By Leon Efraim . August 3, 2022 .

Effective May 15, 2021, CRA and the Ontario government announced that Annual Returns would no longer be filed as part of the T2 and would be removed from commercial tax preparation software.

Important Changes to the Filing of Annual Returns for Ontario Corporations - Thomas Efraim LLP

Many of you who own, or control, Corporations that have been incorporated in Ontario would have had your accountant file your Annual Returns by ticking a box as part of the annual T2 Corporation Income Tax Return. The Annual Return confirms and updates certain basic corporate information must be filed within six months of a corporation’s year-end. Effective May 15, 2021, CRA and the Ontario government announced that Annual Returns would no longer be filed as part of the T2 and would be removed from commercial tax preparation software.

All Ontario corporations must now file their annual returns directly online through the new Ontario Business Registry, which was launched on October 19, 2021. The new registry allows businesses and not-for-profit corporations to complete a wide range of transactions, including incorporation, registering a new business name, dissolving an existing business and filing annual returns, online. For most corporations, this means that you need to obtain your Company Key, these were not sent automatically to those corporations that existed prior to the changes, you must request the Company Key from the Ontario Business Registry and it means your accountants will no longer automatically file the annual return when filing the corporation’s tax return – an extra step each year for most corporations.

We recommend that all corporations update their records annually by executing and adding annual Director and Shareholder resolutions to your Minute Book simultaneous to filing the Annual Return. We at Thomas, Efraim LLP would be happy to assist you in keeping your corporations Minute Book up to date by preparing the annual resolutions and filing your Annual Return. We would be happy to assist you in obtaining your Company key as well.

We can assist with the following:

• Business Incorporation
• Tax
• Corporate Filings
• Corporate Maintenance