Personal tax accountant in London, Ontario

When your income comes from your own company

For an incorporated owner, the T1 is the second half of a decision made on the corporate side. Salary shows up on a T4, dividends on a T5, and the mix between them decides how much tax is paid overall and how much RRSP and CPP room you build. Preparing the personal and corporate returns together means the choice is made once, with both returns in view, rather than discovered in April. Family members who work in the business, and any shareholder loan balance, are part of the same conversation.

Ontario tax sits on top of the federal return

The Ontario calculation is part of the T1 and filed with it; there is no separate provincial return. It is not a simple percentage, though. Ontario adds a surtax calculated on the provincial tax itself, and the Ontario Health Premium is a separate line that rises with income. Both affect owners who take a large dividend in a good year more than people on a steady salary, which is one reason to plan the year’s draws rather than take them as cash is needed. A large one-off dividend to pay for a truck or a renovation can cost noticeably more than the same amount spread over two years, and that is something to see in December, not in April.

Self-employed: later to file, not later to pay

A sole proprietor — a framer, an owner-operator leased to a carrier, a hairstylist renting a chair downtown — reports business income on form T2125 and has until June 15 to file. The balance is still due April 30, and interest runs from then. Once net tax owing passes $3,000 in the current year and in either of the two years before, the CRA expects quarterly instalments on March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15. Keeping a vehicle log and receipts through the year makes the return faster and easier to defend. See the self-employed tax return page for what goes on the schedules.

Farm families and the capital gains exemption

Farm income is reported on its own statement and can use the cash method. Two personal-tax rules matter more to Middlesex County farm families than any deduction: qualified farm property can be eligible for the lifetime capital gains exemption, and farmland can pass to a child under the intergenerational rollover. Both depend on how the land has been owned and used over years, so they are planned well before a sale or transfer. Where farming is not the family’s chief source of income, the restricted farm loss rules can limit how much of a loss offsets other income. See farm accounting around London.

Landlords near campus and across the city

London has a large rental market around the university and the colleges, and many owners hold a unit or two alongside their business. Rental income goes on its own schedule, repairs are separated from improvements, and capital cost allowance on the building is optional and cannot create a rental loss. Whatever is claimed can come back as recapture when the property sells, alongside the capital gain. See rental income tax returns.

Students and new graduates

With Western and Fanshawe in the city, a good share of London returns belong to students, and to parents asking what to do with a student’s slips. Tuition slips come from the school. The credit is used first against the student’s own tax. What is left can be transferred to a parent or grandparent within the annual limit, or carried forward indefinitely to a year when the student earns enough to use it. Filing every year, even on low income, keeps that carry-forward on record and can bring in benefit payments a student would otherwise miss.

What is covered

One fixed fee, agreed before any work starts:

• The T1 with every slip the CRA holds for you, checked against what you send
• Business, farm and rental schedules where they apply
• Dividend and salary planning with your corporate return
• Instalment amounts for the coming year
• Replies to CRA review letters about the return we filed

Remote, and there is no London office

EverStone is a sole practitioner CPA firm at 32615 South Fraser Way in Abbotsford, serving London, Ontario households and owners entirely online. There is no London office and no local staff. Slips download directly from the CRA once you authorize us, receipts and statements come through a secure upload link, and the return is signed electronically. You never need to book a drop-off.