File Your Own Corporate Taxes or Hire an Accountant?

Yes, you can legally file your own corporate taxes in Canada. The CRA doesn't require a corporation to use an accountant — it requires a complete, accurate T2 return, filed electronically and on time. The real question is whether doing it yourself actually saves money once you look at what T2 software covers, what it quietly leaves to you, and what a mistake costs. Here is a fair comparison.

What filing a corporate return actually involves

Every Canadian corporation must file a T2 within six months of its fiscal year-end, even with no activity and no tax owing. The balance of tax, however, is generally due two months after year-end — three months for many CCPCs claiming the small business deduction — so the payment deadline lands well before the filing deadline.

Two more rules shape the do-it-yourself question:

Electronic filing is mandatory. For tax years starting after 2023, almost all corporations must transmit the T2 electronically using CRA-certified software. A paper return draws a $1,000 penalty, with narrow exceptions such as insurance and non-resident corporations.
Your financials go in as GIFI codes. The CRA's General Index of Financial Information turns your balance sheet and income statement into standardized codes. The software supplies the boxes; deciding which of the hundreds of codes fits each account in your books is entirely on you.

A corporation operating in Québec also files a CO-17 with Revenu Québec, which must likewise be transmitted online for most corporations. That single fact eliminates most consumer software.

The main T2 software options in 2026

TurboTax Business Incorporated

Intuit's consumer T2 product is desktop software for Windows only, priced at $375 for one return at the time of writing, and certified for the CRA's Corporation Internet Filing service. Its published limits matter: it does not support Québec's CO-17 — Intuit points those users to its professional ProFile line — and it doesn't file the SR&ED form T661, so a corporation claiming research credits is out of scope.

UFileT2

UFileT2 is the only one of the three that files both the federal T2 and Québec's CO-17, along with Alberta's AT1. It's certified by the CRA and Revenu Québec, imports GIFI data from Sage 50 and other accounting packages, and works through a guided interview. Tellingly, its publisher steers more complicated corporations toward its professional sibling, DT Max — a good indication of where the consumer tool's comfort zone ends.

TaxTron T2

TaxTron is the budget option: roughly $130 for a single-return licence, available on Windows and macOS, and able to handle profit, nil and loss positions. Like TurboTax, it does not prepare the Québec CO-17.

The takeaway for Québec owner-managers is blunt: two of the three main consumer products cannot file your provincial return at all.

What software does well — and what it leaves to you

To be fair, T2 software is good at what it's built for. It does the arithmetic, carries totals across schedules, flags missing fields and transmits the return. If your inputs are right, the output is right.

What no consumer software does is exercise judgment:

GIFI mapping. The software won't tell you whether a shareholder loan is coded correctly or whether owner draws are buried in expenses. Inconsistent GIFI data is exactly the kind of anomaly that invites CRA follow-up.
ASPE financial statements. Tax software expects financial statements to already exist — it doesn't prepare them. If your bank wants statements prepared under Canadian standards (ASPE) with a CPA's compilation report, no T2 software provides that.
The small business deduction. The software claims the SBD if you tell it to. It won't warn you that associated corporations share a single $500,000 business limit, or work through whether your holding company triggers the association rules.
Québec's hours test. The reduced Québec rate of 3.2% requires at least 5,500 remunerated hours; at 5,000 hours or fewer the reduction disappears and income is taxed at 11.5% provincially. Software applies whatever you enter — it doesn't plan for the threshold.
Actual planning. Salary versus dividends, the timing of capital cost allowance, instalment strategy: these decisions happen before the return, and a form-filler has no opinion on any of them.

A quick decision guide

Software is probably the right call if all of the following are true:

Your corporation is dormant, or has simple, low-volume activity with clean books
You operate in one province — and if it's Québec, you're using software that files the CO-17
No associated corporations, no holding company, no SR&ED claim
Your owner compensation is settled and no planning decisions are pending
You're comfortable mapping your own trial balance to GIFI codes

Hire a CPA if any of these apply:

You have associated corporations or a holding structure sharing the $500,000 limit
You're in Québec near the 5,500-hour threshold, or unsure whether you meet it
A bank, investor or buyer will read your financial statements
You haven't settled your salary-versus-dividend mix, or profits are growing fast
You're behind on filings or have received CRA or Revenu Québec correspondence

Where DIY silently costs money

The failure mode of do-it-yourself corporate tax is rarely a rejected return — software keeps the form internally consistent. It's money left on the table or risk taken on unknowingly. A Québec corporation that misses the hours test pays 11.5% instead of 3.2% provincially — up to roughly $41,500 more per year on $500,000 of income. A balance paid at the six-month filing deadline instead of the two-month payment deadline accrues months of non-deductible interest. CCA claimed blindly in a loss year is a deduction wasted. None of this shows up as an error message.

Then there's your time: a first T2 with GIFI mapping typically consumes well over a working day — time an owner-manager could bill or sell.

What each route costs

Doing it yourself: roughly $130 to $375 in software, plus your hours — and your bookkeeping still has to be right for the return to be right. Working with Stamped: corporate tax returns start at $1,475, prepared and e-filed by CPAs, including the CO-17 for Québec corporations, with answers within 24 hours when questions come up. Full details are on our pricing page, and you can estimate your corporation's tax bill first with our corporate tax calculator.

The honest conclusion: for a dormant company or a genuinely simple one, software is a defensible choice and the savings are real. For an operating corporation with meaningful profit — especially in Québec — the gap between $375 of software and $1,475 of CPA preparation is usually smaller than the value of one good decision the software would never have flagged.

Frequently asked questions

Can I legally file my own corporate taxes in Canada?

Yes. Any corporation can prepare and file its own T2 using CRA-certified software. For tax years starting after 2023 the return must be filed electronically — a paper T2 draws a $1,000 penalty. The real hurdle isn't legality; it's mapping your books to GIFI codes and claiming deductions correctly.

Does TurboTax Business Incorporated support Québec's CO-17?

No, and neither does TaxTron T2. Among the main consumer options, only UFileT2 prepares and files both the federal T2 and the Québec CO-17, and it is certified by both the CRA and Revenu Québec.

How much does an accountant charge for a corporate tax return?

At Stamped, corporate tax returns start at $1,475, prepared and e-filed by CPAs — including the CO-17 for Québec corporations. Consumer software runs roughly $130 to $375, plus your own time, typically more than a full working day for a first return.

When is T2 software genuinely the better choice?

For dormant or very simple corporations: a single province, clean books, no associated corporations, no SR&ED claim and no pending planning decisions. In those cases the DIY savings are real — just remember the balance of tax is usually due two months after year-end, not six.