The Complete Guide to Catching Up on Unfiled Corporate Tax Returns
How many years can be filed, which order to file them in, what a demand to file means, what an arbitrary assessment is, and what the catch-up costs. Nil T2 filing is $300.00 plus HST per tax year.
Written and reviewed by Sharad Gondaliya, CPA (Ontario), CPA Ontario Membership 61040184.
Last reviewed: October 19, 2026 · All nil T2 filing guides
On this page
- How Many Years Can Be Filed
- Every Year Is a Separate Return
- The Order to File Them In
- Finding Out Which Years Are Outstanding
- Confirming the Fiscal Year-End First
- A Demand to File
- Arbitrary Assessments
- What Unfiled Years Cost
- The Fee for Multiple Years
- Catching Up Before Dissolution
- When the Back Years Are Not Nil
- What the Fee Covers
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.
How Many Years Can Be Filed
Every year since incorporation that has not been filed is still outstanding and can still be filed. An unfiled tax year does not expire, and there is no cut-off after which the Canada Revenue Agency stops wanting the return.
That cuts both ways. A year left unfiled stays open forever, which is the reason to file it; it also means nothing is lost by filing it late.
Every Year Is a Separate Return
Five missed fiscal year-ends mean five separate returns. Each year keeps its own fiscal year-end, its own figures and its own T183CORP signature.
There is no combined multi-year return and no reduced rate for filing several years at once. The work is the same per year whether one year or ten are outstanding.
The Order to File Them In
Oldest first. Each return carries balances forward into the next, so the earliest outstanding year is prepared and transmitted before the one that follows it.
Filing out of order produces returns whose opening balances do not match the closing balances of the year before, which is the kind of mismatch that draws a query rather than a clean assessment.
Finding Out Which Years Are Outstanding
The Canada Revenue Agency holds the record of which tax years it has received. Where the owner is unsure, the outstanding years are confirmed against the Agency record rather than reconstructed from memory.
A corporation that was registered and then forgotten often has more outstanding years than its owner expects, because the first tax year began on the incorporation date rather than the day trading started.
Nil T2 Filing, $300.00 plus HST per tax year
One price for every year and every province. CPA reviewed and transmitted electronically.
Confirming the Fiscal Year-End First
The year-end on the return must match the Canada Revenue Agency record or the transmission is rejected. The Agency already holds a year-end taken from the incorporation record.
A wrong year-end is the most common cause of a rejected transmission on a catch-up, because the owner remembers the date the business started rather than the date on the incorporation record.
A Demand to File
A demand to file is a formal written request from the Canada Revenue Agency for a return it has not received. It does not change the due date, which remains six months after the fiscal year-end, and it does not reduce what is owed on a true nil year, which is $0.00.
What it does signal is that the year has moved from unnoticed to actively pursued. See what happens if a CRA demand to file is ignored.
Arbitrary Assessments
An arbitrary assessment is an assessment the Canada Revenue Agency raises on its own figures when no return arrives, usually after a demand to file. It does not close the year the way a filed return does.
Filing the real return replaces the arbitrary figure with the corporation’s own. An arbitrary assessment is not the end of the matter, and it is not a reason to leave the year unfiled.
What Unfiled Years Cost
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.
The exposure on a true nil year is not a percentage charge. It is the open year itself: the demand, the arbitrary assessment, the blocked clearance certificate and the blocked dissolution. For a non-resident-owned corporation it is also a daily amount, which is why those years are the most urgent to close.
The Fee for Multiple Years
| Tax years outstanding | Fee at $300.00 plus HST per tax year |
|---|---|
| 1 year | $300.00 plus HST |
| 2 years | $600.00 plus HST |
| 3 years | $900.00 plus HST |
| 5 years | $1,500.00 plus HST |
| 7 years | $2,100.00 plus HST |
| 10 years | $3,000.00 plus HST |
One price per tax year, every year and every province.
Catching Up Before Dissolution
Every earlier year must already be filed before a corporation can be wound up cleanly. An unfiled year is an open year, and a clearance certificate cannot be issued while one is open.
Owners who intend to close a corporation are the ones for whom the catch-up is urgent rather than optional. The sequence is set out in the guide to the final T2 and dissolution.
When the Back Years Are Not Nil
A holding corporation with investment income, a rental corporation and a corporation that paid or received a dividend are not nil. Those are handled by Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation at gondaliyacpa.ca at $350.00 plus HST per year.
A catch-up often mixes the two. A corporation may have traded for two years, gone quiet for six, and have both kinds of year outstanding. The nil years are filed at $300.00 plus HST per tax year; the active years are handled at gondaliyacpa.ca.
What the Fee Covers
The fee is $300.00 plus HST per tax year, covering one nil T2 return for one corporation for one tax year:
| Included | Detail |
|---|---|
| The T2 return | Including the T2 Short where the corporation qualifies |
| GIFI Schedules 100, 125 and 141 | Where they are required |
| Schedule 24 | On a first return |
| Schedule 50 | For every shareholder at 10% or more |
| Schedule 8 and loss continuity | Recorded |
| Form T183CORP package | With single-use secure e-signing |
| CPA review | Before transmission |
| Electronic transmission | By a registered EFILE electronic filer |
| One corrected transmission | If the Agency rejects the first one |
| CRA confirmation | Emailed within 3 business days |
See the full nil T2 filing cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Far Back Can I File Unfiled T2 Returns?
Every year since incorporation that has not been filed is still outstanding and can still be filed. An unfiled tax year does not expire.
Can Several Years Be Filed at the Same Time?
Yes. They are prepared and transmitted in one pass, oldest first, but each year is a separate return with its own fiscal year-end, its own figures and its own T183CORP signature.
Is There a Discount for Filing Several Years?
No. The fee is $300.00 plus HST per tax year, and the work is the same per year whether one year or ten are outstanding.
What Happens if the CRA Already Assessed the Year Arbitrarily?
Filing the real return replaces the arbitrary figure with the corporation’s own. An arbitrary assessment does not close the year the way a filed return does, and it is not a reason to leave the year unfiled.
Will Catching Up Trigger an Audit?
Filing an outstanding return is the ordinary way to close an open year, and a nil return reports nil amounts. What draws attention is the open year itself, along with the demand and the arbitrary assessment that follow it.
Which Year Is Filed First?
The earliest outstanding one. Each return carries balances forward into the next, so filing out of order produces opening balances that do not match the closing balances of the year before.
Questions Answered in Full
- What Happens if I Don’t File My T2 for Five Years?
- Can I File Five Years of Nil T2 Returns at Once?
- What Happens if I Don’t Respond to a CRA Demand to File a T2?
- Can I File a Nil T2 Late Without a Penalty?
- Can I File Nil T2 Returns for a Corporation I Forgot About?
- What Happens if I Don’t File a Nil T2?
The Other Nil T2 Filing Guides
- The Complete Guide to the Final T2 and Dissolution
- The Complete Guide to T2 Short Eligibility
- The Complete Guide to Provincial and Federal Annual Returns
- The Complete Guide to Form T183CORP Signing and Transmission
- How to File a Nil T2 Return
- The Complete Guide to GIFI Schedules 100, 125 and 141
- The Complete Guide to Schedule 8 and Loss Continuity
- The Complete Guide to First-Year T2 Filing
- The Complete Guide to Numbered Company Tax Filing
- The Complete Guide to T2 Late Filing Penalties
- The Complete Guide to Responding to a CRA Demand to File
- The Complete Guide to Inactive Holding Company 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.