Carrying On Business in Canada Checker
Holding a bank account, owning assets and staying registered are not carrying on business, and every one of those years is nil.
Written and reviewed by Sharad Gondaliya, CPA (Ontario), CPA Ontario Membership 61040184.
Last reviewed: November 9, 2026
Answer all four questions above.
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.
Having Something and Doing Something
A corporation can hold a bank account, own assets and stay registered for years without carrying on business, and every one of those years is nil. That sentence does most of the work on this page.
The confusion is understandable. A corporation that still owns a building, still has a bank balance and is still on the register looks active from outside. None of those is the corporation carrying on business, and the guide to zero-activity corporate tax returns works through the same distinction at length.
What Decides It, and What Does Not
| In the year | Carrying on business | Effect on the nil question |
|---|---|---|
| A bank account held | No | The year can still be nil |
| Assets owned | No | The year can still be nil |
| Registration kept up | No | The year can still be nil |
| Something sold or invoiced | Yes | The year is not nil |
| Someone employed | Yes | The year is not nil |
One caution on the first row. A bank account that pays interest is a different matter: interest credited on a balance is investment income, and the corporation is not nil for that tax year. Holding the account is not activity; being paid on it is income.
What This Page Does Not Answer
It does not tell you whether a return is owed. One is, for every tax year, whether or not the corporation carried on business, and it is due within six months of the fiscal year-end.
Nor does it decide the schedules. What the corporation holds does that, which is the point of the required schedules checker, and nil T2 filing at $300.00 plus HST per tax year covers the return either way.
Holding things is not the same as doing things, and that distinction is the whole of this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is holding a bank account carrying on business?
No. A corporation can hold a bank account, own assets and stay registered for years without carrying on business, and every one of those years is nil.
My corporation owns a building and nothing else happened.
Owning an asset is not carrying on business. If rent came in, that is different: a rental corporation is not nil.
The bank paid a few dollars of interest.
Then the year is not nil. Interest credited on a balance is investment income, whatever the amount, even though holding the account is not activity.
I invoiced one client and nothing else.
That is carrying on business, and the year is not nil.
Does a return still have to be filed?
Yes, for every tax year, within six months of the fiscal year-end. This page answers whether the year was nil, not whether a return is owed.
What about a corporation that has never traded at all?
Then nothing was held and nothing done, and the GIFI exemption may actually apply, which it rarely does once there is share capital or a bank balance.
Is paying a bank charge activity?
It is an expense rather than carrying on business, so the year can still be nil, but it is something to report and that makes the GIFI schedules required.
Does keeping the registration up count?
No. Staying on the register is not carrying on business, though the registry still wants its annual return.
Does this decide which schedules I file?
No. What the corporation holds decides those, not what it did.
Is a dormant year covered by the fee?
Yes. Nil T2 filing at $300.00 plus HST per tax year covers a year like that.
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