Dissolve or Keep Filing Cost Calculator
Keeping a dormant corporation costs a return every year. Enter the years to compare that with winding it up.
Written and reviewed by Sharad Gondaliya, CPA (Ontario), CPA Ontario Membership 61040184.
Last reviewed: October 30, 2026
Enter the number of years and answer both questions.
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.
Keeping a Dormant Corporation Is a Recurring Cost
A corporation must file a T2 within six months of its fiscal year-end, every year, until it is formally dissolved. Holding an empty corporation is therefore a decision to pay for a return annually for as long as it exists.
Which is often the right decision. There are good reasons to hold a name, a history or a registration. It is worth seeing as a subscription rather than as a formality, and that is what the left column of the comparison does.
One Side Totals and the Other Does Not
The returns are priced here, so the cost of staying open totals exactly. Winding up involves a clearance certificate request and the registry articles of dissolution, and neither is covered by this fee.
So the comparison names those steps rather than putting a figure on them. A page that invented a total for the dissolution side would be more satisfying to read and less use to rely on.
| Step | Which route | Priced here |
|---|---|---|
| A nil T2 for each year it stays open | Keep filing | Yes, $300.00 plus HST per tax year |
| The registry annual return each year | Keep filing | No, a government fee |
| The final T2 for the period ending at dissolution | Wind up | Yes, $300.00 plus HST |
| A clearance certificate request | Wind up | No |
| The registry articles of dissolution | Wind up | No |
Unfiled Years Come First on Either Route
Where years are already outstanding the choice narrows, because both routes start in the same place. A clearance request rests on a complete filing record, and dissolving a corporation that still owes returns leaves those tax years open behind it.
The catch-up filing schedule generator dates the outstanding years and the unfiled years cost calculator totals them. Those come before this decision rather than after it.
What Each Route Actually Ends
Filing for another five years ends nothing. At the end of it the corporation is still on the register and the same question arrives again, five years of fees later.
A completed wind-up ends the obligation. That is the difference the right-hand column is really reporting, and it is worth more weight than the arithmetic. The dissolution readiness checker tests whether the corporation is ready for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to dissolve a corporation or keep filing?
Keeping it costs $300.00 plus HST per tax year for as long as it exists, plus the registry annual return. Winding up is one final return plus a clearance request and the registry dissolution, and those two are not covered by this fee.
Why does the comparison not total both sides?
Because only one side is priced here. The returns are; a clearance request and the registry articles of dissolution are not, so the page names them rather than inventing a figure.
Can I dissolve without filing the outstanding years?
Dissolving a corporation that still owes returns leaves those tax years open behind it, and a clearance request rests on a complete filing record. Both routes start with the outstanding years.
What does a nil return cost each year?
$300.00 plus HST per tax year, for one corporation for one tax year.
Is there a reason to keep a dormant corporation?
Often, yes. Holding a name, a history or a registration can be worth the annual cost. The point of the comparison is to show what that cost is.
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