Case Study 1
$127,000 Proposed Adjustment Withdrawn In Full — Boutique Law Firm, Thorold
A boutique law firm in Thorold, Ontario faced a $127,000 proposed reassessment after 13% HST charged on every sale regardless of where the customer was located. We rebuilt the documentation and the adjustment was withdrawn in full.
A boutique law firm in Thorold, Ontario received a proposal letter opening a review of its on tax and accounting file. The CRA had identified 13% HST charged on every sale regardless of where the customer was located and proposed an adjustment of $127,000, with 30 days to respond. We treated the response as an evidence exercise rather than an argument. We recalculated the corporate tax at the 12.2% combined small business rate and rebased the instalments on the current year, then indexed every supporting document against the specific line the auditor had questioned. The proposed adjustment was withdrawn in full — all $127,000 of it. The file closed in 5 weeks with no change to the assessed amounts and no penalty.
Case Study 2
Incentive Review Recovered $138,000 Across 4 Open Years — Two-Partner Engineering Practice, Thorold
An incentive review at a two-partner engineering practice in Thorold, Ontario found Ontario incentives claimed by competitors and never by this business and recovered $138,000 across 4 open years.
An incentive review at a two-partner engineering practice in Thorold, Ontario started from a simple question: what has never been claimed? The answer ran to 4 years, driven by Ontario incentives claimed by competitors and never by this business. We assessed and claimed Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit alongside the federal return, documenting eligibility to the standard a reviewer would apply rather than the standard a claim form requires. The credits produced $138,000 across the open years, and the tracking now in place means the following year's claim is documented as the work happens rather than reconstructed afterwards.
Case Study 3
Intergenerational Transfer Completed With $250,000 Deferred — Management Consultancy, Thorold
A family transfer at a management consultancy in Thorold, Ontario would have been fully taxable because of passive assets sitting inside the operating company, disqualifying the shares. Restructuring deferred $250,000.
A generational transfer at a management consultancy in Thorold, Ontario had been discussed for years without a plan. Passive assets sitting inside the operating company, disqualifying the shares meant the transfer as contemplated would have been fully taxable. We registered the provincial payroll account, caught up the outstanding remittances, and applied for relief on the penalty, sequencing the steps so each one was complete and documented before the next depended on it. $250,000 of tax was deferred through the transfer, and the successor generation took over a corporation whose records stood up to review.
Case Study 4
$103,000 Of Arbitrary Assessments Vacated After 3 Years — Architecture Studio, Thorold
The CRA had assessed an architecture studio in Thorold, Ontario on estimates across 3 unfiled years. Real filings vacated $103,000 of that tax.
3 years of unfiled returns had turned into notional assessments at an architecture studio in Thorold, Ontario, with instalments still calculated on a year the business had long outgrown underneath. Collections had already started. We rebuilt the sales ledger by customer location, applied the correct place-of-supply rate to each stream, and filed the adjusted HST returns, then filed every outstanding year in chronological order so the CRA could vacate the notional assessments cleanly. All 3 years were accepted as filed. $103,000 of arbitrarily assessed tax was vacated, collections action stopped, and the account is current for the first time in 3 years.
Case Study 5
Corporate Structure Rebuilt For $49,000 Of Annual Savings — Marketing Agency, Thorold
The structure at a marketing agency in Thorold, Ontario no longer fitted the business, and a provincial payroll levy that had never been registered for or remitted showed it. Rebuilding it saves $49,000 a year.
The structure at a marketing agency in Thorold, Ontario had been set up years earlier for a business that no longer existed, and a provincial payroll levy that had never been registered for or remitted had become expensive. We assessed and claimed Ontario Innovation Tax Credit alongside the federal return. The reorganisation used the rollover provisions rather than a taxable transfer, so no tax fell due on the restructuring itself. $49,000 of annual saving, achieved on a tax-deferred basis. The minute book, elections and valuations are all in the file.
Case Study 6
Desk-Review Assessment Of $118,000 Vacated — Recruitment Firm, Thorold
A desk review assessed a recruitment firm in Thorold, Ontario $118,000 over 13% HST charged on every sale regardless of where the customer was located. Producing the records vacated it.
A recruitment firm in Thorold, Ontario was carrying $118,000 of penalties and interest arising from 13% HST charged on every sale regardless of where the customer was located, much of it accumulated during a period the CRA itself had delayed. We recalculated the corporate tax at the 12.2% combined small business rate and rebased the instalments on the current year and framed the relief application on the specific grounds the CRA guidelines recognise rather than on general hardship. The assessment was vacated. $118,000 came off the account, and the documentation now on file makes the same position straightforward to defend next time.