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Corporation tax due dates hang on your year end, not on the calendar. The T2 return is due six months after the year ends. The tax itself is due sooner: two months after year end, or three months for a small Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC) that meets the conditions.
When is corporation tax due after your year end?
Two clocks run at once, and people mix them up. The return has one deadline. The payment has an earlier one. Filing on time doesn’t excuse a late payment, and paying on time doesn’t count as filing.
The CRA sets out the payment rule on its balance-due day page. The table below is our own counting from those rules, so it’s a guide and not a CRA calendar. Check it against your own notice of assessment or your CRA My Business Account before you plan around it.
| Year end | T2 return due | Balance due (2 months) | Balance due (3 months) |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 2025 | June 30, 2026 | February 28, 2026 | March 31, 2026 |
| June 30, 2026 | December 31, 2026 | August 31, 2026 | September 30, 2026 |
| December 31, 2026 | June 30, 2027 | February 28, 2027 | March 31, 2027 |
If a date lands on a weekend or a recognized holiday, a return is on time when it’s received or postmarked the next business day.
Who gets three months to pay?
A company has to be a CCPC for the whole tax year and must have claimed the small business deduction in the current or the previous year. On top of that, last year’s taxable income can’t be over its business limit. If the company is associated with others, the test uses their combined taxable income and combined limits instead.
A company that grew past the limit last year therefore doesn’t qualify this year. If you’re unsure, use the earlier date. Paying a few weeks early costs you nothing but cash flow, and paying late costs interest.
How much corporation tax will you owe?
Federally, a CCPC pays 9% on its first $500,000 of active business income and 15% on the rest. Other corporations pay the 15% general rate. Then the province adds its own rate. Ontario’s is 2.2% on small business income from July 1, 2026, after 3.2% before that, and 11.5% on general income.
Here’s what that looks like for an Ontario CCPC with $300,000 of active business income for a calendar 2026 year. The corporate tax calculator shows $27,000 federal and $8,088 Ontario, $35,088 in total, or 11.7%. That Ontario figure rests on a blended small business rate we derived by counting days, and the government hasn’t published it, so expect your own figure to differ a little if your year isn’t the calendar year. From 2027 the combined small business rate should be 11.2%, about $33,600 on the same income.
Without small business status, the same $300,000 would be taxed at 26.5% and come to $79,500. That gap, roughly $44,000 a year, is why the three-month deadline and the small business limit are worth protecting.
Where do you find your year end?
It’s set when the corporation picks its fiscal period, and it shows up on your incorporation records, last year’s T2 and your CRA My Business Account. A new company can choose almost any date, but a tax year can’t run past 53 weeks. Lots of owners pick December 31 because it matches their personal calendar, though a quieter month can make the books easier to close. Whatever you chose, count the two and six months from that date, not from the day you filed.
What happens if you pay late?
Interest runs on the unpaid balance from the due date, and a late return adds a penalty on top. The percentages change, so check the CRA’s current figures before you quote any. The plain advice is to file even when you can’t pay, since the return penalty attaches to filing, and then call the CRA about a payment plan.
Say Priya runs a small design studio in Winnipeg with a June 30 year end. She files in December but forgets the balance due on September 30. Her return is on time and her payment isn’t, so interest piles up for months on a bill she could have settled in one transfer.
Your business may also owe instalments during the year if last year’s bill was large enough. If you’ve paid by instalments, the balance due at year end is only the remainder. The tax instalments calculator is built for personal returns, but it shows how quarterly payments cut what you owe at the end.
Mistakes that cost corporations money
The most common one is assuming the T2 deadline is the payment deadline. It isn’t. The second is forgetting that associated corporations share a single small business limit, so two companies under common control don’t each get $500,000 at the low rate. The third is leaving the payroll side unpaid. Source deductions have their own schedule, and the payroll remittance calculator shows what’s due.
Money you pay out to yourself creates another bill. Dividends are taxed again in your hands, and the dividend tax calculator shows how much. The corporate figures above leave that out, along with taxable capital and passive income limits, and credits.
Sources, and how we checked them
The due-date rules come from the CRA’s balance-due day page linked above. Federal rates and the $500,000 business limit come from the Canada Revenue Agency‘s corporation tax rates page. Ontario’s rates come from the CRA’s Ontario page and its what’s new page for corporations. We’re an independent site, and no government body is behind it.
Frequently asked questions
When is corporation tax due in Canada?
The balance is generally due two months after your year end, or three months for a qualifying small CCPC. The T2 return follows at six months. Confirm against your CRA notice.
Is the T2 due date the payment date?
No. The return deadline is later than the payment deadline, so a company can file on time and still pay late.
What is the federal corporate tax rate?
The CRA lists 15% for the general rate and 9% for a CCPC on its small business income, up to the business limit.
Do I owe tax if my corporation had no income?
You may still have to file the return. Check your filing obligation with the CRA, since we didn't confirm a nil-return rule.
Can I pay corporation tax in instalments?
Some corporations pay during the year instead of at year end. The CRA tells you if this applies, so look at your last assessment.
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