How Do I Know if My Corporation Counts as Dormant?
$300.00 Plus HST Per Tax Year
We are a registered EFILE electronic filer. Your return is transmitted to the Canada Revenue Agency electronically.
Written and reviewed by Sharad Gondaliya, CPA (Ontario), CPA Ontario Membership 61040184.
A corporation is treated as dormant for a tax year when it carried on no business, earned nothing and paid nothing out during that year. Investment income, rental income, and dividends paid or received all break it. A dormant corporation still files a T2 for every year until it is formally dissolved.
How Do I Know if My Corporation Counts as Dormant?
| Activity in the tax year | Still nil? |
|---|---|
| No revenue, no expenses, no bank movement | Yes |
| Bank account open but unused | Yes |
| Interest or investment income received | No |
| Rental income received | No |
| Dividends paid or received | No |
| Assets held but earning nothing | Yes |
A true nil return carries no percentage late-filing penalty, because that penalty is a percentage of tax owing and the corporation owes $0.00. The unfiled year still stays open forever, invites a demand to file and an arbitrary assessment, blocks a clearance certificate and dissolution, and costs a non-resident-owned corporation $25.00 per day up to $2,500.00.
Dormant is decided year by year, not once for the corporation’s life. A corporation can be nil for several years, operate for one, and be nil again, and each year is judged on what happened inside it.
Filing a Nil Return
This service is for a corporation with no activity in the tax year. A corporation with investment income, rental income, or dividends paid or received is not nil.
We are a registered EFILE electronic filer. Your return is transmitted to the Canada Revenue Agency electronically, and your CRA confirmation is emailed within 3 business days. You sign Form T183CORP before we transmit. The fee is $300.00 plus HST per tax year. See the full nil T2 filing cost, every T2 filing deadline, and catch-up nil T2 filing for outstanding years.
For the whole subject in one place, see the complete guide to the nil T2 return.
Related Questions
- How do I find outstanding T2 years
- How do I dissolve with nothing filed
- How do I close the tax account
- How do I fix a wrong year-end
- When is the first T2 due
- What happens if not reporting dormancy
- Do I file every inactive year
- Do I need to file with no activity
Last reviewed: October 26, 2026