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Year-end closing for a Canadian small business comes down to a handful of dates and one clean set of books. A corporation files its T2 return within six months of its tax year end, T4 slips are due the last day of February, and records must be kept for six years. Miss the books and every date gets harder. Get them squared away early and the rest is mostly filling in forms at tax time.
Which year-end deadlines apply to you?
These dates come from the CRA. When one lands on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day.
| What | Who | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| T2 corporation return | Corporations | Six months after the tax year ends |
| Balance owing | Corporations | Generally two months after year end, three for some small corporations |
| GST/HST return, annual filer | Registrants | Three months after the fiscal year ends |
| GST/HST, self-employed with a December 31 year end | Sole proprietors | File by June 15, pay by April 30 |
| Income tax return and payment | Sole proprietors | File by June 15, pay by April 30 |
| T4 slips and summary | Employers | Last day of February after the calendar year |
Which of these are yours depends on how the business is set up. Monthly and quarterly GST/HST filers don’t wait for year end at all. They file one month after each period.
What does a year-end close involve?
Start by making the books match the bank. Reconcile every account through the last day of the year, chase the entries that don’t match, and look for receipts you never recorded. Then check the loose ends: unpaid bills, invoices you haven’t collected and money you took out of the business for yourself. Those owner withdrawals cause more trouble than anything else, because they need to be recorded as pay, a dividend or a loan. The dividend tax calculator shows the tax on the dividend route.
Next comes inventory, if you sell goods. Count it on or near the last day and value it the same way you did last year. We couldn’t confirm the CRA’s valuation rules on a page we could read, so ask your accountant before you change the method. After that, prepare the statements: income statement, balance sheet and a list of what you owe and are owed.
What does a December 31 corporation actually face?
Picture a small corporation with a calendar year end. For 2026, the balance owing is generally due February 28, 2027 (a Sunday, so in practice the next business day, March 1), or March 31, 2027 for a small corporation that qualifies for the later date. The T2 itself is due June 30, 2027. GST/HST for an annual filer is also due March 31, 2027.
How much is the balance? In Ontario, with $300,000 of active business income, the corporate tax calculator gives about $35,088 for the year, made up of $27,000 federal and $8,088 Ontario, an average of 11.7%. You want that figure in hand before the February date, not after it. Late payment carries interest and late filing carries penalties, and we didn’t find the exact amounts on a page we could read, so check the CRA’s penalty page.
How do you handle payroll at year end?
Reconcile what you withheld against what you sent the CRA, then issue T4 slips to staff and file them. February 28, 2027 is a Sunday, so the 2026 slips should land by the next business day, March 1. Employees are owed their copies by the last day of February as well.
A quick sense check helps. One Ontario employee at $3,000 every two weeks has, for the year, $4,366 of CPP and $1,572 of EI added by the employer on top of the wages. The payroll remittance calculator gives those, and the year’s totals on the T4 should look close to them.
What is a simple year-end checklist?
- Reconcile every bank, card and loan account to the last day of the year.
- Record or write off unpaid invoices and bills, and list what’s still owed either way.
- Count inventory and record the value.
- Sort owner withdrawals into pay, dividends, loans or repayments.
- Match payroll withholdings to what you remitted, then prepare the T4s.
- Put the closed books, bank statements and receipts in one folder, labelled with the year.
Do it in that order. Each step makes the next one easier, and the folder at the end is what your accountant or the CRA will ask for.
What if your year end isn’t December 31?
Every date moves with it, so count from your own year end. A corporation with a September 30 year end, for example, has its T2 due six months later, on March 31, and its balance owing two months later, on November 30 (or three for those that qualify). Many owners like a quiet month for the close, such as the end of a seasonal slump, but changing the year end has tax effects, so ask an accountant before you do.
What goes wrong at year end?
- Closing the books without a bank reconciliation, so errors carry into the return.
- Treating the due date for the return as the date the tax is due. For a corporation those are different dates.
- Leaving personal purchases in business expenses.
- Throwing out records too soon. Keep them for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to.
- Assuming a December year end. Corporations can pick any date, and every deadline shifts with it.
The limits are real. This page doesn’t cover audits, reviews, non-profits or a year end that isn’t a full twelve months. More on the tax side sits on the business tax hub.
Where the numbers come from
The deadlines come from the CRA‘s 2026 tax deadlines page and its pages on corporation returns and GST/HST, read in September 2026. The six year record rule is from the CRA record keeping guide. Tax amounts come from the calculators on this site, which use 2026 data. The later balance due date depends on conditions the CRA sets, so confirm it for your company. No government body has reviewed or endorsed what you read here.
Frequently asked questions
When is my corporation's T2 return due?
Within six months of the end of the tax year. A December 31 year end means June 30.
When do I have to pay the tax a corporation owes?
Generally two months after year end, or three months for some small corporations. Check the CRA conditions for your company.
When are T4 slips due?
By the last day of February after the calendar year. If that falls on a weekend, the next business day counts.
Do sole proprietors have the same deadlines?
No. With a December 31 year end, the return is due June 15, but any tax owing is due April 30.
How long should I keep my business records?
Six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, unless the CRA allows you to destroy them earlier.
- Self-employed taxes in Canada: income, CPP and GST
How tax works when you are self-employed in Canada: reporting income and expenses, paying both halves of CPP, instalments and when to register for GST