As a business owner, you must do your part of tax planning, instead of assuming that we automatically do this for all customers. We do tax planning for customers who want it and provide us the necessary input. Some planning takes little time but some other, much time. Our charges vary accordingly but are mostly a fraction of taxes saved.
You should identify from the following list the plans you believe can benefit you but are not being used in your returns. We list only major plans—those saving several thousand dollars potentially. The plans applicable to both partnerships and corporations are: 1) Hiring versus contracting, 2) income splitting in family, 3) business use of residence, 4) business use of family vehicles, 5) bad debt, 6) buying versus leasing and 7) donations. Those applicable to only corporations are: 1) House purchase loan, 2) vehicle purchase loan, 3) salary versus dividends, 4) salary versus capital withdrawals and 5) bonus payable. Ask us if you are unsure what a plan means. You may be using some plans but not their full potential, e.g. not allocating home space and family cars usage properly for business. Let us discuss if you are in such situations.
The plans have to be implemented properly, e.g. their audit trails must be set up. Aggressive plans require more care. We often find, show you and keep on file adequate published material on your plan. Some plans save taxes year over year. We often find customers losing several thousand dollars in taxes instead of spending a few hundred, on professional planning, e.g. in deciding buying versus leasing vehicles. Do not use a plan without checking with us. Using or implementing plans improperly often causes much harm.