Case Study 1
7 Years Filed, $22,000 Removed From The Assessed Balance — Metal Fabrication Business, Ottawa
7 years of returns were outstanding at a metal fabrication business in Ottawa, Ontario, on top of out-of-province sales billed at the ON rate instead of the customer’s. Filing on real numbers removed $22,000 of assessed tax.
A metal fabrication business in Ottawa, Ontario had not filed for 7 years. The CRA had issued arbitrary assessments, and the business was carrying out-of-province sales billed at the ON rate instead of the customer’s on top of a growing interest balance. We started with the oldest year and worked forward so each year's closing balances fed the next. We registered the provincial payroll account, caught up the outstanding remittances, and applied for relief on the penalty, filing the years in sequence rather than all at once. Every year is now filed and assessed on actual figures. The notional assessments were vacated and $22,000 of the estimated balance came off, with a payment arrangement covering the rest.
Case Study 2
Audit Defence Closed In 4 Weeks, $56,000 Cleared — Specialty Chemicals Producer, Ottawa
A specialty chemicals producer in Ottawa, Ontario was under review over instalments still calculated on a year the business had long outgrown. The file closed in 4 weeks with $56,000 of proposed tax cleared.
A specialty chemicals producer in Ottawa, Ontario was selected for review after instalments still calculated on a year the business had long outgrown showed up in the CRA's automated matching. The proposed adjustment on its on tax and accounting file came to $56,000. We rebuilt the sales ledger by customer location, applied the correct place-of-supply rate to each stream, and filed the adjusted HST returns. Every figure in the response traced to a source record the auditor could verify without asking a second question. The review closed with no change. $56,000 of proposed tax came off the table, and the documentation now in place makes the next review a short one.
Case Study 3
$41,000 Of Working Capital Freed From The Tax Cycle — Mobile App Studio, Ottawa
A mobile app studio in Ottawa, Ontario was profitable and permanently short of cash, with a provincial payroll levy that had never been registered for or remitted behind the gap. Restructuring the tax cycle freed $41,000.
A mobile app studio in Ottawa, Ontario was profitable on paper and short of cash every month. A provincial payroll levy that had never been registered for or remitted explained most of the gap. We assessed and claimed Ontario Innovation Tax Credit alongside the federal return and built a thirteen-week cash view so tax payments stopped competing with payroll for the same dollars. $41,000 was released back into working capital. Remittances have been on time every period since, and the forecast shows the tax outflow before it lands.
Case Study 4
Desk-Review Assessment Of $87,000 Vacated — Fintech Startup, Ottawa
A desk review assessed a fintech startup in Ottawa, Ontario $87,000 over 13% HST charged on every sale regardless of where the customer was located. Producing the records vacated it.
A fintech startup in Ottawa, Ontario was carrying $87,000 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. $87,000 came off the account, and the documentation now on file makes the same position straightforward to defend next time.
Case Study 5
$760,000 Sheltered By The Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption — Optometry Practice, Ottawa
An optometry practice in Ottawa, Ontario was preparing to sell, but a shareholder loan balance that would have been picked up as income on closing disqualified the shares. Purification sheltered $760,000 under the exemption.
An optometry practice in Ottawa, Ontario had an offer on the table and 10 months to close. The shares did not qualify for the capital gains exemption, and a shareholder loan balance that would have been picked up as income on closing was part of the reason. We purified the corporation so the shares met the qualifying tests, then assessed and claimed Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit alongside the federal return well ahead of the closing date. The sale closed on schedule with $760,000 sheltered by the lifetime capital gains exemption across the shareholders.
Case Study 6
Scaled To 15 Staff With $61,000 Of Working Capital Freed — Medical Imaging Clinic, Ottawa
Growth at a medical imaging clinic in Ottawa, Ontario had outrun the back office, and out-of-province sales billed at the ON rate instead of the customer’s broke first. Headcount reached 15 with $61,000 of cash freed.
A medical imaging clinic in Ottawa, Ontario was growing fast — headcount to 15 in eighteen months — and the back office had not kept up. Out-of-province sales billed at the ON rate instead of the customer’s was the first thing to break. We registered the provincial payroll account, caught up the outstanding remittances, and applied for relief on the penalty, and built the compliance calendar for the size the business was becoming rather than the size it had been. The business reached 15 staff with no missed remittance and no late filing. $61,000 of working capital was freed in the process.