CLIENT CASE STUDY
$90K in 30 Days
How a Canadian Construction Company Went from Overlooked to Tax Optimized.
& Skilled Trades
AT A GLANCE
The Numbers That
Changed Everything
Recovered
30 Days
Recovered
3 Months
BACKGROUND
A Business Built on Precision, With Money Sitting on the Table
THE PROBLEM
Paying for a Service That Wasn’t Paying Them Back
The owners found themselves always being the ones to reach out. Answers were slow. There were no proactive calls, no planning conversations, no one flagging what was coming or what could be done differently. When you’re running a $2.5 million operation and your advisor isn’t thinking ahead for you, the cost shows up quietly, in the credits that go unclaimed and the structures that never get built.
They knew something was off. They just didn’t know yet how much it was costing them.
THE DISCOVERY
What We Found in the First Month
Within the first 30 days, we identified a Regional Opportunities Tax Credit that had never been claimed. It’s a legitimate provincial credit available to qualifying Ontario businesses, and it was sitting there unclaimed. The amount: $90,000.
Over the next two months, a closer look at the HST filings turned up another $16,000 in Input Tax Credits. Recoverable amounts on eligible business expenses that had simply never been captured.
When we sat down with the owners and walked them through the numbers, the reaction was equal parts relief and disbelief. They had followed their gut by coming to us. What they hadn’t anticipated was finding out the cost of waiting had already hit six figures, and that acting when they did had likely saved them from losing even more.
WHAT WE DID
Recovery First. Then a Structure Built for the Long Term.
Then we looked at the bigger picture. During the review we found that the client had a building sitting inside their operating company. This is a problem for two reasons. First, it puts a major asset in the same legal entity as the day-to-day liability of running a construction business, with nothing separating the two. Second, and more importantly for the future, having non-active assets like a building inside an operating company can disqualify a business from the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption at the point of sale. That exemption is one of the most significant tax advantages available to Canadian business owners when they sell. Losing access to it is an expensive mistake. We moved the building out as part of the restructuring and protected their access to it.
We then set up a family trust with multiple beneficiaries. The structure is projected to save $312,500+ per beneficiary in capital gains tax at exit. With proper wording in the Trust deed, beneficiaries can be automatically added over time as the family grows to increase the total savings accordingly. There is also a timing element most owners miss: a family trust must be in place well before any sale process begins to be effective. Waiting until a buyer is at the table is too late. Having the structure already in place means this client can move on their own timeline, without being forced to delay or restructure under pressure.
We also set up a holdco for each owner so business profits can be drawn out and invested for their respective families. Each owner controls what happens inside their own holdco independently of the other. If one wants to leave capital in the holdco to purchase real estate or build investments, they can. If the other wants to draw more personally in a given year, that decision has no impact on their co-owner. Each moves at their own pace, on their own terms.
We also took over everything that had been eating into their time: bookkeeping, HST filing, payroll remittance, T4 preparation, and personal tax returns. No more chasing. No more doing it themselves. Just answers.
THE RESULTS
$106,000 In Year One. Hundreds of Thousands More Protected at Exit.
✓ $90K in a previously unclaimed provincial tax credit, recovered within 30 days
✓ $16K in Input Tax Credits recovered within the first 3 months
✓ A building removed from the operating company, giving the owners full flexibility to sell the business and retain the property as a future rental income stream
✓ A family trust projected to save $312,500+ per beneficiary in capital gains tax at exit
✓ A corporate structure built to move quickly when a buyer comes, without being forced to delay
✓ Individual holdcos set up for each owner so profits can be invested independently, with each owner free to draw income, invest, or build personal wealth without impacting the other
✓ Full bookkeeping, HST filing, payroll, T4s, and personal tax returns handled end-to-end
✓ Proactive tax planning built into the year, not just addressed after the fact
✓ An advisory relationship where they receive calls, not just return them
The owners describe the shift as a relief. Not just the dollars recovered in year one, but knowing the business is protected for what comes next. They trusted their gut when they decided it was time for a change. The numbers showed that instinct was worth acting on.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
What This Means for Construction Business Owners
This story is more common than most business owners realize. A profitable construction business is busy by nature. The financial side gets put on autopilot. And because nothing is visibly broken, nobody stops to ask what might be getting missed.
The credits and structures available to Canadian business owners require someone who is actively looking for them. In this case, that work uncovered over $100,000 in year one, before factoring in what the restructuring and family trust will save at exit. The business was doing everything right on the operations side. It just needed the financial side to catch up.
For owners in construction and the skilled trades, this is worth paying attention to. Plenty of businesses are missing credits, sitting on the wrong structure, or heading toward a sale without knowing what is waiting for them. The cost only shows up when it is too late to fix it cleanly. If you are not getting proactive advice, it is worth finding out what you might be missing.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
If Any of This Resonated, That Instinct Is Worth Acting On
Most business owners who read this story tell us one of two things. Either it sounds exactly like their situation, or they suspect it does but they are not sure. Both are good reasons to have a conversation.
The initial 30-Minute Tax Review is how we find out. We look at your structure, your filings, and your setup. We tell you honestly what opportunities we see.
For most owners at this revenue level, that conversation is long overdue. Based on what we typically find in an initial review, it tends to be worth having sooner rather than later.
If this story feels familiar,
it may be time for a second opinion.
You might be leaving opportunities and money on the table.
