What a New Quebec Corporation Must File
The First Return, and What Else Quebec Wants
A new Quebec corporation files two corporate income tax returns for its first year, not one: the federal T2 and the CO-17 with Revenu Quebec.
Written and reviewed by Sharad Gondaliya, CPA (Ontario), CPA Ontario Membership 61040184.
Last reviewed: November 11, 2026
$300.00 plus applicable sales tax per tax year. A first year with no activity is a nil T2 and is filed here at the published fee. In Quebec the tax added to it is the GST and the QST.
Overflow work moves to gondaliyacpa.ca at $350.00 plus applicable sales tax per year.
Two Corporate Returns From the First Year
Quebec collects its corporate income tax on the CO-17, which is a separate return in its own right rather than a schedule of the federal T2. A first year with no activity still needs both filed.
The fee on this page covers the federal T2. It does not cover the CO-17, and that is the first thing to understand about what a new Quebec corporation owes.
Three Filings, Not Two
The CO-17 is the second corporate return. The third item is the annual updating declaration to the Registraire des entreprises, which keeps the corporation’s registry record current and is not a tax return at all.
A new Quebec corporation that has done nothing in its first year still owes all three: the federal T2, the CO-17 and the registry declaration. The fee here covers the first.
The three first-year rules. The first tax year cannot exceed 53 weeks and the year-end must match CRA’s record or the transmission is rejected. Schedule 24, the first-time filer schedule, is required on the first T2 a corporation ever files. The year-end you report is the one the Canada Revenue Agency holds on file, so a different date on the return is refused rather than corrected.
What a New Quebec Corporation Owes
| Item | Position in Quebec |
|---|---|
| Federal corporate return | One T2 for the first tax year |
| Provincial corporate return | A separate CO-17 return with Revenu Quebec |
| Schedule 24 on that first return | Required |
| First tax year limit | No more than 53 weeks |
| Registry annual filing | Owed yearly, and not a tax return |
| Sales tax added to the fee | The GST and the QST |
| Fee per tax year | $300.00 plus applicable sales tax |
No tax rate is quoted here. Sales tax rates change, and the figure that matters when deciding whether to file is the fee. The whole amount with tax is on the screen before you pay.
The Order It Happens In
- Confirm whether Quebec wants a corporate return of its own, because that decides how many returns the first year needs.
- Confirm the year-end the Canada Revenue Agency holds, because the return is matched against it.
- Check the first tax year against the 53-week limit.
- Complete Schedule 24, which the first return always carries.
- Prepare the nil GIFI schedules for the year: Schedule 100, Schedule 125 and Schedule 141.
- Sign Form T183CORP for that tax year on a secure single-use screen.
- Transmit the return and keep the confirmation.
Other Jurisdictions
- What every first T2 return needs
- A new British Columbia corporation
- A new Alberta corporation
- A new Manitoba corporation
Where the Rest of the Answer Is
The first-year T2 filing guide covers the whole subject, the Schedule 24 checker confirms whether a return counts as a first return, and the 53-week checker tests the first year-end. Which jurisdictions want a corporate return of their own is answered by the provincial return requirement checker.
If the corporation does not exist yet, incorporation is a separate step on a separate site: opencorporationfor35.ca covers it, and this page picks up once the corporation is registered.
Filing here is $300.00 plus applicable sales tax per tax year. See the full nil T2 filing cost and what it covers.
Start Nil T2 Filing NOWCheck Schedule 24
Your return is prepared and transmitted in Canada. Our credentials are never shared and no part of your file is sent offshore. Nil T2 filing price