Ken's Weekly Top 5 - Issue # 115


It’s happening tomorrow…if you’ve not yet joined our webinar tomorrow, don’t forget to do so today. In the webinar, you will learn the benefits of using a corporate structure for your business and how you can use your corporation to accumulate wealth. We will also share some important corporate tax updates. Get all the details in this issue. I discuss other personal tax tips and useful insights. Enjoy this issue and please remember to share this with everyone in your network:

1. A FREE Webinar On Corporate Taxes & Tax Planning with a Business Structure

Join us for a special webinar as we share relevant information on how to effectively use your corporation as a tool for tax planning. Whether you’re a new business owner or an existing business owner, you will get many insights on the pros and cons of owning a corporation. During the webinar, we will share the following:

  • Pros and cons of using a corporate structure for business
  • Legal and compliance requirements for corporations
  • Provincial and Federal compliance obligations
  • HST and Payroll best practices and compliance requirements
  • Compensation strategies for corporate owners
  • What’s new for the 2024 & 2025 corporate tax filing season
  • General tax planning strategies for corporations and their owners
  • And many more insights on how to minimize taxes and build tax-efficient wealth using a corporation

When: Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Time: 5 PM Sharp

Where: Online

To register for the webinar, go to: gmscpa.ca/corporatetax

2. Tax-Deferred Is Not The Same As Tax-Free

This is often misunderstood. To be clear, “tax-deferred” does not mean the same thing as “tax-free.” Tax-deferred is something that must eventually have taxes paid on it. On the other hand, tax-free will not need any tax payments made. I discuss the differences in this short article here. And if you want further details on this and how you can take advantage of the tax code to accumulate both tax-free and tax-efficient wealth, then I encourage you to get a copy of my book, Tax-Efficient Wealth.

3. Do You Know That Your Corporate Tax Liability is due this Month?

If you have a corporation with a December 31 year-end, your corporate tax liability, if applicable, is due this month! So, it’s important that you know or at least estimate the taxes you owe and pay so you can avoid high interest charges. At GMS, we help corporations with their tax compliance work and we also provide other additional value-added services such as:

  • Streamlining and automating the majority of your bookkeeping processes
  • Doing a cash flow and budget analysis for your corporation
  • Estimating corporate tax liability and developing a plan for installment payment of your taxes
  • Corporate tax planning including how to invest corporate dollars and how to properly use insurance within your business to mitigate risk and plan for retirement
  • Corporate restructuring to ensure you’re organized in the most tax-efficient way
  • Remuneration planning to ensure you’re taking money out of your corporation in the most tax-efficient manner
  • How to use your corporation as a nest egg for your retirement in a tax-efficient manner.
  • And many more…

If you’re looking for solutions for your corporation consider working with me and my team at GMS Chartered Professional Accountants LLP. I invite you to book a complimentary time to chat with me here.

4. You’re Either Paying Interest Or Losing Interest

Many people pride themselves in paying cash for everything and think they are getting ahead financially, but are they really getting ahead? When it comes to how we use our money, we typically fall into one of three groups of people: debtors, savers, and maximizers.

Debtors do not save. They start at zero, earn income, spend it all to fund their lifestyle. When there is an emergency for a necessary purchase, they borrow and go into a negative position (Debt). They use earned income to repay debt plus interest until they get back to zero position. When another emergency comes up, they repeat the cycle.

Savers start at zero, earn income, accumulate money in a savings account. When there is an emergency for a necessary purchase, they use their savings and then get back to zero position. When they use their savings for a purchase, they lose interest because of opportunity costs. Then they start accumulating and saving again. When another emergency comes up, they repeat the cycle.

Maximizers are like savers as they accumulate earned income to save and invest. When there is an emergency for a necessary purchase, they use their savings as collateral to borrow the funds for the purchase. By doing this, they maximize the use of their funds in the most efficient way by not interrupting the compounded growth of their savings/investments.

In conclusion, regardless of which group you fall into, we all finance everything we purchase. You either pay interest by purchasing with a loan/credit, or you lose interest you could have earned by paying with cash. However, by optimizing the way you use money, you can be more efficient and get ahead of the savers and debtors.

5. What is the Basis of Tax in Canada?

In this short video, I discuss the basis of tax in Canada. This often comes as a shock to some as they don’t understand that you’re taxed on your worldwide income if you’re a resident in Canada for tax purposes. Watch this short clip to get the full details. And as you watch, don’t forget to subscribe and turn on the notification to our channel for useful content like this.

Ken Green - TaxEfficientWealth.ca

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