I'll be asking my accountant about this, but always fun to get a variety of opinions, and the fine citizens of beyond.ca have never been shy about sharing ideas before.
Premise: I own a small business, that has been operating at a small loss for the previous tax year. When my business makes money in 2017, what is the most tax-efficient method of paying myself? Assume for the purposes of this exercise that I have no other source of income in the tax year.
considerations:
1) I do accumulate child-care expenses that can only be written off against "regular employment income".
2) the business owes me money for expenses, which are not taxable as personal income
3) the business is incorporated and I have control over its financial actions
Option 1) Pay back expenses, it's tax-free!
Option 2) Pay yourself normal employment income, at least enough to get that child-case deduction
Option 3) Pay yourself dividends
Option 4) You missed something obvious, let me tell you about it.