The fit-out is a schedule, not one deduction
The money that turns an empty unit into a bar does not come back as a single write-off; it comes back on a timetable set by capital cost allowance classes, and the split is worth planning before the contractor's final invoice. Three classes carry most of a bar build:
| What the money bought | CCA class | How it deducts |
|---|---|---|
| Draught system, coolers, glass washer, furniture, kitchen equipment | Class 8 | 20% declining balance |
| Leasehold build-out: walls, bar top, washrooms, millwork | Class 13 | Straight-line over the lease term |
| POS terminals and back-office computers | Class 50 | 55% declining balance |
Timing matters more than most owners expect. For eligible equipment available for use before 2028, the usual half-year rule is suspended, so a draught upgrade installed in the last month of the fiscal year still deducts at the full first-year rate against that year's profit. The other split we police is repair against capital: refinishing the bar top or replacing lines and couplers is a current expense in full, while a new glycol tower or walk-in is capital that deducts over years. Coding those correctly on the invoice date is cheaper than arguing it on review.
Set the year-end after the patio closes
A new bar corporation picks its own fiscal year-end, and a patio-driven room should point it at early autumn. Three things line up behind a September or October date: the corporate balance lands while summer's cash is still in the account, the cellar is at its annual low when the year-end count happens, and bonus and dividend decisions get made knowing exactly what the season delivered rather than guessing at it in the spring.
The remittance side runs on the same seasonal logic. Once a corporate tax bill clears $3,000, the CRA expects instalments through the year, and a bar's should be sized to its curve, heavier against the patio months, lighter against February. The 13 points on every tab were never yours either: we set a standing transfer, sized from the nightly closes, into a separate account, so the HST quarter is funded before the return is due instead of competing with the beer order.
Owner pay for an owner on the roster
Most pub owners work the floor, and the pay plan should say so. A steady salary for the shifts you actually work builds RRSP room and CPP and gives a mortgage lender T4 income it can read; the dividend call waits until the season has reported, which suits a room whose July and its January barely resemble each other. Profit the household does not need can stay in the corporation at Ontario's small-business rate on the first $500,000 of active income and fund the next renovation with lightly-taxed dollars.
The habit we break early is the drawer as a wallet. Cash taken from the till between pay runs books to the shareholder loan account, and a loan still outstanding a year after the corporation's year-end is pulled back into personal income in full. We set the salary-dividend mix annually inside Tax Planning & Advisory and file the owner's return through Personal Tax Filing, so the corporate and household sides land as one decision.
Sell the shares, keep the licence in place
Bars change hands in two ways, and the tax outcomes are not close. In an asset sale the buyer takes the equipment, goodwill and lease, then must apply to the AGCO to have the liquor sales licence transferred; the corporation pays tax on the sale, and a second layer of tax applies when you take the proceeds out. In a share sale the corporation itself changes hands and stays the licensee, with the AGCO notified of the change of control, and your gain can be sheltered by the $1.25 million lifetime capital gains exemption if the shares qualify.
Qualification is built years ahead, not signed at closing. The shares must pass active-asset and holding tests across the 24 months before the sale, and surplus cash parked in the company can spoil them, so we move it out early, through a holding structure where warranted, mapped with Corporate Restructuring. For bar owners across Mississauga and the GTA, the whole plan, fit-out schedule, year-end, pay mix and exit, is quoted in writing after a free 15-minute discovery call.
