Three ways money leaks out of a Canadian corporation — while you build it, when you pay yourself, and when you die. Run your own numbers. Honest Ontario math, every assumption editable, nothing inflated.
None of the numbers above are a prediction — they're what happens by default when nobody plans. Here's the shape of the fix for each one:
Corporate dollars redirected into an insurance-sheltered structure grow without generating annually taxed passive income — no yearly tax drag on that growth.
Not every dollar has to leave as salary or dividends. A long-term plan decides what you take, when, and in what form — and leaves the rest compounding inside the structure.
Corporate-owned life insurance proceeds credit the capital dividend account — so money can flow to your estate as tax-free capital dividends instead of the taxed default.
The Corporate Wealth Shield™ is our framework for putting these in place — in the right order, coordinated with your accountant. Bring these numbers to a free Gap Analysis and we'll show you which leaks apply to your structure.
Book Your Free Gap Analysis45 minutes. No obligation. You keep the analysis either way.
For discussion purposes only. All figures are illustrative estimates based on the rates you see above (Ontario defaults) and are not tax, legal, or financial advice. Actual liability depends on corporate structure, adjusted cost base, RDTOH and GRIP balances, shareholder agreements, and individual circumstances. Review every strategy with your accountant and lawyer before acting. Capital gains inclusion rate is currently 50% — only the taxable portion of a gain is taxed.
Dividend rates depend on how the profit was taxed inside the corporation. Income taxed at the small business rate comes out as non-eligible dividends (47.74% top rate); income taxed at the general corporate rate generates GRIP and comes out as eligible dividends (39.34% top rate). Idle cash tax drag: part of the 50.17% passive rate is refundable when the corporation pays taxable dividends (RDTOH); the drag shown is the prepayment plus the non-refundable portion — your CPA can refine it. Passive income above $50,000/yr can also grind the federal small business deduction; that effect is deliberately excluded here to keep the math clean — ask us or your CPA if it applies to you.
Estate exposure at death shows the two ways retained earnings can be taxed on the way out — the wind-up (dividend) route and the capital gains route — and headlines the unplanned default. A properly administered estate pays one of these, not both: post-mortem strategies (pipeline planning, s.164(6) loss carryback) determine which, and corporate-owned life insurance with the capital dividend account reduces the bill further. The unplanned number is the point of the conversation, not a prediction.