Share Capital Reporting Checker
Share capital makes the GIFI schedules required even with no activity. Three answers show what the shares on your books trigger.
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.
Share Capital Is the First of the Five Triggers
A corporation inactive all year with nothing to report may omit GIFI Schedules 100, 125 and 141. Share capital is the first of the five things that withdraw that permission, alongside cash, a shareholder loan, an incorporation cost and a bank charge.
It is also the one that catches the most corporations, for a reason that has nothing to do with trading: shares are issued at incorporation. A corporation that has never done anything since still has share capital on its books.
| The five triggers | How a dormant corporation usually acquires it |
|---|---|
| Share capital | Shares issued at incorporation |
| Cash | A bank account opened and never closed |
| A shareholder loan | Money put in to cover a cost, never repaid |
| An incorporation cost | The cost of setting the corporation up |
| A bank charge | A monthly fee on the account nobody uses |
Share Capital Does Not Stop a Year Being Nil
These are two different questions and they get run together. Share capital sits on the balance sheet. Whether a year is nil is a question about the income statement, and shares issued years ago say nothing about whether this year had income.
A dormant corporation with shares issued and no activity is the ordinary nil case, not an exception to it. What it means is that the return carries the GIFI schedules with the share capital on them, and the figures for the year are zero.
Schedule 50 Runs Off a Threshold, Not Off Control
Schedule 50 is tied to any shareholder at 10 percent or more. It is not a schedule about the controlling shareholder, and it does not list the largest one: it names every shareholder who meets the test.
A corporation with one shareholder holding everything files it for that person. A corporation with twelve shareholders at 8 percent each files none. The Schedule 50 shareholder threshold checker works through the threshold properly.
A Dividend Takes the Year Out of Nil
Paying or receiving a dividend is activity. A corporation that did either is not filing a nil return for that year, whatever else was quiet about it.
That is a boundary of this service rather than a complication within it. Such a year goes to Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation at gondaliyacpa.ca at $350.00 plus HST per year, and the nil return versus full return checker is where that line is drawn in full.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does share capital make the GIFI schedules required?
Yes. Any share capital, cash, shareholder loan, incorporation cost or bank charge makes GIFI Schedules 100, 125 and 141 required, even where the corporation had no activity.
My corporation has never traded. Does it have share capital?
Almost certainly. Shares are normally issued at incorporation, so a corporation that has done nothing since still has share capital on its books. Check the incorporation documents rather than memory.
Does share capital mean the year is not nil?
No. Share capital is a balance sheet item. Whether a year is nil turns on the income statement, so a dormant corporation with shares issued files an ordinary nil return.
Who goes on Schedule 50?
Every shareholder at 10 percent or more, not only the largest or the one with control.
What if a dividend was paid?
Then the year is not nil. A corporation that paid or received a dividend is handled by Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation at gondaliyacpa.ca at $350.00 plus HST per year.
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.
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