cfo-canadian-tax-prep - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: cfo-canadian-tax-prep description: Use when preparing Canadian tax review packets for T4 employment income, rental income, sole proprietorships, corporations, GST/HST, payroll, or slip season. Anchors the workflow in CRA source pages, uses Taxtips only for secondary checklist ideas, and produces human-review tax prep packages instead of compliance claims.

CFO Canadian Tax Prep

Use this skill when the task involves Canadian tax preparation work such as:

T4 slip driven personal returns
rental income workpapers and T776 support
year-end prep for a Canadian sole proprietor or CCPC
T1/T2125 support packages for self-employed operators
T2 prep packages, GIFI mapping, or corporate year-end checklists
GST/HST return support, ITC support, or filing-deadline verification
payroll remittance, T4 season, or dividend and slip prep review

Do not use this skill to invent rates, make filing decisions without source support, claim compliance, or drift into credit-optimization work unless the user explicitly asks for it.

Guardrails

Treat all outputs as review packets for the owner or licensed tax professional.
Pull rates, thresholds, and elections from the ledger jurisdiction pack first. Use CRA pages to verify obligation type, form, and timing.
Verify exact filing and payment dates on the current CRA page for the tax year in scope. Do not rely on memory.
Keep source evidence and workpapers separate from proposed ledger changes.
Use references/taxtips-source-map.md only as a secondary checklist and edge-case finder. If Taxtips and CRA wording differ, follow CRA.
If the books are incomplete, say so plainly and produce a missing-items list instead of guessing.

Workflow

1. Classify the filer before doing any tax work

Start by pinning down:

entity type: sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation
tax year or fiscal period
province or territory of operations
registered accounts in scope: GST/HST, payroll, import/export, etc.
whether the package is for planning, quarter-end, or year-end filing prep

If any of those are unclear and they change the form set, stop and ask.

2. Load the authoritative source set

Read the source map in references/cra-source-map.md and use the smallest relevant subset:

T4 / employment income work: T4 slip page, line mapping, due dates
rental work: T4036, T776, rental expense guidance, due dates
self-employed/T1/T2125 work: T4002, T2125, personal due dates, business records
corporation/T2 work: T4012, T2 filing due dates, balance-due day, GIFI
GST/HST work: RC4022 and GST/HST filing deadline pages
payroll/slip work: T4001 and RC4120

Then use references/taxtips-source-map.md for extra checklist coverage around filing flow, rental-property edge cases, and change-in-use/rent-part-of-home issues.

Use CRA pages for obligations and dates. Use the jurisdiction pack for any actual tax computation that CFO Stack performs.

3. Build the prep packet from evidence, not from forms

Collect or confirm:

T4 slips and any other income slips already issued
notice of assessment and installment reminders
year-end summary of employment benefits, reimbursements, and deductions if the slips look incomplete
rental income ledger or rent roll by property
rental property invoices, mortgage-interest summaries, property tax bills, insurance, utilities, and repairs
year-end trial balance or ledger export
bank, credit card, and loan reconciliations
sales detail and invoice support
payroll reports, remittance confirmations, and prior slips
fixed asset additions/disposals with invoice support
shareholder loan continuity, dividend resolutions, and owner draws
GST/HST working papers for collected tax, ITCs, and adjustments
vehicle logs, home-office support, and other mixed-use allocations where relevant
prior-year notices of assessment, reassessment, and installment reminders

If the source trail is weak, produce a blocker list before preparing any tax summary.

4. Map the obligation set

For a personal return driven by employment and rental activity, usually prepare around:

T1 due date and balance-due check
T4 slip review mapped to line 10100 and related pension/EI boxes
rental income summary with T776 support
property-level expense allocation and personal-use split if part of the home is rented
CCA review only if relevant and only with an explicit note about downstream implications

For self-employed individuals, usually prepare around:

T1 filing deadline and payment check
T2125 for each business or professional activity
GST/HST return support if registered
installment review if payments are required
home office, motor vehicle, and CCA support where applicable

For corporations, usually prepare around:

T2 return package for the fiscal period
balance-due check and installment history
GIFI-ready balance sheet and income statement mapping
shareholder loan, dividend, and compensation review
GST/HST and payroll support
T4 or T5 slip season support if compensation or dividends were paid

Do not assume every item applies. Mark each as required, not applicable, or needs confirmation.

5. Build workpapers in the order that catches errors fastest

Preferred order:

Slip completeness: confirm the return has the expected T4 and other core slips before drafting anything
Employment income mapping: reconcile T4 boxes to the T1 line mapping and note any missing explanations
Rental income completeness: reconcile rents received to leases, deposits, and property-level tracking
Expense support: confirm rental, business, or mixed-use expenses with receipts and purpose
Cash and liability completeness: reconcile banks, credit cards, loans, payroll liabilities, and sales-tax liabilities
Fixed assets and CCA: separate capital items from current expenses and preserve CCA support
Owner/shareholder flows: classify draws, reimbursements, wages, dividends, and shareholder-loan activity
Filing overlays: only after the books tie out, prepare the T1/T776/T2125, T2/GIFI, GST/HST, or payroll packet

This avoids doing form work on top of dirty books.

6. Flag the Canadian risk areas explicitly

Always call out:

missing or inconsistent T4 slips
T4 boxes that imply follow-up support is needed for benefits, CPP, or EI handling
rental expenses that look capital rather than current
personal-use allocation issues for partial-home rentals
change-in-use facts that may trigger separate review
mixed personal/business expenses
missing GST/HST registration or incorrect ITC support
weak vehicle logbooks or home-office support
owner compensation misclassification
unreconciled shareholder loans
capital assets expensed directly without CCA review
late remittances, slips, or installment exposure
province-specific payroll or corporate filing assumptions that need confirmation

7. Produce a review packet, not a filing claim

Preferred output structure:

tax/canada/<tax-year>/
  overview.md
  obligations-checklist.md
  missing-items.md
  workpapers/
    employment-income.md
    revenue-reconciliation.md
    gst-hst.md
    payroll.md
    rental-income.md
    fixed-assets.md
    owner-shareholder-flows.md
  filing/
    t1-income-summary.md
    t776-rental-summary.md
    t1-t2125-summary.md
    t2-gifi-summary.md
    slips-summary.md

Each summary should separate:

confirmed facts from the books
assumptions that need sign-off
proposed treatments
exact CRA pages used to support the workflow

Output Standard

Every Canadian tax prep deliverable should end with:

Open questions
Missing support
Deadlines to verify on CRA
Items for CPA/bookkeeper review

Never end with “ready to file” unless a human reviewer explicitly confirmed that status.