Involuntary Dissolution Risk Checker
A missed annual return gets a corporation struck, not charged. Three answers on the exposure and why the tax years survive it.
Written and reviewed by Sharad Gondaliya, CPA (Ontario), CPA Ontario Membership 61040184.
Last reviewed: October 29, 2026
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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.
A Missed Annual Return Produces a Striking
The annual return is a registry filing, not a tax return. It confirms the directors, the registered office and that the corporation still exists, and it reports no income.
Missing it does not produce a charge. It produces a striking: the registry dissolves the corporation involuntarily. A corporation can be perfectly current on tax and still be dissolved this way, which is the part that surprises people.
| Filing | What it reports | What missing it produces |
|---|---|---|
| The registry annual return | The directors, the registered office, and that the corporation exists | A striking: the registry dissolves the corporation |
| The T2 return | The tax year | An unfiled year that stays open and does not expire |
A Stale Address Is What Makes It Happen Quietly
The registry sends its warning to the registered office. Where that address is a former accountant’s office or a home the shareholder moved out of, the warning arrives nowhere and the striking happens without anyone noticing.
A dormant corporation is the most likely to be in exactly this position, because nobody is checking the post at an office nobody uses. Keeping the address current is the least demanding piece of maintenance there is, and the one most often left.
The Tax Years Survive the Striking
Being struck settles nothing with the Canada Revenue Agency. The corporation’s tax years stay open and unfiled, and an unfiled year does not expire. A corporation struck in 2021 still owes every return it owed in 2021.
That is why a striking is not a way of closing a corporation. It ends the legal existence and leaves the tax side exactly as it was, which is the opposite of a clean wind-up.
Being struck is not the end of it either. The corporate revival requirement checker takes what revival restores and which tax years survived the striking.
Revival Is the Way Back
Registries provide for revival, which restores the corporation so the outstanding filings can be made and a proper wind-up completed. The open tax years are waiting, and they are filed oldest first.
Each year is its own return at $300.00 plus HST per tax year. The guide to winding up an inactive corporation sets out the order the steps have to happen in.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I miss the annual return?
The registry can dissolve the corporation involuntarily. That is a striking rather than a charge, and it can happen while the corporation is fully current on tax.
Does being struck close my tax account?
No. The tax years stay open and unfiled, and an unfiled year does not expire. A striking ends the legal existence and settles nothing on the tax side.
Why did I not get a warning?
The registry writes to the registered office. Where that address is out of date the warning arrives nowhere, which is how most strikings happen unnoticed.
Can a struck corporation be restored?
Registries provide for revival, which restores it so the outstanding filings can be made and a proper wind-up completed.
Is the annual return covered by the nil T2 fee?
No. It is a registry filing and sits outside the fee, which covers one nil T2 return for one corporation for one tax 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