Personal Tax Services for Business Owners

Simplify Tax Time with Personal Tax Services

Tax complexity is a fact of life. Zenally's tax advisors have the depth of technical knowledge necessary to cut through that complexity.

We provide personal tax planning, preparation, and filing for our business clients and their families.

Personal Tax Planning Affects Business Tax Planning

Achieving business and personal goals at the same time requires a coordinated examination of your whole situation, with regular reviews.

One example is the Tax on Split Income (TOSI) regulations.

Formerly, business owners could reduce family taxes by paying family members salaries or dividends, even if they didn't work in the business. Changes to TOSI regulations made this unattractive in many cases. We helped our clients update their strategies, to minimize their tax in spite of the TOSI changes.

No tax plan can be carved in stone.

By monitoring tax regulations and reviewing your strategy regularly, we can help reduce both your personal and business taxes.

Tax Planning and Advice

Tax planning helps you and your business minimize the taxes paid overall. The most effective strategies are achieved by considering business and personal goals at the same time.

We'll help you formulate a tax plan to minimize your taxes and give you peace of mind.

There are many specifics to cover, such as TFSAs, RRSPs, RESPs, and tax credits. We'll answer all your questions and give you experienced advice, so that you can make well-informed decisions and reduce your tax bill.

As your strategists, we already have most of the information required to file your tax return. By understanding your overall goals, we can ensure your return accurately reflects your strategy.

What's included in Our Tax Services?

Everyone at our Red Deer, Innisfail, and Lacombe accounting offices digs for tax credits, deductions, and eligible expenses like a miner digging for nuggets. We are serious about reducing your tax bill!

Our services include:

• Personal tax returns (T1) for residents and non-residents
• Tax compliance for estates and family trusts
• Tax return adjustments, appeals, and reviews
• Voluntary disclosure program applications

Our income tax services are all-inclusive. Working with your personal tax strategy, we prepare and file your annual tax return. Our goal is to ensure you receive the maximum deductions and tax credits to which you're entitled.

We are mindful of changes in regulations throughout the year and advise you of strategy changes to take advantage of new opportunities. Our partner-led team will:

• Ensure all possible deductions are maximized before year-end.
• Estimate taxes well before year-end, so you have time to react.
• Estimate and advise you of quarterly installment amounts and deadlines.
• Communicate with government tax departments on your behalf, tracking notices of assessment and monitoring and minimizing carry-forward balances.

Why Should Your Business Accountant Handle Your Personal Taxes?

At Zenally, we handle accounting and tax needs for our clients' businesses, and we're often involved in their personal financial planning. It makes sense that we would complete their personal tax returns. After all, we already have much of the background information we need.

Having the same tax service provider prepare both your personal and business tax returns offers several advantages:

• It gives us a more comprehensive understanding of your overall financial situation, including your income sources, investments, and deductions. We can provide more tailored and effective tax planning strategies considering both your personal and business financial goals.
• Having a single tax services provider can save you time and resources by avoiding the need to coordinate with multiple providers. It can also reduce the risk of error or discrepancy that becomes more likely when too many people are involved in your tax preparation.
• Working with the same accountant for both your personal and business tax needs leads to better communication and collaboration. You can manage your finances and achieve your financial goals more effectively.

We Help You Avoid Tax Preparation Complications

There can be blind spots if different providers prepare your business and personal taxes.

Missed Deductions

If you own a proprietorship or participate in a business partnership, it can be easy to miss out on deductions. When you're working hard on your business, it's all too easy for the lines to blur between your personal and business spending.

We'll dig until we're sure you aren't being taxed personally for expenditures you could charge to your business. Examples are business use-of-home expenses, business-related travel, meals with clients, and automobile use. The rules for claiming these expenses can be a little convoluted, but our bookkeepers will make sure you come out on top.

The CRA lists common deductable business expenses for parterships and proprietorships.

If you own a corporation, our professionals will also check for missed deductions on your behalf.

Differing Year-Ends

Your personal year-end is always the calendar year-end: December 31. Your business year-end could be in any month. Having a different personal and business year-end can create tax-saving opportunities, but there are several accounting implications:

• Tracking and reconciling financial transactions between personal and business accounts can be difficult This situation can lead to errors or discrepancies in financial reporting and tax filings.
• Some expenses may be incurred in the current year but relate to the following year or the previous year. These expenses need to be allocated to the correct business year.
• It can complicate tax planning and preparation since different tax rules apply to personal and business income or expenses.
• Managing cash flow can be more challenging, as expenses and income may not align with personal or business financial goals.

Spousal Tax Returns

It's also important for accountants to prepare personal income tax returns for both spouses.

This provides a more holistic approach to the family's income taxes, allowing for the optimization of income and expense splitting for the benefit of the family unit. There are several opportunities to split or share income and expenses, including:

• pension income splitting
• CPP splitting
• rental income
• capital gains
• self-employment
• medical expenses
• charitable donations
• investment income and expense splitting
• better utilization of both spouses' RRSPs and TFSAs

By taking advantage of these opportunities, families can save on taxes and keep more of their hard-earned money.

Audit Representation

We have a comprehensive understanding of Canadian and Albertan tax regulations. We're also familiar with the propensities of the CRA and know the situations that can trigger audits. We will help you comply with the regulations while avoiding those situations.

Accurate tax filings reduce the risk of the CRA challenging items reported on your personal tax return.