Gurinder Sidhu, CPA

Two professions that were always one job.

I became a Chartered Professional Accountant because I like getting the numbers right and explaining them so that they make sense. I became a licensed real estate sales representative because I kept watching people make the biggest financial decision of their lives without anyone in the room who could tell them what it meant for their taxes.

My training is in the numbers. I completed my Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Toronto, specializing in accounting with a major in economics, and went on to complete the Master of Taxation Program at the University of Waterloo — one of Canada’s few graduate programs devoted entirely to tax. That background is why the tax side of a real estate deal is not an afterthought in my practice; it is where I started.

I have more than seven years of experience at a Big Four accounting firm, specializing in tax planning and compliance for corporations and high-net-worth individuals. A large part of that work is estate planning and the transfer of wealth to future generations: estate freezes, family trusts, succession of the family business, and making sure a home, a cottage or a rental portfolio passes to the next generation with as little tax and friction as possible.

That work covered the full range of corporate tax compliance. I prepared and filed returns for public corporations — major banks, mining companies, airlines, big pharma and some of the biggest trucking companies in Canada — including cross-border taxation and transfer pricing. I also worked with small private corporations, with in-depth experience in healthcare practices: dentists with multiple locations, family doctors, physiotherapists and chiropractors, and pharmaceutical companies. I know how a professional corporation works from the inside, which is why healthcare professionals make up a large part of my practice today.

Trucking is a specialty of its own. I have handled the tax side of transportation businesses of every size — from an owner-operator with one truck to fleets running hundreds of trucks and trailers — including fuel tax, cross-border US filings, and the CRA’s scrutiny of incorporated drivers.

Today I do both. Through ReBest Realty Inc., Brokerage, I help buyers, sellers and investors across Toronto and the GTA, drawing on more than 10 years in real estate. As a CPA, I prepare personal, rental-property and corporate tax returns, handle CRA correspondence, and plan the tax side of real estate transactions before they happen.

How I work

• Plain language. If I can’t explain a recommendation in a sentence you’d repeat to a friend, I haven’t finished thinking about it.
• Numbers in writing. Net proceeds, closing costs, tax estimates — on paper, before you decide.
• No pressure. Both of my professions are regulated and both require me to act in your interest. That is how I’d want to be treated, too.
• Available. You get my direct line. Calls and emails are returned within one business day.

Experience

• Big Four accounting firm — more than 7 years specializing in tax planning and compliance for corporations and high-net-worth individuals, including estate planning and wealth transfer to future generations.
  • Healthcare practices: in-depth tax compliance for dentists with multiple locations, family doctor practices, physiotherapists and chiropractors, and pharmaceutical companies.
  • Public corporations: tax filings for major banks, mining companies, airlines, big pharma and some of the biggest trucking companies in Canada, including cross-border taxation and transfer pricing.
  • Trucking & transportation: a specialty — from a single owner-operator truck to fleets of hundreds of trucks and trailers.
  • Small private corporations: professional corporations for dentists, family doctors and other owner-managed businesses.
• Real estate — more than 10 years; currently a sales representative with ReBest Realty Inc., Brokerage.

Education

• Master of Taxation Program — University of Waterloo.
• Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), University of Toronto — Specialist in Accounting, Major in Economics.

Professional standing

• Member, Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA Ontario).
• Registered real estate salesperson under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002, regulated by the Real Estate Council of Ontario, with more than 10 years in real estate. All trades in real estate are conducted through ReBest Realty Inc., Brokerage.

Community

I live in the GTA and work across Toronto and Peel Region. Whether you’re buying your first condo downtown, selling a family home in Brampton, or sorting out the tax on a rental in Mississauga, I’d be glad to help.