgary, Alberta · Engagement: 10 weeks, fixed fee
Cash returned$46,000
Instalment basisCurrent year
ReviewedQuarterly
The situation
A recently separated taxpayer in Calgary, Alberta was paying instalments calculated on a prior year that no longer reflected the business. RRSP room accumulated over eight years and never used in a high-income year was tying up $46,000 of cash.
What we did
We rebased the instalments on the current-year estimate rather than the prior-year default, and reset the medical expense claim window, transferred credits between spouses, and applied the tuition and disability amounts to the return that used them.
The result
$46,000 of cash stayed in the business, the penalty cycle ended, and the instalment position is reviewed each quarter against actual results.
Case Study 4 · Missed incentive claimed
$12,500 Credit Claim Filed And Accepted Without Adjustment — Self-Employed Consultant, Mississauga
A self-employed consultant in Mississauga, Ontario assumed the credits did not apply to a business its size. Medical expenses claimed on a calendar-year basis when a shifted window was worth far more meant they had applied all along.
What we did
We identified the qualifying activity, built the documentation to support it, and 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
$12,500 recovered. Because the eligibility analysis is on file, the same claim can be repeated each year with a fraction of the effort.
Case Study 5 · CRA review defended
$100,000 Reassessment Reduced To Nil On Review — Gig-Economy Driver, Ottawa
A review notice arrived at a gig-economy driver in Ottawa, Ontario covering pension income splitting for two tax years. The auditor's working position was an adjustment of $100,000, driven by medical expenses claimed on a calendar-year basis when a shifted window was worth far more.
What we did
Rather than negotiate, we rebuilt the record. We filed the outstanding T1135 disclosures under the voluntary disclosure route before the CRA raised them and submitted a point-by-point response that answered each proposed adjustment with the document behind it.
The result
The auditor accepted the documented position and closed the review without adjustment, protecting $100,000 and leaving the prior filings undisturbed.
Case Study 6 · Structure rebuilt
Reorganisation Completed Tax-Deferred, $50,000 Saved Each Year — Retiree Drawing From Three, Hamilton
Client: A retiree drawing from three sources · Where: Hamilton, Ontario · Engagement: 8 weeks, fixed fee
Annual saving$50,000
Tax on reorganisationDeferred
Elections filedOn time
The situation
A retiree drawing from three sources in Hamilton, Ontario had outgrown the structure it started with. Three years of returns filed without the slips that had been mailed to an old address was the immediate problem; the longer-term one was that the structure blocked the next step.
What we did
We mapped the current structure, modelled the target, and pulled the full slip history from the CRA record, refiled the affected years by adjustment request, and recovered the credits that had been missed — with the tax-deferred elections filed on time and the supporting valuations documented.
The result
The reorganisation completed without triggering tax, and the new structure saves approximately $50,000 a year while removing the exposure the old one carried.
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.
