Tax Planning Services for Business Owners and Professionals
Integrated corporate–personal tax planning that keeps more wealth in your hands, not CRA.
A good tax plan does more than lower this year’s bill. Greg Cowan CPA helps business owners and professionals build coordinated corporate and personal tax planning strategies that support long‑term goals, major life events, and retirement, so more of your lifetime wealth goes to you and the next generation instead of CRA.
What is tax planning?
Tax planning is the process of organizing your business, investments, and personal finances so you pay no more tax than required over time, not just in a single year. Effective tax planning services look at your corporation, personal situation, estate, and retirement together to design a tax plan that works across your entire financial life.
Why proactive tax planning matters
More than tax preparation
Filing returns correctly is important, but it is reactive. Strategic corporate tax planning and personal tax planning help you decide how to pay yourself, when to invest, and how to structure your affairs before year‑end so the numbers on your returns are already optimized.
Plan for major life and business events
Buying or selling a business, incorporating, bringing in partners, retiring, or passing wealth to family all create one‑time tax opportunities and risks. A long‑term tax plan ensures these events are handled deliberately, not rushed.
Coordinate business, personal, estate, and retirement
Without integrated planning, decisions that look smart for the corporation can create problems in your personal, estate, or retirement tax planning later on. Coordinated corporate, personal, estate tax planning and retirement tax planning help keep everything aligned.
Tax planning services
Small business owners and incorporated professionals who want a clear, long‑term tax plan rather than year‑by‑year decisions.
Families who need corporate tax planning, personal tax planning, and estate tax planning to work together.
Includes
Review of your current tax plan across corporation, personal returns, and investments to identify missed opportunities and unnecessary risks.
Customized corporate tax planning for salary vs. dividends, holding companies, income splitting, and timing of major expenditures.
Integrated personal tax planning for RRSP, TFSA, CPP/OAS, and other personal decisions that affect your total tax bill over time.
Estate tax planning and retirement tax planning support, so succession, estate freezes, and retirement income are structured tax‑efficiently.
FAQs
How is tax planning different from tax preparation?
Tax preparation focuses on filing last year’s returns correctly. Tax planning focuses on what you can change now—before year‑end or before a major event—to improve future tax results for your business, family, and estate.
When should I start tax planning?
The best time is before you make big decisions such as incorporating, buying or selling a business, taking on partners, or retiring. Even if those events are a few years away, early corporate and personal tax planning gives you more options.
What is tax planning for business owners and incorporated professionals?
Tax planning for business owners and incorporated professionals looks at your company and personal situation together to reduce overall tax over several years, not just one filing season. It reviews salary, dividends, deductible expenses, investments, and corporate structure so your tax results match your cash flow, growth, and retirement goals.
How can tax planning help reduce my overall tax bill?
Effective tax planning can lower your overall tax by choosing the right mix of salary and dividends, timing major purchases, using available deductions and credits, and structuring your company and investments in a tax‑efficient way. It can also help you use strategies such as income splitting, retirement planning, and the lifetime capital gains exemption where appropriate.
Do I need ongoing tax planning or just a one‑time tax plan?
A one‑time plan can work for specific events such as selling a business or incorporating, but changes in income, family circumstances, and tax rules can quickly make that plan outdated. Ongoing tax planning reviews your situation each year so salary/dividends, investments, and corporate structure can be adjusted before year‑end and before major decisions.