Nil GIFI Balance Sheet Checker
A nil return is not an empty return. Four answers show which balances Schedule 100 has to carry, and which end the nil year.
Written and reviewed by Sharad Gondaliya, CPA (Ontario), CPA Ontario Membership 61040184.
Last reviewed: October 29, 2026
Answer all four 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.
A Nil Return Is Not an Empty Return
This is the single most common misunderstanding about nil filing. The income statement reports zeroes, because nothing happened. The balance sheet reports what the corporation holds, because it holds it whether or not anything happened.
Share capital issued on incorporation, a shareholder loan and retained earnings brought forward all sit on Schedule 100 on a year where the corporation did nothing at all.
Filing It as All Zeroes Is Wrong in a Way That Persists
A balance sheet filed as entirely zero when share capital was issued is wrong, and the error does not stay in one year. The next return opens from the closing balances this one reports, so a wrong closing figure is a wrong opening figure next time.
On a catch-up this compounds. Six years filed from a zeroed balance sheet are six years that will not reconcile against the corporate record, and the reconciliation is what a clearance request eventually rests on.
The Bank Balance Is Also the Nil-Status Trap
A bank balance belongs on the asset side, which is this page’s subject. It is also the commonest way a quiet year stops being nil, because interest credited to a corporate account is investment income whatever the amount.
Four dollars of interest answers that question the same way four thousand would. 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.
The Other Schedules a Nil Year Carries
Schedule 100 is the balance sheet, Schedule 125 the income statement and Schedule 141 the notes checklist. Schedule 24 appears on a first return only, and Schedule 50 reports every shareholder at 10% or more.
The GIFI schedule requirement checker works out which are required, and the balance sheet balancing checker tests whether the one here will validate.
| Schedule | What it reports | On a nil year |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | The balance sheet | Filed, carrying whatever the corporation holds |
| 125 | The income statement | Filed, reporting zeroes |
| 141 | The notes checklist | Filed where required |
| 24 | First-return information | A first return only |
| 50 | Every shareholder at 10% or more | Filed where there is one |
| 8 | Capital cost allowance | Where depreciable property is held |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a nil return’s balance sheet all zeroes?
Rarely. Share capital issued on incorporation, a shareholder loan and retained earnings brought forward all sit on Schedule 100 whether or not anything happened during the year.
What if I filed it as all zeroes?
The closing figures are wrong, and the next return opens from them, so the error carries forward rather than staying in one year.
Does a bank balance end a nil year?
The balance itself does not. Interest credited on it is investment income whatever the amount, and that does.
Where does share capital go?
On the equity side of Schedule 100. A corporation that issued shares on incorporation has share capital even where no money changed hands in the year.
Which schedules does a nil year file?
Schedules 100, 125 and 141 where required, Schedule 24 on a first return only, Schedule 50 for every shareholder at 10% or more, and Schedule 8 where depreciable property is held.
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