Fleet CCA: class first, calendar second
Cargo vans and service trucks are Class 10, deducted at 30% declining balance, and under the accelerated investment incentive a vehicle that becomes available for use before 2028 skips the half-year rule, so the full 30% is on the table in year one. The calendar matters as much as the class: a van invoiced in December but delivered in January deducts nothing this year, because available for use is the test, not the purchase order.
The trap is the manager's vehicle. An SUV that counts as a passenger vehicle falls into Class 10.1, where the deductible cost is capped, HST recovery is limited and no terminal loss is allowed on sale. A racked, shelved cargo van never has that problem, so what you buy shapes the deduction as much as when you buy it. Electric service vans earn an enhanced first-year write-off in Class 54, though that enhancement is phasing down through 2027.
Disposals matter as much as additions. Sell two old vans above their remaining undepreciated capital cost and the difference comes back into income as recapture; trading in against new units in the same class usually keeps that quiet by adjusting the pool instead. We plan replacements a cycle ahead so the pool absorbs them.
Finance, lease or cash
None of the three wins universally; they differ in timing, and timing is exactly what planning controls.
| Question | Buy (financed) | Lease |
|---|---|---|
| Deduction shape | CCA at 30% plus interest, front-loaded | Payments deducted as incurred, flat |
| HST | Full input tax credit upfront on the price | Credits spread across each payment |
| Balance sheet | Asset and loan appear; lenders see the debt | Lighter on paper; total commitments still count |
| End of term | You own a truck with remaining UCC | The buyout price becomes a new decision |
Walla Assaf spent a decade in banking and corporate finance before founding the firm, so fleet advice here covers how the deal reads to your lender as well as to the CRA. Structure matters on that side: the loan should sit in the same company as the truck and the income, because interest on debt that wanders between the owner and the corporation invites deductibility questions nobody needs. When the growth plan calls for more than dealer terms, our Business Financing Advisory builds the package.
Plan the seasonal year, not the calendar year
Set the year-end in a shoulder month, so the season just finished is fully visible while there is still time to act on it. Instalments deserve the same respect: a record summer of AC installs quietly raises what the CRA expects next year, and we recalculate mid-year so the first sign is not an arrears-interest charge. Most eligible small CCPCs can pay quarterly rather than monthly, which suits a business whose cash arrives in surges. Bonus and dividend decisions happen in the slow weeks, with real numbers, instead of in a December scramble.
The cadence is two working sessions a year: one after the winter season closes, one before year-end while every option is still open. Between them, the fleet quotes, financing terms and instalment maths are already in the file, so decisions take a phone call instead of a project.
On the owner side, the salary-versus-dividend mix weighs RRSP room and CPP against the corporate deferral at roughly 12.2% on the first $500,000 of active income. Dividends to a spouse get a TOSI check before they are paid, not after. And when strong years leave cash in the company, we watch the passive-income limits before an investment account quietly starts eroding the small-business rate.
A deduction is not a discount
Buying a truck in December to cut tax only makes sense if you needed the truck. At small-business rates a dollar of CCA saves about twelve cents; the other eighty-eight still left the bank. We run fleet additions through the same test as every move under Tax Planning & Advisory: the business case has to stand without the tax line, and the tax line then improves it.
The same discipline applies to the rest of the file. The reserve that keeps unearned maintenance-plan money out of taxable income is claimed every year, but it is bookkeeping done right, not a strategy; the mechanics live on our accounting page. Planning is the part that cannot be reconstructed later: class choices before the purchase, year-end set before the season, instalments corrected before the interest. That is the work we schedule into your slow weeks every year.
