Dissolution Readiness Checker
Four questions in the order the steps actually run, naming the first one still outstanding before a corporation is dissolved.
Written and reviewed by Sharad Gondaliya, CPA (Ontario), CPA Ontario Membership 61040184.
Last reviewed: October 26, 2026
Answer all four and the result appears here.
Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation is a registered EFILE electronic filer. Returns are prepared and transmitted in Canada. Credentials are never shared and never used offshore.
The Steps Run in One Order
Dissolution is not a single filing. Four things happen, and they happen in this order, because each one depends on the one before it.
| Step | What it is |
|---|---|
| 1 | Every outstanding T2 year filed |
| 2 | The final T2 filed to the dissolution date |
| 3 | A clearance certificate requested |
| 4 | The Business Number programme accounts closed |
An open tax year blocks a clearance certificate, which is why the returns are first and not last.
Two Different Bodies, Two Different Filings
Dissolving the corporation and closing its tax accounts are separate acts with separate bodies. The dissolution goes through the registry the corporation was incorporated with, federally through Corporations Canada or provincially. The returns and the account closures go to the Canada Revenue Agency.
Doing one without the other is the common failure: a corporation dissolved at the registry while an open tax year sits at the Agency can still be reassessed on that year.
What the Final Return Covers
The final T2 runs from the start of that fiscal year to the dissolution date, and it is due within six months of dissolution. It is required even when the closing year had no activity at all, and a nil final return is $300.00 plus HST per tax year.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Corporation Be Dissolved With Years Still Unfiled?
The registry and the Agency are separate, so a dissolution can be registered while years are open, but it leaves a dissolved corporation that can still be reassessed and a clearance certificate that cannot be settled. Filing first is what finishes the file.
How Many Years Might Be Outstanding?
Use the unfiled years checker to list every tax year still outstanding and what each one was due.
Is the Final Return Different From a Normal One?
It covers a shorter period, from the start of the fiscal year to the dissolution date, and that period is what makes it final. A nil final return is otherwise an ordinary nil T2.
What Closes the GST/HST and Payroll Accounts?
Form RC145 closes the Business Number programme accounts, once each of those accounts has its own final return or remittance in.
What If the Corporation Held Assets?
Then the closing year is not nil. A holding corporation with investment income, a rental corporation and a corporation that paid or received a dividend are not nil. Those are handled by Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation at gondaliyacpa.ca at $350.00 plus HST per year.
Nil T2 Filing, $300.00 plus HST per tax year
Type your corporation name, pick your unfiled years, pay, and sign Form T183CORP on a secure screen. Your CRA confirmation is emailed within 3 business days.
Start Nil T2 Filing NOW