T2 return
The T2 is the federal corporate income tax return that every corporation resident in Canada must file for each fiscal year, even when it had no income.
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Key facts
| Category | Corporate tax |
|---|---|
| Also known as | corporation income tax return |
| Filed with | The Canada Revenue Agency |
| Filing deadline | Six months after fiscal year end |
| Payment deadline | Two or three months after year end, depending on the corporation |
| Required | Every year a corporation exists, including nil and inactive years |
| Authority | Canada Revenue Agency |
What it means in practice
A T2 is due six months after the corporation's fiscal year-end. The filing deadline and the payment deadline are different: tax owing is generally due two months after year-end, extended to three months for a Canadian-controlled private corporation claiming the small business deduction. Filing is mandatory for every resident corporation for every year it exists — including dormant, loss-making and zero-revenue years. Missing a T2 triggers penalties even when no tax is owed. Québec corporations also file a CO-17 with Revenu Québec.
The two deadlines are not the same date
A corporation has six months from its year end to file, but the balance is due earlier — two months after year end for most corporations, three for a CCPC that claimed the small business deduction and meets the conditions. Interest runs from the payment date, not the filing date. In practice this means the tax has to be estimated before the return is finished. Filing at the six-month mark without having paid at the two- or three-month mark produces interest even where the return itself is on time. A dormant corporation still files. Nil returns are the ones most often skipped, and the arrears build quietly until the corporation needs a certificate of compliance for a sale or a financing.
FAQ
My corporation had no activity. Do I still file a T2?
Do I file separately in Québec?
Need this applied to your situation?
A definition only gets you so far. Talk to a Montréal CPA about what this means for your return — in English or French.