CRA Demand to File Deadline Calculator
A demand to file names a date. Enter the letter date and the days it allows for the deadline, the days left and the business days left.
Written and reviewed by Sharad Gondaliya, CPA (Ontario), CPA Ontario Membership 61040184.
Last reviewed: October 29, 2026
Enter the letter date and the days it allows.
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.
What a Demand to File Changes
A demand to file is a formal written requirement to file a named return by a named date. It converts an overdue return into a legal obligation with its own deadline, and that date is the one this calculator works to.
The number of days a demand allows is stated on the letter rather than fixed in advance, which is why it is typed in here rather than assumed. Reading it off the letter is the one step that cannot be skipped.
| Stage | What it is | What ends it |
|---|---|---|
| An overdue return | The year is simply unfiled | Filing it |
| A demand to file | A written requirement to file a named return by a named date | Filing the named return |
| An arbitrary assessment | The Agency’s own estimate of income, which is collectible | A filed return displacing it |
What Happens If the Date Passes
Where a demand goes unanswered the Canada Revenue Agency may assess the corporation on its own estimate of income. That assessment creates a real balance, interest runs on it, and it stands until a filed return displaces it.
This is how a dormant corporation that genuinely owed nothing ends up with a collectible debt. The balance was not produced by activity. It was produced by the missing return, which is also what removes it.
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.
Filing Is What Answers a Demand
Nothing else closes it. A demand names a return, and the return being filed is the response. Where several years are outstanding they are prepared oldest first, so the closing balances of one open the next, and they can be transmitted together.
Each year is its own return at $300.00 plus HST per tax year. The unfiled years checker lists which years are outstanding, and the unfiled years cost calculator totals them.
Why Business Days Are Counted Separately
The calendar count is what the letter runs on. The business-day count is what the work runs on, and on a short deadline the two differ enough to matter: ten calendar days over a long weekend is six business days.
Where the named date itself falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday, it moves to the next business day, on the same holiday calendar the filing deadlines use.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a demand to file give me?
The letter states the date or the number of days. It is not a fixed period, which is why it has to be read off the letter rather than assumed.
What happens if I ignore a demand to file?
The Canada Revenue Agency may assess the corporation on its own estimate of income. That arbitrary assessment is collectible and stands until the actual return displaces it.
Does a nil return answer a demand?
Yes. The demand names a return, and filing that return answers it. A year with no activity is filed showing $0.00 and the demand is closed.
Can I ask for more time?
That is a matter for the Agency and the particular letter. What does not help is letting the date pass without filing, because that is what an arbitrary assessment follows from.
What if the named date is a weekend?
It moves to the next business day, on the same holiday calendar the T2 filing deadline uses.
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