Is T2 Short a Different Tax Return?
No.
In Canada, there is only one corporate income tax return, the T2 Corporation Income Tax Return, filed with the Canada Revenue Agency.
A T2 Short is not a separate tax return. It does not create a different filing obligation or tax outcome.
What Is the T2 Short?
The T2 Short is:
A simplified CRA paper/PDF version of the standard T2
Intended for manual or paper filing
Designed for corporations with very limited or no activity
The T2 Short:
Does not change how CRA assesses tax
Does not replace the T2
Exists purely as a simplified filing format
Regular T2 Explained
A regular T2 refers to the standard electronic or paper T2 filing that:
Includes only the schedules required for the corporation’s activity
Covers active, inactive, and nil corporations
Is used by all tax software for electronic filing
When filed electronically, the CRA receives the same core T2 data regardless of whether the corporation had activity.
Electronic Filing vs T2 Short PDF
When filing a T2 electronically:
The T2 Short PDF is not used
CRA does not require the T2 Short form
Tax software submits the standard T2 data structure
Unnecessary schedules are automatically excluded
Because of this, most modern tax software does not generate the CRA T2 Short PDF.
What If the Corporation Had No Income or Activity?
If a corporation had no income and no business activity during the year:
A T2 return is still required
This is commonly referred to as a nil T2 return
Filing a nil T2 electronically is fully CRA-compliant
CRA treats it the same as a T2 Short paper filing
No special form or separate return is needed.
Why Some Platforms Say “T2 Short Not Supported”
When a platform states that T2 Short is not supported, it means:
The software does not produce the CRA paper/PDF T2 Short form
It does support electronic T2 filing
Inactive and nil corporations can still file correctly
This is a format distinction, not a compliance issue.
Key Takeaways
There is only one corporate tax return in Canada: the T2
T2 Short is a paper/PDF format, not a separate return
Electronic filing does not require the T2 Short
Nil or inactive corporations file a standard T2
CRA treats electronic nil T2 filings the same as T2 Short filings