Tax Planning
Keep more of what you earn without cutting corners.
Tax planning isn't a once-a-year task in April — it's a series of decisions made across the year, and across your other accounts, that determine how much of your income you actually keep.
What's Included
What working together looks like.
- Coordinated use of RRSP, TFSA and other registered accounts to manage your tax bracket
- Income-splitting strategies for couples and families, where available
- Guidance around tax credits and deductions relevant to your situation
- Tax-efficient placement of investments across registered and non-registered accounts
- Planning around major events — a business sale, an inheritance, a home sale
- Coordination with your accountant at filing time
Who This Is For
You might recognize yourself here.
Dual-income households
Managing two incomes, two employers and one household tax picture.
Self-employed & small business owners
More moving pieces, and more planning opportunity, than a T4 filer.
Anyone with a one-time event
A business sale, a large bonus, or an inheritance that changed the picture for one year.
How It Fits Together
This rarely stands alone.
Decisions here tend to touch other parts of your plan. A couple of related places to look next:
Investment Planning
Which account holds which investment is a tax decision as much as an investment one.
See investment planningRetirement Planning
Your withdrawal order in retirement is, functionally, a decades-long tax plan.
See retirement planning
Common Questions
Answered plainly.
No — think of it as division of labour. Planning happens throughout the year across your accounts and decisions; your accountant files the return. The two roles work best in coordination, not isolation.
A deduction reduces your taxable income before tax is calculated. A credit reduces the tax you owe directly, after the calculation. The two aren't interchangeable, and mixing them up leads to unrealistic expectations.
Certain registered accounts offer real tax advantages — deferral or tax-free growth. That said, your investment decisions should be driven by your goals first, with tax treatment as an important second factor, not the only one.
At least annually, and again after any major change in income, employment or family structure.