Corporate tax accountant for Nanaimo corporations
Most incorporated businesses around Nanaimo are owner-managed: a building company in Cedar, a trade working out of a shop near Duke Point, a restaurant downtown, a fishing boat in the harbour. EverStone prepares their T2 returns and year-end statements remotely, from Abbotsford, at a fee fixed before the work starts.
EverStone is a Nanaimo small-business accountant and a T2 preparer for BC corporations.
Quick answer: A Nanaimo corporation files a T2 within six months of its year-end and pays any balance within two months, or three for a Canadian-controlled private corporation that claims the small business deduction and meets the conditions. Active business income up to the $500,000 business limit is taxed at 11% combined in BC. EverStone prepares the return, the statements and the planning around it, remotely.
Corporate tax (T2) for a Nanaimo corporation is quoted after a free consultation, because a holding company and an operating company with staff are different jobs. For a typical trades corporation, bookkeeping, payroll and the year-end T2 with statements usually come to $450–$650 a month all-in. The published fees list every starting point.
BC’s two rates and the business limit
A BC corporation pays federal and provincial tax on the same profit. Active business income eligible for the small business deduction is taxed at 9% federally and 2% provincially, 11% combined. Income above the limit, and most investment income, is taxed at the general rate of 27% combined. The figures are on BC tax facts.
The $500,000 business limit is shared among associated corporations. Two companies owned by the same family do not get two limits. Investment income kept inside the company can also reduce the limit for the following year. Associated corporations explains who counts as associated.
The deadlines that actually cost money
The T2 return is due six months after the year-end. The balance owing is due earlier: two months after the year-end, or three for a CCPC that claims the small business deduction and meets the conditions. Interest runs from the balance-due date, not from the filing date. A company that waits for the return to find out what it owes has usually paid interest already.
Once tax owing passes the threshold, the CRA expects instalments during the year as well. BC adds its own filing that is not a tax return: the annual report to the corporate registry, due within two months of the anniversary of incorporation. A company that stops filing it can eventually be struck off. The T2 deadline calculator works out your dates.
A year-end that suits the Island season
A new corporation can choose its fiscal year-end, and the choice is worth a thought. Many central Island businesses are busiest from late spring to early autumn. A year-end in the quiet months lets the books close when the owner has time to answer questions, and keeps the busy season inside one fiscal year.
It also gives a cleaner picture of the year for a lender. Changing a year-end later needs CRA approval, so it is worth settling at incorporation. Choosing a corporate year-end covers the trade-offs.
Trucks, boats, tools and CCA
Island businesses carry a lot of equipment. Pickup trucks, excavators, work boats, kitchen lines and shop tools are capital purchases, written off through capital cost allowance (CCA) rather than expensed in one year. Each class has its own rate, and the year of purchase usually gets only part of a full claim.
Timing a purchase before or after the year-end changes when the deduction lands, not whether it is available. It is worth deciding with the year’s profit in view. CCA classes explained lists the common classes.
Selling equipment matters too. When a truck or boat is sold for more than its remaining undepreciated balance in the class, the excess comes back into income as recapture. When the last asset in a class is sold for less, a terminal loss may be available. Trading in a work vehicle in the same year as buying its replacement usually keeps the class open and the arithmetic simpler. Keeping the purchase and sale documents with the year-end file makes each of these easy to support if the CRA asks.
Property and investments inside the company
Owners on the Island often buy property: a shop, a lot, a rental suite in town or a cabin up-island. Rent earned by a corporation that does not run an active rental business is investment income. It is taxed at the general rate with refundable portions, not at the small-business rate. Enough of it can also grind down the business limit for the operating company.
Whether property belongs in the operating company, a holding company or personal hands depends on the plan for it. That is a conversation before the purchase, not after. See when a holding company makes sense.
Paying yourself, and the shareholder loan
Money leaves a corporation as salary, dividends or a loan. Salary is a deduction for the company and goes on a T4. Dividends are paid from after-tax profit and go on a T5. Withdrawals that are neither sit in the shareholder loan account. If they are not repaid within one year after the corporation’s year-end, they are generally taxed as the owner’s income.
Schedule 50 of the T2 lists the shareholders, so ownership on the return needs to match the share register. The year-end is when the mix of pay is settled for the year. Compare salary against dividends with your own figures.
Corporate tax across Nanaimo’s industries
Construction contractors need work in progress and holdbacks measured at year-end, and T5018 slips for subcontractors. Trades corporations often run the bundle of bookkeeping, payroll and T2 together. Restaurants carry leasehold improvements and kitchen equipment through CCA.
A fishing corporation can report on the cash method, and licences and vessels raise their own capital questions. Realtors can earn commission through a personal real estate corporation, which BC permits. Each case changes what the T2 needs.
Fully virtual, based in Abbotsford
EverStone is a one-CPA firm in Abbotsford serving Nanaimo corporations remotely. There is no Nanaimo office. You authorize the firm through My Business Account, records come in through a secure upload link, and the return is signed electronically. Email is the first step, with a video meeting when it helps.
Prepared and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working with small businesses and incorporated owners across British Columbia. Updated . About the firm · Send an enquiry
Key T2 dates for a Nanaimo corporation
| Item | When |
|---|---|
| Balance of tax owing | Two months after year-end; three for a qualifying CCPC claiming the small business deduction |
| T2 return | Six months after year-end |
| T4 and T5 slips | By the last day of February |
| BC annual report | Within two months of the anniversary of incorporation |
| Sales tax where you operate | 5% GST plus 7% BC PST: two registrations, two returns |
Source: T2 deadline explained. General information, not advice.
In Nanaimo, EverStone also handles bookkeeping, payroll and owners’ personal returns.
Nanaimo corporate tax questions
When is my T2 due?+
What is the small-business tax rate in BC?+
Does rent from a building my company owns get the small-business rate?+
What happens if I take money out without paying a salary or dividend?+
What does a corporate tax accountant cost in Nanaimo?+
Do you work with corporations outside Nanaimo itself?+
Related services and local guides
Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for Nanaimo businesses, and the reference pages behind this one.
Incorporated on the central Island?
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