A large sum, a sale, or a high-income year is also a tax-planning opportunity. We help you legally minimize tax across income splitting, capital gains, charitable giving and registered-account strategy.
Coordinated strategies that work together to lower the tax on your income, your gains, and the money you move
Move income toward the lower-income spouse using spousal RRSPs and pension income splitting to lower your household rate.
Plan when and how to realize gains, including how the inclusion rate interacts with your income, before you sell.
Use realized losses to offset gains and reduce the net taxable amount, while staying onside of the superficial-loss rule.
Donate securities in kind so the accrued gain is eliminated and the donation credit lands in a high-income year.
Weigh deferral, asset protection and succession through a holdco, and bring in your accountant where the structure needs it.
Sequence RRSP, TFSA, FHSA and RRIF moves so contributions, withdrawals and conversions happen in the most tax-efficient order.
Most of the savings come from a handful of choices made at the right time, in the right order
A bonus, a settlement, or the proceeds of a sale can land in the worst possible tax year if nothing is planned. The questions to settle before it hits your account:
Selling an investment or property triggers a capital gain, and the way you trigger it changes how much tax you pay. The levers worth checking before you sell:
Two households with the same total income can pay very different tax depending on how that income is divided and which accounts hold it. The choices that matter:
Common questions about personal tax planning in Canada
Start by separating the parts that are taxable now from the parts you can shelter or defer. Available RRSP room can absorb part of the income, a portion of a retiring allowance can often be rolled into an RRSP, and timing matters when the sum lands near a year-end. We map which levers apply to your situation before the money is committed, because most of the planning has to happen before you cash the cheque.
Couples with a meaningful gap between their marginal tax rates benefit most. The wider the gap, the more a spousal RRSP, pension income splitting, or shifting investment income toward the lower-income spouse can move income out of the top bracket. If both partners are already in the same bracket, the upside is small. We check the rate gap first so you don't build a structure that saves little.
Often, yes. Realizing a large gain all in one year can push you into a higher bracket and surface other costs, so spreading dispositions across two tax years can lower the overall bill. The right move depends on your income in each year and whether you have losses to offset. We model the gain against your projected income before you sell, not after.
Donating publicly traded securities in kind is usually more efficient than donating cash, because the accrued capital gain on those shares can be eliminated rather than realized, and you still receive a donation receipt for the full value. Timing the gift to a high-income year increases the value of the credit. We coordinate the gift with the rest of your tax picture so the deduction lands where it helps most.
A holding company can help when you have retained corporate earnings to invest, a business sale on the horizon, or a succession plan that benefits from deferral and asset protection. It adds cost and filing complexity, so it isn't right for everyone. We weigh the deferral and protection benefits against the ongoing cost, and we bring in your accountant and lawyer where the structure needs them.
When the dollars at stake are large enough that an avoidable mistake costs more than the planning. A large sum, a business or property sale, a high-income year, or a retirement income decision are all moments where the order and timing of moves changes the result. If your situation crosses into cross-border tax or estate litigation, we tell you which specialist to bring in and why.
Turn portfolio losses into tax savings the right way.
Read article →Spousal RRSPs, pension splitting, and family tax planning.
Read article →Inclusion rates, exemptions, and timing strategies.
Read article →Donation credits, securities-in-kind, and timing a large gift.
Read article →Deferral, asset protection, and investing inside a holdco.
Read article →See where the avoidable tax is in your situation before the money is committed. Our assessment covers income splitting, capital-gains timing, charitable giving and registered-account strategy.