Cedar Group
01 · CANADIAN TAX

The tax work that changes outcomes.

Advisory only — corporate reorganizations, estate freezes, M&A structuring, CRA dispute support, and succession planning. We don't do compliance: filings, financial statements, and bookkeeping stay with your accountant.

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WHAT WE DO

Tax advisory services.

Cedar Group's Canadian tax practice is advisory — the complex work most firms refer out: corporate reorganizations, estate freezes, M&A structuring, CRA disputes, and succession planning.

We do not prepare tax returns, financial statements, or bookkeeping; that stays with your accountant. We're the specialist they bring in for the strategy — working alongside our legal and valuation teams so every structure is built to hold.

Corporate Reorganizations

Restructuring corporate groups to optimize tax, separate business lines, and prepare for transactions. Section 85 rollovers, section 86 share exchanges, butterfly transactions, and amalgamations.

Estate Freezes

Locking in the current value of a business for the founder while passing future growth to the next generation — through new share classes, family trusts, and holding company structures.

M&A Structuring

Tax-efficient deal structures for buyers and sellers. Purchase price allocation, earn-out structuring, vendor tax planning, and post-close reorganizations.

CRA Audit Defence

Representing business owners through CRA audits, objections, and appeals. We handle the CRA so you can handle your business.

Succession Planning

Designing the transition of ownership and control — whether to family, partners, or outside buyers — with tax efficiency built in from the start.

Trust Planning

Establishing and managing family trusts, alter ego trusts, and joint partner trusts for estate planning, creditor protection, and income splitting.

Income Splitting

Structuring compensation, dividends, and corporate ownership to distribute income among family members within CRA's rules.

Post-Mortem Planning

Addressing the double tax problem that arises when a shareholder dies owning private company shares. Pipeline strategies, loss carrybacks, and capital gains bumps.

LED BY
SJSunny

Sunny Jaggi

Tax Principal
CPA, CA, MTax, CFF

Sunny leads Cedar Group's tax practice with over 15 years of experience in complex corporate reorganizations, estate planning, M&A advisory, and CRA audit defence. He holds a Master of Taxation from the University of Waterloo, has published with the Canadian Tax Foundation, taught courses for CPA Ontario, and presented at both the Ontario Tax Conference and the Canadian Tax Foundation National Conference. He hosts The Advisors Table Podcast.

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CASE STUDIES

What recent Canadian Tax engagements look like.

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Franchise & Retail

The Franchise Operator with Seven Locations Who Had Never Restructured

An entrepreneur had built a portfolio of seven quick-service restaurant locations across four operating companies over fifteen years. Every dollar of profit — from operations, real estate, and investments — sat inside the operating companies. There was no holding company, no family trust, no estate freeze. If a lawsuit hit one location, it could reach the assets of all four corporations. If the owner died, the entire $27 million in value would be taxed on the terminal return — a potential tax bill exceeding $7 million.

RESULT

Potential lifetime tax savings of $1.7M through LCGE multiplication alone. Estate tax liability on death reduced from $7M+ to a known, fixed, insurable amount.

Manufacturing

The Founders Selling Their $7M Business to Their Daughter and an Employee

A husband and wife built a manufacturing business over 25 years. It was worth $7.1 million. They wanted to sell — not to an outsider, but to their daughter and a long-time employee, each taking 50%.

RESULT

Both sellers preserved their full lifetime capital gains exemptions. Retained earnings extracted tax-efficiently before closing. Deal closed with both sides aligned on the economics.

Professional Services

The Founder Who Died Owning Shares in Two Private Companies

When a founder died, she held shares in two private companies worth a combined $2.3 million. Canadian tax law treats death as if you sold everything at fair market value — her terminal tax return owed tax on the deemed capital gain. Then, when the estate tried to get the money out of the corporations, it would be taxed again as a dividend. Two layers of tax on the same money. The estate was facing over $400,000 in total tax.

RESULT

Duplicate tax of $400,000+ eliminated. Estate received full value of the shares with only one layer of tax.

WHAT CLIENTS SAY
★★★★★LINKEDIN

“Sankalp (Sunny) is the most intelligent tax advisor I've ever worked with. His work was touted as 'genius' by our legal team that sees among the highest M&A deal flow in the country. Beyond his depth of knowledge, he can articulate complex information in a concise and digestible way, which is rare in the world of tax. If you're looking to sell your business, Sunny is the most valuable member you could add to your deal team.”

Brady Cassidy
Prev Co-Founder & CEO at Rewardful (acquired)

Have a situation like this?

Every engagement starts with a no-obligation 15-minute introductory call.

HOW IT WORKS

How a tax advisory engagement works.

01

Introductory Call

15 minutes. We learn about your situation. No charge.

02

Phase I — Discovery

Strategy memo with a cost-benefit analysis you can review and approve.

★
You Decide

Decision Point

Approve, adjust, or walk away with the analysis. You decide.

03

Phase II — Implementation

Scoped and quoted separately. Tax, legal, and valuation in coordination.

✓

Complete

Documents filed. Structure in place. Engagement closed.

PHASE I — DISCOVERY & DESIGN

Phase I begins with an introductory meeting where we learn about your business, your objectives, and your current corporate structure. We then review your financial statements, model the tax implications of different structures, and prepare a written strategy memo with a cost-benefit analysis. The deliverable shows your current structure, the proposed changes, and what each option costs and saves — in dollars, not jargon. Phase I typically involves two working sessions.

PHASE II — IMPLEMENTATION

Once you approve the direction from Phase I, we provide a separate proposal for implementation. This covers incorporating new entities, preparing section 85 rollover elections or section 86 share exchanges, coordinating shareholders agreements and trust deeds with our legal team, filing all required documents with the CRA, and documenting everything. Phase II fees are scoped based on the strategy selected in Phase I — so you know exactly what you are paying for before the work begins.

You are never locked in. If Phase I reveals that the restructuring does not make financial sense, you walk away with the analysis and owe nothing further.

Strategy Memo· Phase I Deliverable
DRAFT
CURRENT STRUCTURE
Shareholder
Direct ownership
HoldCo
Single class
OpCo
All assets · all risk
PROPOSED STRUCTURE
Shareholder
Freeze shares
NEW
Family Trust
Future growth
HoldCo
Capital protection
NEW
OpCo · NewCo
Risk segregated
INCLUDESCost-benefit analysis·Tax modelling·Implementation roadmap

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