In this guide
A controller, Director of Finance, VP Finance, or CFO often owns tax coordination alongside reporting, cash flow, and the close. Outsourcing returns still leaves someone gathering records, arranging payments, and following up on CRA mail. This is a working checklist for that role, especially in a group with several entities and no substantial internal tax department.
1. Start with each entity, not a group folder
Build an entity register before building a calendar. A holding company and an operating company can have different accounts, year-ends, and obligations. Record what applies to each and ask your advisor to confirm gaps, including provincial obligations.
Ownership helps your advisor assess association and other rules; a chart alone does not settle those questions. Use the corporate tax obligations guide as a starting point for the discussion.
2. Track filing and payment as separate outcomes
A filed return does not tell you whether the tax has been paid. Keep separate dates and status for the return, any balance owing, instalments, and remittances. Ask who determines the amount, who authorizes it, who makes the payment, and who keeps the evidence.
The tax deadlines tool helps with planning. Verify the applicable dates and account settings before relying on your calendar.
3. Agree on the handoff with your CPA and tax counsel
Before each filing cycle, agree on the scope, deliverables, and internal handoff dates. Your finance team gathers the information and coordinates approvals and payments. Your advisors apply technical judgement and prepare and file the returns within the agreed engagement.
Keep the deliverables in the company’s record after filing. The tax document organization guide describes what belongs in that file. A shared workspace supports the engagement; agree separately on who monitors deadlines and responds to notices.
4. Keep CRA notices and tax balances traceable
When CRA correspondence arrives, record the entity, account, period, date received, and any stated response date. Keep the original and route it to the responsible advisor. Record the follow-up and outcome so the next person can see what happened.
For losses, CDA, GRIP, RDTOH, and other tax attributes, ask for the balance, as-of date, and supporting calculation or document. Distinguish a recorded balance from one confirmed for a particular transaction. Your advisor should assess availability and tax treatment before a dividend, reorganization, or other decision.
The corporate tax attributes guide explains the terms. In TaxDesk, dated balances and source documents stay with the entity. TaxDesk does not connect to CRA; your team or advisor brings the notices and confirmations into the record.
5. Make review part of the finance rhythm
Choose a review cadence that fits the group’s obligations. Review upcoming work and missing information before deadlines, confirm the evidence after filing and payment, and revisit account settings when the business changes.
You do not need to answer every technical tax question yourself. You need a reliable way to identify the question, find its supporting information, and get it to the person who can resolve it.
Scope note. This is an operational checklist, not a complete list of tax obligations or tax advice. Confirm registrations, deadlines, amounts, tax positions, and retention requirements with your advisors and the relevant authority. Requirements depend on each entity’s circumstances.
Primary reading
Official starting points used to develop and check this guide.
Continue the workflow
The next useful step
Put the guide into practice
Give tax coordination a permanent home
TaxDesk keeps the entities, due dates, recorded payments, documents, and dated tax balances together. Your finance team owns the record, and invited advisors work from the same sources.