Most owner-managers see their accountant once a year, at filing time. By then the fiscal year is closed, and most of the decisions that determine your tax bill have already been made — by default. Corporate tax planning works the other way: it looks at your corporation, your compensation and your goals while there is still time to change the outcome.
Stamped provides tax planning for owner-managers of Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPCs) in every province — online, handled by CPAs, and connected directly to your year-end financial statements and corporate returns.
What corporate tax planning actually covers
Your salary and dividend mix
How you pay yourself is the most frequent planning decision an owner-manager faces. Salary creates RRSP room and CPP/QPP coverage but comes with payroll contributions; dividends are simpler but build no retirement room. The right mix depends on your cash needs, your province and your long-term plans — and it shifts as your profits change. Our salary vs dividends calculator gives you a first estimate; a planning engagement turns it into a documented decision, reviewed each year.
Protecting the small business deduction
The small business deduction gives a CCPC a reduced tax rate on its first $500,000 of active business income. Keeping it is not automatic: passive investment income above $50,000 grinds the limit down, and in Quebec, most corporations outside the primary and manufacturing sectors must also meet the 5,500 remunerated-hours test. Planning means watching these thresholds during the year, while you can still act on them.
Holding company structures
A holding company can move surplus cash out of the operating company's risk, hold investments separately and prepare an eventual sale. It also adds a second set of statements, returns and rules to respect. We assess whether a structure is justified in your case — and when it is, we coordinate the accounting on both sides.
Planning an eventual sale
The lifetime capital gains exemption can shelter more than $1.25 million of capital gains when you sell qualified small business corporation shares. The conditions are strict — some apply to the 24 months before the sale. If a sale or succession is possible in the next few years, the preparation starts now, not when an offer arrives.
Instalments and deadlines
Once your corporation owes more than $3,000 in tax, instalments become mandatory — monthly, or quarterly for eligible small CCPCs. Your T2 is due six months after year-end, but the balance is generally due after two or three months. A planning calendar keeps your payments predictable and helps you avoid interest charges.
Planning happens before year-end, not at filing
Almost every lever above closes with your fiscal year: declaring a bonus, timing a dividend, buying equipment, cleaning up a shareholder loan. That is why we recommend a planning conversation three to six months before your year-end, when your results are taking shape but the year is still open. After the closing date, the only job left is to file accurately.
How it works with your year-end engagement
Tax planning is not a separate silo at Stamped. The numbers from your compilation or financial statements feed the plan, and the plan's decisions flow into your T2 and CO-17 corporate returns. In practice: a mid-year review of your results, concrete recommendations with the reasoning documented, then execution at year-end by the same team that prepares your statements. Everything runs through our online platform, with answers within 24 hours.
Tax planning is quoted based on the complexity of your situation. If we already handle your year-end, it starts with a conversation about what your next twelve months look like.