Corporate tax accountant for Hamilton corporations
Hamilton companies tend to own things: presses, trucks, excavators, kitchens. That makes the T2 as much about equipment and timing as about rates. EverStone prepares the corporate return and the Ontario registry filing for Hamilton businesses remotely, at a fee fixed before work starts.
Quick answer: A Hamilton corporation files one T2 that carries both federal and Ontario tax, at a combined 11.2% on active business income under the $500,000 business limit for days after 30 June 2026 and 26.5% above it. The balance is due two or three months after year end, the return six months after, and the Ontario Business Registry annual return has its own six-month deadline. EverStone quotes the T2 after a free consultation.
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
Separately, every Ontario corporation files an annual return with the Ontario Business Registry within six months of its fiscal year end. It is a corporate-law filing, not a tax one. A company can have a perfect T2 on file with the CRA and still fall out of good standing with the province, and it usually comes to light when a bank or buyer asks for a certificate of status. We file both and diarise them against your year end, not your incorporation date.
Equipment, CCA and the year-end purchase
A Hamilton fabricator buying a press brake, a carrier adding a tractor, or a contractor replacing a loader is buying a capital asset. The cost is recovered through capital cost allowance at the rate set for its class, and an asset has to be available for use before the year end to be claimed at all. Timing a purchase around the year end is real planning, but only where that year’s income can absorb the deduction. Buying a truck in the last week of a thin year can simply move a deduction into a year that did not need it. CCA classes sets out which rate applies to what.
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 you RRSP room and CPP, and it is deductible to the company. Dividends skip payroll but carry no deduction. Most Hamilton owners use some mix, and the right one depends on what the company earned and what you need personally. The trap is the third route: money taken without a decision, sitting in the shareholder loan account. A loan to a shareholder that is not repaid within one year after the corporation’s year end is generally taxed as the owner’s income. We look at the account before the year closes, while it can still be cleared by salary, dividend or repayment. 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 two months after year end, or three for a Canadian-controlled private corporation that claims the small business deduction and meets the conditions. Interest runs from the payment date, not the filing date, so a return filed on time can still carry interest. Once a company has a taxable year behind it, instalments usually start. We set the payment and instalment dates at the start of the year so the cash is there when they fall. The T2 deadline calculator works out your dates.
Remote, and no Hamilton office
EverStone is a one-CPA firm in Abbotsford, British Columbia, 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 authorise us through your CRA business account, send records through a secure upload link, and sign the return electronically. Hamilton is three hours ahead, which means our morning lands in your early afternoon.
Prepared and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working with small businesses and incorporated contractors across the Fraser Valley and Canada. Updated September 2026. About the firm · Book a free consult
Key T2 dates for a Hamilton corporation
| What | When |
|---|---|
| Balance of tax owing | Two months after year end; three for a qualifying CCPC |
| T2 corporate return | Six months after year end |
| Ontario annual return | Within six months of year end, through the Ontario Business Registry |
| Shareholder loan repayment | Within one year after the year end in which it arose |
| Sales tax where you operate | 13% HST, a single registration and a single return |
Source: T2 deadlines. General information, not advice.
In Hamilton, EverStone also works with realtors and restaurants.
Hamilton corporate tax questions
Does a Hamilton corporation file a separate Ontario tax return?+
What is the combined small-business rate in Ontario?+
Should I buy equipment before my year end?+
Can my shop claim SR&ED?+
When is the corporate tax actually due?+
Is there a Hamilton office?+
What does a corporate tax return cost in Hamilton?+
Do you work with businesses outside Hamilton itself?+
Related services and local guides
Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for Hamilton businesses, and the reference pages behind this one.
Who this is for, and who it is not
This fits an incorporated business in Hamilton that wants one CPA on the file, a fee agreed in writing before any work starts, and a year end that arrives on a schedule rather than as a surprise. It is not the right fit if the lowest possible price matters more than anything else, or if you need someone at your plant or site each week. The engagement runs by video call, secure upload and e-signature, and the fee is the same wherever you are.
What happens when you get in touch
A Hamilton corporation is onboarded the same way as one next door, and on the same fixed fee.
- A free thirty-minute conversation. What the company does, what has been filed, and what is overdue. You leave with a fixed fee in writing and no obligation to take it.
- Authorization, in the first week. We are authorized with the CRA, so balances and notices are looked up rather than requested from you. If you are switching firms, your file is requested the same week.
- Current, then ahead. Books brought to a closing position, anything overdue scheduled oldest year first, and the next twelve months of T2, registry and instalment dates set before they arrive.
Book the free consultation, or ask one question first — both reach a CPA, not a queue.
Incorporated in Hamilton?
Get the T2, the Ontario registry return and the equipment decisions handled by one CPA, at a fixed fee agreed up front.
