Alberta small business taxes: 2% and 8% corporate rates, AT1 and T2, annual return, GST and 2026 changes

Alberta business taxes at a glance

Alberta and Quebec are the two provinces without a corporation tax collection agreement with the CRA. That's why an Alberta corporation deals with two tax agencies: the CRA for the federal T2 and GST, and Alberta Tax and Revenue Administration (TRA) for the AT1. Corporate Registry handles incorporation and annual returns.

• CRA: Corporation tax rates
• Alberta: Corporate income tax
• CRA: T4012, T2 Corporation Income Tax Guide, before you start
• Alberta: Annual returns

Corporate tax rates

Alberta's general corporate income tax rate is 8%, and its small business rate is 2%. A Canadian-controlled private corporation not in an associated group can claim the small business deduction on active business income up to the $500,000 threshold.

Federally, the net corporate rate is 15% after the abatement and general tax reduction, and 9% for CCPCs claiming the small business deduction. Manufacturers of qualifying zero-emission technology pay half those rates.

Alberta's personal brackets also matter for owners who take salary or run unincorporated. In 2026 thresholds and credits rise by 2%, and the first bracket is 8% on income up to $61,200.

• Alberta: Taxes and levies overview
• Alberta: Corporate income tax
• CRA: Corporation tax rates

The AT1 return: e-filing and the exemption

AT1 returns are due within 6 months of the end of the tax year and count as filed when TRA receives them. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2024, a corporation must file its AT1 and schedules electronically through Net File, unless it is an insurance corporation, a non-resident corporation, a functional currency filer or section 35 exempt. Failing to e-file costs the corporation $1,000.

A CCPC can be exempt from filing an AT1 if it meets every item on TRA's exemption checklist. These include gross revenue of no more than $500,000 in its financial statements, filing a federal T2, and discretionary tax balances such as undepreciated capital cost and losses that match its federal ones.

A corporation that thought it was exempt and later finds it wasn't must file within 90 days from the later of that finding and the AT1 deadline.

• Alberta: Corporate income tax
• Alberta TRA: AT1 filing exemption checklist

Paying Alberta and federal tax

Alberta tax is generally paid in equal monthly instalments by the last day of each month, with any balance due by the end of the second month after year end. An eligible CCPC that claims the small business deduction can skip instalments and pay everything by the end of the third month. A new corporation, other than one formed by amalgamation, pays no instalments in its first tax year and pays by the end of the second month.

Federally, corporations pay monthly or quarterly instalments unless their Part I, VI, VI.1 and XIII.1 tax for the current or previous year is $3,000 or less. The federal balance is generally due two months after year end, or three months for eligible CCPCs.

• Alberta: Corporate income tax
• CRA: T4012, before you start

The federal T2

All corporations, including non-profit, tax-exempt and inactive ones, file a T2 every tax year, even with no tax payable. File within six months of year end.

The late-filing penalty is 5% of unpaid tax plus 1% for each complete month late, up to 12 months. A corporation required to e-file that doesn't faces a $1,000 penalty. Keep records for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to.

• CRA: T4012, before you start

Incorporating and the annual return

An authorized registry service provider incorporates the business and charges a government fee plus a service fee. A NUANS report reserves the name for 90 days and must be less than 91 days old. You don't need one for a number name such as 9999999 Alberta Ltd.

The registered office and records address must be physical locations in Alberta. The corporation needs an agent for service, an individual in Alberta who doesn't have to be a lawyer. You get an email when the federal business number is issued.

Every Alberta corporation files an annual return. A reminder goes to the registered office one month before the anniversary, and the return lists the top 5 shareholders' names, addresses and voting percentages. A corporation that doesn't file may be dissolved. Corporations from British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan don't file Alberta annual returns.

• Alberta: Incorporate an Alberta corporation
• Alberta: Annual returns

GST registration

You're a small supplier if worldwide taxable supplies, with associates, are $30,000 or less in a single calendar quarter and over the last four quarters. Go over $30,000 in one quarter and you charge GST on that sale and register within 29 days. Go over across four quarters and you stop being a small supplier at the end of the following month.

Self-employed taxi and commercial ride-sharing drivers register even if they're small suppliers. Starting July 14, 2026, Business Registration Online is only available by signing in to a CRA account.

• CRA: When to register for and start charging the GST/HST

2026 changes for Alberta businesses

A representative not enrolled with TRA as a third-party organization needs Form AT4930, the Alberta consent form for corporate income tax. Alberta's Innovation Employment Grant pays 8% of eligible SR&ED spending in Alberta, plus 12% above a base level.

Aldro's flat yearly price covers every federal and provincial business return the corporation needs for the year, the T2 and the Alberta AT1 included, and Canadian customers pay the same number in CAD. Our team prepares and files them.

• April 1, 2026: online mail through TRACS became the default for corporate income tax correspondence for new corporations, existing TRACS users and corporations with a third-party representative. A paper mail request lasts 2 years.
• November 14, 2026: TRACS PIN enrolment ends for corporate income tax accounts. Account owners must be listed directors, and others become account representatives.
• April 1, 2026: the tourism levy on accommodation rose from 4% to 6%.
• January 1, 2026: the data centre levy began, at rates up to 2% and fully deductible against corporate income tax.
• January 1, 2027: a 6% vehicle rental tax is expected to start.
• 2026-27 education property tax: $2.84 per $1,000 for residential and farmland, $4.17 per $1,000 for non-residential.

• Alberta: Corporate income tax
• Alberta: TRA Client Self-Service
• Alberta: Taxes and levies overview