Dormant Corporation Obligation Checker
A dormant corporation still owes filings. Three answers list every one of them and say which are covered by the fee.
Written and reviewed by Sharad Gondaliya, CPA (Ontario), CPA Ontario Membership 61040184.
Last reviewed: October 30, 2026
Answer all three 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.
Three Tools on This Subject, and Which One You Want
Dormancy comes up in three different questions and there is a tool for each. This one lists what is still owed while the corporation stays open.
The dormant corporation test decides whether the corporation is dormant in the first place. The CRA account closure sequencer gives the order for shutting the accounts down. The corporate deadline calendar generator puts dates on the obligations this page lists.
| What you want to know | The tool that answers it |
|---|---|
| Whether the corporation counts as dormant | Dormant corporation test |
| What is still owed while it stays open | This page |
| The order for closing the CRA accounts | CRA account closure sequencer |
| The dates those obligations fall on | Corporate deadline calendar generator |
Nothing Lapses Because Nobody Is Looking
A corporation must file a T2 within six months of its fiscal year-end, every year, until it is formally dissolved. Being dormant is not a status that suspends that, and no amount of time passing turns it into one.
The registry annual return runs alongside it on its own date. Two obligations, two bodies, two consequences for missing them, and neither of them stops because the corporation has gone quiet.
An Open Account Keeps Generating Returns
A payroll account expects a T4 information return even where nobody was paid, and a GST/HST account expects returns including nil ones. The obligation follows the open account rather than the activity.
Form RC145 closes either of them. An inactive T2 does not close those accounts, which is the mistake worth avoiding: filing the tax return does not tell the payroll account to stop expecting something.
One of These Is Inside the Fee
The nil T2 is $300.00 plus HST per tax year. The registry annual return, any T4 return and any GST/HST return sit outside it, as does closing an account.
Which is said here rather than in the small print because a visitor reading a list of obligations should be able to see, in the same table, which one this service takes off their hands.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a dormant corporation still have to file?
A T2 every year until it is formally dissolved, the annual return to its registry, and returns on any payroll or GST/HST account that is still open.
Does being dormant suspend the filing requirement?
No. A corporation must file a T2 within six months of its fiscal year-end, every year, until it is formally dissolved.
Does filing a nil T2 close my payroll account?
No. An inactive T2 does not close those accounts. Form RC145 closes a payroll or a GST/HST account.
Is the registry annual return part of the tax return?
No. It is a separate filing to a separate body, reporting the directors and the registered office rather than any income.
Which of these is covered by the fee?
The nil T2 return, at $300.00 plus HST per tax year. The registry annual return, T4 returns, GST/HST returns and account closures are outside it.
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