The build-out is a schedule, not a deduction
Flooring, mirrors, change rooms, showers, HVAC upgrades and the front desk are leasehold improvements in Class 13, written off straight-line over the lease term plus the first renewal option, with a minimum of five years. A studio that signs a short lease and spends heavily on the fit-out recovers that cost slowly, which makes two things worth planning before the contractor starts: how long a lease to commit to, and what the landlord contributes toward the work.
Landlord money has its own tax character. A cash inducement is generally income when received, unless an election folds it into the cost of the improvements instead, and which answer is better depends on the studio's expected profit curve. That is a choice made once, at the start. We model both readings before the offer to lease is signed rather than discovering the answer at year-end.
Equipment runs on a faster clock
Racks, rigs, treadmills, bikes and rowers land in Class 8 at 20% declining balance, and the accelerated investment incentive suspends the half-year rule for equipment available for use before 2028, so a new machine claims the full 20% in year one instead of 10%. Front-desk computers and screens sit in Class 50 at 55%. The planning lever is timing: if a re-equip is happening either way, gear that is delivered, installed and in use before year-end pulls the claim a full year forward, because CCA turns on available for use, not on the invoice date.
There is also a quiet advantage over the exempt clinics nearby. Because a gym makes taxable supplies, the 13% HST on every machine comes back as an input tax credit instead of inflating the capital cost, so the true price of equipment is the sticker, not the sticker plus tax.
Do not pay tax on classes you have not taught
Memberships and packs collected upfront are income for tax as they are billed, unless a paragraph 20(1)(m) reserve defers the unearned portion to the year the sessions are actually delivered. For a studio selling paid-in-full annuals and long packs, that reserve is routinely the difference between taxing January's cash and taxing the year's work. It is only as defensible as the deferred-revenue schedule behind it, plan by plan, which is one of the quieter reasons studio books need to be kept properly all year: the schedule our End-to-End Accounting work maintains is the same one the T2 leans on. HST cannot be deferred the same way; it follows billing, and that timing question lives on the filing side.
Owner pay and the January problem
How the owner gets paid is a mix set annually, not a default. Salary is deductible to the corporation, builds RRSP room and CPP; dividends skip payroll remittances and can be timed into the quieter summer months when the corporation's cash is thinner. Once corporate tax passes $3,000, instalments begin the next year, and a strong January can set a schedule the slow months then have to carry, so we reset it after every filing to track reality.
A studio saving toward its next location has one more line to watch: once passive investment income inside the corporate group passes $50,000 in a year, the federal small-business limit starts to shrink. Where the expansion fund sits, and what it earns while it waits, is a planning decision rather than an afterthought.
The whole CCA map on one page
| What the studio bought | Where it lands |
|---|---|
| Leasehold fit-out (floors, mirrors, change rooms) | Class 13, straight-line over the lease plus first renewal, minimum five years |
| Racks, cardio machines, rigs, benches | Class 8 at 20%, half-year rule suspended for use before 2028 |
| Front-desk computers, tablets, screens | Class 50 at 55% declining balance |
| Initial franchise fee on a fixed-term agreement | Class 14, straight-line over the agreement's life |
| Sound system and small equipment | Expensed or Class 8 under a consistent capitalization policy |
This is what Tax Planning & Advisory looks like for a studio in Mississauga or anywhere in the GTA: the lease, the fit-out election, the reserve and the owner's pay decided on purpose, reviewed on a schedule, with each choice written down. Planning happens before year-end; filing just reports it. The work is scoped and quoted in writing after a free 15-minute discovery call.
