T3010 filing deadline: six months after year end, then revocation

A registered charity must file its complete T3010 no later than six months after its fiscal period ends, so a December 31, 2025 year end was due June 30, 2026. Miss it and the CRA sends a T2051A giving 90 days to file before revoking registration, and a charity revoked for not filing pays a $500 penalty to reregister.

When is the T3010 due for each fiscal year end?

The T3010 is due no later than six months after the end of the charity's fiscal period, and every due date in the CRA's table falls on the last day of the sixth month canada.ca. The Income Tax Act says the return is due within six months of each taxation year end "without notice or demand", so the CRA sends no reminder before the due date (ITA 149.1(14)) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

Fiscal period ends	T3010 due by
January 31	July 31
February 28	August 31
March 31	September 30
April 30	October 31
May 31	November 30
June 30	December 31
July 31	January 31
August 31	February 28
September 30	March 31
October 31	April 30
November 30	May 31
December 31	June 30

So a charity with a December 31, 2026 year end files by June 30, 2027 canada.ca. If your client changes its year end, the transition period needs its own return canada.ca.

An inactive charity still files a complete return and explains the inactivity at question C2 canada.ca. A charity that has stopped for good should ask for voluntary revocation, which ends the filing obligation once granted. For the line by line work, see how to complete the T3010.

What happens once the due date passes?

Failing to file an information return is a stated ground for revocation under ITA 168(1)(c) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The CRA runs it as a fixed sequence of notices canada.ca.

Step	What happens	Clock
Due date passes	No complete T3010 on file	Six months after year end
Form T2051A, Notice of Intention to Revoke	The CRA warns it will revoke for failure to file	90 days from the notice date to file or object
Form T2051B, Notice of Revocation	Sent if no complete return arrives or the objection fails	Shows the effective date
Canada Gazette publication	Registration is revoked on publication	Reason also shown on the List of charities
Form T2046 and revocation tax	Due after revocation	One year after the T2051A date

Under ITA 168(2), revocation takes effect when the notice is published in the Canada Gazette, not when the letter is mailed laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The CRA also needs a T3010 covering the same period as the T2046 canada.ca.

Once revoked, the charity can't issue official donation receipts, loses its income tax exemption, has its name and the reason published, stops being a charity for GST/HST purposes, and must give its remaining assets to an eligible donee or pay revocation tax canada.ca. Receipts issued after that date fail the official donation receipt rules.

When does a charity that missed June 30, 2026 lose its registration?

Your client is a small charity with a December 31, 2025 year end. Its T3010 was due June 30, 2026 and nothing was filed. Assume the CRA dates its T2051A August 14, 2026.

Date	Event
June 30, 2026	T3010 due date passes
August 14, 2026	T2051A dated (assumed for the example)
November 12, 2026	90th day: last day to file the complete return or a written objection
After November 12, 2026	T2051B and Canada Gazette publication if nothing was filed
August 14, 2027	T2046 due, one year after the T2051A date

The 90 days run 17 days to August 31, then 30 in September, 31 in October and 12 in November: 17 + 30 + 31 + 12 = 90, landing on November 12, 2026.

Now say it misses that date too and holds $180,000 of net assets on the day after the notice, with no other income or appropriations. Revocation tax is 100% of what's left after debts, so doing nothing costs $180,000. During the one year winding up period it can spend on its own charitable activities or transfer to an eligible donee, and each dollar out reduces the tax: spend $40,000 on its programs and transfer $140,000 to an eligible donee, and $180,000 minus $40,000 minus $140,000 leaves $0 canada.ca.

The $500 penalty is the price of reregistering

ITA 188.1(6) makes a registered charity that fails to file its return as and when 149.1(14) requires liable to a penalty of $500 laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. In practice it comes due when a charity revoked for not filing applies to register again canada.ca.

Revoked for not filing	Registration can be retroactive?	What your client files and pays
Less than four years ago	Yes	Every outstanding T3010 with financial statements, including the period of revocation, plus the $500 penalty
Four years ago or more	No, processed as a new registration	The $500 penalty only if the missed T3010 was due on or after March 22, 2004

Count the four years from the revocation date on the Notice of Revocation to the date the application goes in. Reopen the old RR program account through the Charities Directorate instead of opening a new one, and pay the $500 by cheque to the Receiver General for Canada with the business number, the RR account identifier and "Account 309" in the memo canada.ca.

Speed also saves the assets. The revocation tax does not apply if the charity is registered again within one year of the notice of intention to revoke, has paid every other tax, penalty and interest owed under the Income Tax Act or Excise Tax Act, and has filed all missing T3010s and financial statements before applying canada.ca.

How do you file so the return counts as on time?

File online through the charity's CRA account or software certified by the CRA. The submission date is the date the CRA receives the return, it's processed right away, and the public information appears on the List of charities the next day canada.ca. A paper return counts as received on its postmark date and goes to the Charities Directorate, 105-275 Pope Road, Summerside PE C1N 6E8 canada.ca.

On time only helps if the return is complete. A paper filing includes Form T3010, financial statements with the same fiscal year end, Form T1235 for directors and trustees, and where they apply Form T1236 for qualified donees, Form T1441 for grants to non qualified donees and Form T2081 for a private foundation's excess corporate holdings canada.ca. The online return lists the schedules it needs and reminds you to attach the statements.

Before you file, check the expenditure lines against the disbursement quota, since the return is where a shortfall shows.

Send Form T1240, Registered Charity Adjustment Request, instead of filing a second return for the same year. Use one T1240 per fiscal year and upload it through "Adjust a return" in the charity's CRA account, or mail it to Summerside canada.ca.

Yes, if it believes revocation isn't warranted: it can send a written objection within 90 days of the notice date canada.ca. ITA 168(4) requires the objection to set out the reasons and all the relevant facts laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. If the return is simply late, filing it complete inside the 90 days is the faster fix.

No. A corporation doesn't file a T2 while it holds charitable status, and the CRA won't ask for T3 returns for its internal trusts because the T3010 covers that property canada.ca. A nonprofit that isn't a registered charity is a different filer: see the T1044.