Nil T2 vs a Nil GST/HST Return
One business number, two separate accounts. A quiet year produces one T2 and, on an open GST/HST account, a return for every reporting period.
One Business Number, Separate Accounts
A corporation has one business number, and that number carries separate program accounts. The corporate income tax account is the one everybody knows about, because it is the one the T2 is filed against. It is rarely the one that causes the trouble.
A corporation that ever registered for GST/HST has a GST/HST account. It was opened for a reason, and it stays open until somebody closes it, whatever happened to the reason. Being dormant is not a status you register: there is no form that tells the Agency a corporation has gone quiet and no notification that pauses an account.
So the comparison is not really between two kinds of nil return. It is between one filing a year and a filing every reporting period, on an account most owners have stopped thinking about.
The Comparison, Row by Row
Prices checked November 5, 2026. Our own published fee is for the nil T2. We file nil T2 returns only, so the GST/HST column carries no fee of ours.
| Item | Nil T2 Return | Nil GST/HST Return |
|---|---|---|
| Our published fee for a quiet year | $300.00 plus HST per tax year | Not offered. We file nil T2 returns only, and GST/HST work is handled at gondaliyacpa.ca rather than priced here |
| What the fee covers on this account | One T2 return for one corporation for one tax year | Nothing. A GST/HST return, nil or otherwise, sits outside the fee |
| What created the obligation | The corporation exists | The corporation registered for GST/HST |
| Whether having no activity removes it | No. Every tax year gets a return until the corporation is dissolved | No. The obligation follows the open account rather than the activity |
| How many filings one quiet year produces | One, for the tax year | One for every reporting period, so four or twelve where the period is quarterly or monthly |
| What a period with nothing in it is reported as | A return reporting $0.00 | A nil return rather than a skipped period |
| How the obligation ends | It ends with the corporation. No form closes the account while the corporation exists | Form RC145 closes the account, and it is the only thing that ends the obligation |
| Whether closing the account files the outstanding periods | Does not arise, because the account is not closed | No. A closure does not file what fell due while the account was open |
| Whether the amounts can reach a director personally | Corporate income tax, on its own, cannot | Net GST/HST can, because it was money collected from customers |
| Where it sits in the order of work | First, with the outstanding years filed oldest first | Next, with the outstanding periods filed before the account is closed |
Eight rows differ and two do not, and the two that do not are the point. Neither obligation goes away because nothing happened. The Agency expects a return on an open account because the account is open, and it does not wait to see whether anything was done.
This comparison sets the return we file against a filing on a different Canada Revenue Agency account, and names no other provider. Where a comparison on this site does name one, it states that provider’s published prices and published features only.
The Obligation Follows the Account, Not the Activity
That one sentence explains almost every unpleasant surprise a dormant corporation gets:
- The Canada Revenue Agency expects a return on an open account because the account is open. It does not wait to see whether anything happened.
- An open GST/HST account expects a return for every reporting period, and a period with no sales and no tax collected is reported as a nil return rather than skipped.
- The reporting period is often quarterly or monthly, so a single forgotten account generates four or twelve outstanding returns where the T2 generates one.
- Form RC145 closes a GST/HST account, and it is the only thing that ends the obligation: not inactivity, not telling an accountant, not letting the returns lapse.
- A closure is not retroactive. Closing an account today does not file the periods that fell due while it was open.
- So the order is the outstanding returns first and the closure second. A closure stacked on top of unfiled periods leaves the unfiled periods exactly where they were.
- The corporate income tax account is different again: no form closes it while the corporation exists, because it ends when the corporation does.
Net GST/HST was money collected from customers, so amounts of that kind can be assessed against a corporation’s directors personally. Corporate income tax, on its own, cannot. That is the practical reason an unused GST/HST account is worth closing rather than ignoring.
The GST/HST nil filing checker tests whether an account is in that position, the CRA account closure sequencer puts the steps in order for a particular corporation, and the complete guide to CRA accounts on a dormant corporation covers every account and every date.
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 T2 Side Is What We File
Nil T2 filing covers the corporate income tax account for a quiet year, at $300.00 plus HST per tax year. The GST/HST account is a separate filing on a separate schedule.
Reviewed by a CPA
The return is prepared and reviewed by a CPA Ontario member before it is transmitted.
What the fee covers
The T2 itself, GIFI Schedules 100, 125 and 141 where required, Schedule 50, Schedule 24 on a first return, Schedule 8 and loss continuity, and electronic transmission.
What sits outside it
A GST/HST return nil or otherwise, a payroll remittance, the T4 information return, closing an account with Form RC145 and the registry annual return. Those are handled at gondaliyacpa.ca rather than priced here.
A corporation quiet for four years, with a GST/HST account nobody closed and a quarterly reporting period
On the corporate income tax account it owes four returns, one for each tax year, each reporting $0.00 and each $300.00 plus HST per tax year. On the GST/HST account it owes sixteen, because a quarterly period produces four a year and the account stayed open throughout. Nothing was sold and no tax was collected in any of them, which changes none of it: the obligation followed the open account. Closing the account now would not file the sixteen periods, so they come first and Form RC145 comes after. The T2 side is what we file; the GST/HST side is handled at gondaliyacpa.ca. The figures here illustrate how the rules apply and are not drawn from a client file.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a dormant corporation still file GST/HST returns?
While the account is open, yes. A period with no sales is reported as a nil return rather than skipped, because the obligation follows the open account rather than the activity.
Do you file nil GST/HST returns?
No. We file nil T2 returns only. GST/HST work is handled by Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation at gondaliyacpa.ca rather than priced here.
Is a GST/HST return included in the $300.00 plus HST per tax year fee?
No. The fee covers one nil T2 return for one corporation for one tax year. A GST/HST return, nil or otherwise, sits outside it.
Why does one quiet year produce more than one GST/HST return?
Because the obligation runs per reporting period rather than per year, and the period is often quarterly or monthly. That is four or twelve returns for a year in which nothing happened.
Does filing the T2 cover the GST/HST account?
No. They are separate program accounts on the same business number, each with its own filings and its own dates.
How do I stop the GST/HST returns falling due?
Form RC145 closes the account. It is the only thing that ends the obligation: not inactivity, not telling an accountant, not letting the returns lapse.
If I close the account, do the outstanding periods go away?
No. A closure does not file what fell due while the account was open, so the outstanding returns come first and the closure second.
Can I just tell the Agency the corporation is dormant?
Being dormant is not a status you register. There is no form that says a corporation has gone quiet and no notification that pauses an account.
Can the corporate income tax account be closed the same way?
No. No form closes it while the corporation exists, because the account is the corporation’s relationship with the Agency for income tax and it ends when the corporation does.
Why is an unused GST/HST account worth closing?
Because net GST/HST was money collected from customers, and amounts of that kind can be assessed against a corporation’s directors personally.
Can corporate income tax reach a director personally?
Not on its own. That is the difference between the two accounts on this page.
Which should be dealt with first?
The outstanding returns on both accounts, then the closure. A closure files nothing, so stacking it on top of unfiled periods leaves them exactly where they were.
Does an open account block a dissolution?
A clearance certificate request rests on a complete filing record, so an outstanding period blocks it. Dissolving anyway leaves the tax years open behind the corporation.
What if there is a payroll account as well?
That is a third account with its own filings, including remittances and a T4 information return after each calendar year. Form RC145 closes it too.
Which tool should I run first?
The GST/HST nil filing checker, which tests whether an open account is generating returns nobody is filing.
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.