Income Tax - Starting Up a Business

Overview:

In today’s entrepreneurial economy, many professionals are leaving the corporate world to start their own businesses, aiming for the prospect of increased freedom and revenue. However, with greater income comes a higher tax bill. This introductory level course focuses on the many tax issues that arise – both compliance and planning related – when starting a business. 

Common traps and planning opportunities when starting a business will be discussed. Starting with an overview of forms of business, including the pros and cons of each, the course will present structuring decisions for tax efficiency and preserve access to losses. Planning opportunities in the start-up phase and employee issues will also be addressed.

This course is primarily focused on private companies.  It does not touch on provincial-specific regulations or non-tax issues that are relevant to private companies (ie. Workers’ compensation rules, specific registration requirements, etc.).

Course Content:

In this course, you will gain knowledge about the following topics:

• Proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations
• Structuring for tax efficiency
• Structuring for investors
• Structuring decisions to preserve access to losses
• Planning opportunities
• Employee issues

Learning Objectives:

Upon completing this course, you should be able to:

• Understand the basic forms in which a business can be carried on in Canada
• Understand the basic techniques for structuring a new business in a tax-efficient manner
• Understand the basic tax considerations for dealing with start-up losses
• Understand some basic tax planning opportunities that small businesses can consider
• Understand employee-related issues for new businesses

Who Will Benefit: 

General practitioners who are involved in advising clients that are starting new businesses.  Particular focus will be placed on fairly straightforward private company situations.