6 T2091 Principal Residence Designation 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 t2091 principal residence designation work, not a general example.
Client: An employee with foreign investment accounts · Where: Winnipeg, Manitoba · Engagement: 6 weeks, fixed fee
Annual saving$70,000
ReorganisationTax-neutral
StructureMatches operations
The situation
An employee with foreign investment accounts in Winnipeg, Manitoba 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 pulled the full slip history from the CRA record, refiled the affected years by adjustment request, and recovered the credits that had been missed and prepared the elections, resolutions and valuations the structure needed to stand up.
The result
The structure now matches the business. Annual saving of $70,000, and the reorganisation itself was tax-neutral.
Case Study 2 · Scaling without breaking
Second-Province Expansion Handled, $47,000 Of Cash Released — Self-Employed Consultant, Regina
Revenue at a self-employed consultant in Regina, Saskatchewan was up sharply and cash was tighter than ever. Underneath it sat RRSP room accumulated over eight years and never used in a high-income year.
What we did
We reset the medical expense claim window, transferred credits between spouses, and applied the tuition and disability amounts to the return that used them. Every new obligation — registration, remittance frequency, provincial filing — was set up before it was triggered, not after.
The result
$47,000 of cash was released from the working capital cycle, and the expansion completed with every registration and filing obligation covered from day one.
Case Study 3 · Cash and remittance control
Instalments Rebased, $155,000 Of Cash Returned To The Business — Retiree Drawing From Three, Guelph
Client: A retiree drawing from three sources · Where: Guelph, Ontario · Engagement: 5 weeks, fixed fee
Cash returned$155,000
Instalment basisCurrent year
ReviewedQuarterly
The situation
A retiree drawing from three sources in Guelph, Ontario was paying instalments calculated on a prior year that no longer reflected the business. Foreign accounts that had crossed the T1135 threshold two years earlier was tying up $155,000 of cash.
What we did
We rebased the instalments on the current-year estimate rather than the prior-year default, 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
$155,000 of cash stayed in the business, the penalty cycle ended, and the instalment position is reviewed each quarter against actual results.
Case Study 4 · Backlog brought current
$54,000 Of Arbitrary Assessments Vacated After 7 Years — Physician in Their First, Hamilton
Client: A physician in their first year of practice · Where: Hamilton, Ontario · Engagement: 11 weeks, fixed fee
Arbitrary tax vacated$54,000
Years brought current7
Account statusCurrent
The situation
7 years of unfiled returns had turned into notional assessments at a physician in their first year of practice in Hamilton, Ontario, with three years of returns filed without the slips that had been mailed to an old address underneath. Collections had already started.
What we did
We filed the outstanding T1135 disclosures under the voluntary disclosure route before the CRA raised them, then filed every outstanding year in chronological order so the CRA could vacate the notional assessments cleanly.
The result
All 7 years were accepted as filed. $54,000 of arbitrarily assessed tax was vacated, collections action stopped, and the account is current for the first time in 7 years.
Case Study 5 · Planning that cut the bill
$33,500 Cut From The Annual Tax Bill — Commissioned Salesperson, Kitchener
A commissioned salesperson in Kitchener, Ontario was compliant but paying more than it needed to. The prior year had been filed correctly and still left medical expenses claimed on a calendar-year basis when a shifted window was worth far more 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 $33,500 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 6 · Records and systems rebuilt
29 Months Reconciled And $20,500 Of Input Tax Recovered — Gig-Economy Driver, Lethbridge
Client: A gig-economy driver · Where: Lethbridge, Alberta · Engagement: 7 weeks, fixed fee
Months reconciled29
Input tax recovered$20,500
Close time7 days
The situation
A gig-economy driver in Lethbridge, Alberta was carrying a rental property reported without any capital cost allowance analysis. Nothing reconciled, and every filing started with 29 months of cleanup.
What we did
We rebuilt from source rather than correcting on top of the existing file. We reset the medical expense claim window, transferred credits between spouses, and applied the tuition and disability amounts to the return that used them, then set the routine that keeps it clean.
The result
29 months reconciled to the bank. The close now takes 7 days, and $20,500 of previously unclaimable input tax was recovered in the process.
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.
