Corporate tax accountant and T2 filing for Hamilton corporations

One T2, carrying both layers

Ontario has a tax collection agreement with Ottawa, so a Hamilton corporation does not file a separate provincial income tax return. The Ontario schedules ride inside the federal T2 and the CRA collects both. On active business income eligible for the small business deduction, the combined rate is 11.2% for days after 30 June 2026, when Ontario cut its small-business rate. A year that straddles that date is prorated by days. General income is taxed at 26.5% combined. The line between the two is the $500,000 business limit, shared across associated corporations. The full table, with its sources, is on the Ontario tax facts page.

The registry filing the T2 does not cover

Every Ontario corporation also files an annual return with the Ontario Business Registry within six months of year end — a corporate-law filing, not a tax one. A company with a perfect T2 can still lose good standing, usually found when a bank or buyer asks for a certificate of status. We file both, diarised to your year end.

Equipment, CCA and the year-end purchase

A press brake, a tractor or a new loader is a capital asset, recovered through capital cost allowance at its class rate, and it must be available for use before year end to be claimed. Timing a purchase is real planning only if that year’s income can absorb the deduction; a truck bought late in a thin year may waste it. CCA classes sets out the rates.

SR&ED on the shop floor

Hamilton’s manufacturers improve processes constantly: a new weld sequence, a change to a line to cut scrap, a food-processing step reworked for shelf life. Where that work resolves a real technological uncertainty through systematic trial, it may qualify for scientific research and experimental development credits, claimed on Form T661 with the T2. A Canadian-controlled private corporation can earn an enhanced refundable credit, which means cash even in a year without taxable income. The claim lives or dies on contemporaneous records, so the time to start documenting is when the trial starts, not at year end. The SR&ED expenditure limit covers the recent change.

Paying yourself out of the company

Salary gives RRSP room and CPP and is deductible to the company; dividends skip payroll but are not deductible. Most Hamilton owners use a mix. The trap is money taken without a decision, sitting in the shareholder loan: if not repaid within one year after the corporation’s year end, it is generally taxed as the owner’s income. We review it before year end, while salary, dividend or repayment can clear it. The salary vs dividends calculator runs the comparison.

The balance is due before the return

The T2 is due six months after year end, but the tax is due in two, or three for a Canadian-controlled private corporation claiming the small business deduction that meets the conditions. Interest runs from the payment date, so an on-time return can still carry interest. Instalments usually follow a taxable year. We set the dates up front so the cash is ready. The T2 deadline calculator works out yours.

Remote, and no Hamilton office

EverStone is a CPA firm and Hamilton corporations are served entirely remotely. There is no Hamilton office. The T2 is transmitted electronically to the CRA wherever the preparer sits, and the registry return is filed online. You authorize us through your CRA business account, send records through a secure upload link, and sign the return electronically.