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A corporation has to file its T2 return within six months of its tax year end, and it usually has to pay any balance sooner: two months after year end, or three for many small private companies. So a company with a December 31 year end files by June 30 but pays by the end of February or March. Two dates, two jobs.
When is company tax filing due?
The filing date follows your fiscal year, not the calendar. If your year ends on the last day of a month, the return is due on the last day of the sixth month after it. The CRA’s own example: a March 31 year end means a September 30 filing date. When the date lands on a weekend or a holiday the CRA recognizes, the next business day counts.
Notice what that does to a new company. Its year end depends on the date it incorporated and the year end it picked, so you can’t assume December. Look at your first return’s year end before you plan anything.
Filing date and payment date for common year ends
The two dates are different, and this is where late fees usually start. We worked these out from the CRA rules for year ends on the last day of a month.
| Year end | Pay by (2 months) | Pay by (3 months, if eligible) | File by |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 31 | February 28 or 29 | March 31 | June 30 |
| March 31 | May 31 | June 30 | September 30 |
| June 30 | August 31 | September 30 | December 31 |
| September 30 | November 30 | December 31 | March 31 |
The CRA has published 2026 deadline lists for businesses. Dates that fall on a weekend shift, so check the list for your own year end. The CRA’s corporation income tax return page is the place to start for forms, electronic filing and links to the deadline details.
Say Maple Ridge Cabinets Ltd. has an August 31 year end. Using the same method, it pays by October 31 (or November 30 if it qualifies for three months) and files by the last day of February. Nothing about that lines up with the calendar year, which is exactly why people miss it.
Who gets three months to pay?
All of these have to be true. The company is a Canadian-controlled private corporation throughout the year. It claimed the small business deduction in the current or the previous year. And its taxable income from the prior year stayed within its business limit (or, for associated companies, the combined incomes stayed within their combined limits). Miss one, and the two-month date applies.
The three months apply to the main income tax parts only. If you can’t tell if you qualify, pay by the two-month date. Paying early costs nothing but a few weeks of cash flow.
Do you have to pay instalments?
Sometimes. A corporation doesn’t have to make instalments if its tax payable is $3,000 or less in either the current or the prior year. There’s also a break in the first year after incorporation for most corporate taxes. Past that, instalments are regular payments during the year, and the CRA sets due dates on its instalment page. The tax instalments calculator handles personal instalments, so don’t use it for the company.
What does the company actually owe?
Use the corporate tax calculator for a rough figure before you meet your accountant. On $300,000 of active business income in Ontario for calendar 2026 it shows $35,088, or 11.7%. Of that, $27,000 is federal, which is 9% of $300,000. The provincial $8,088 uses a blended small business rate for 2026 that we derived, not one the province published, so treat that part as an estimate. Our guide to business tax rates explains the 9% and 15% federal levels.
Payroll is a separate deadline. If the company has employees, the payroll remittance calculator covers what you send in each period, and none of it is part of the T2.
Mistakes that cost money
Treating the filing date as the payment date is the big one. A return that’s in on time doesn’t settle a balance that’s still unpaid. We couldn’t confirm interest or penalty amounts on the pages we read, only that the CRA tells you to file on time to avoid penalties, so ask the CRA for the current figures.
Skipping the return because the company earned nothing is another. The pages we read don’t cover that case, so check the CRA’s guidance before you decide not to file. And keep your records, because the return is only as good as the books under it.
A refund has a window too. You must file no later than three years after the end of the tax year to get one back.
What if you’ve missed the deadline?
File as soon as you can. Waiting only lets any balance keep growing, and a late return rarely gets easier with age. Gather the year’s books, pay whatever you can reasonably estimate you owe, and ask your accountant whether anything else needs fixing. If the company is behind for more than one year, take them oldest first. It’s an awkward conversation, but the taxman hears it every week.
Also check who in the company holds the paperwork. A deadline slips most often when the owner thinks the accountant has it and the accountant thinks the owner does. Put the filing date and the payment date in two separate calendar reminders, a month ahead.
The sources behind this page
Filing and balance-due dates, the three-month conditions and the instalment rules come from the Canada Revenue Agency‘s corporation pages. The calculator example uses the CRA’s federal rates, and the Ontario rate is our estimate as noted. We aren’t linked to the CRA, and dates change with your year end.
Frequently asked questions
When is the T2 return due?
Six months after the corporation's tax year end. A March 31 year end gives a September 30 filing date.
When do I pay corporate tax owing?
Usually two months after year end. Some small private companies get three months if they meet the CRA's conditions.
Do I file if the company earned nothing?
We couldn't confirm this on the CRA pages we read. Check the CRA's corporation filing guidance before you skip a return.
Do corporations pay tax in instalments?
Not if tax payable is $3,000 or less in the current or previous year. Most corporate taxes also skip instalments in the first year after incorporation.
How long do I have to claim a corporate refund?
File no later than three years after the tax year ends.
- How to file your tax return in Canada: steps and dates
What to gather, when your return is due and how to file in Canada, from the first slip to the notice of assessment that closes the year