Self-employed and incorporated files are the ones most likely to bounce back from underwriting carrying a long stipulation list, one document at a time. Asking broadly and clearly at intake — even if some of it turns out unnecessary for a particular program — protects the file's timeline and the client's patience far better than a narrow first request followed by three follow-ups.
Two years of T1 General returns with Notices of Assessment, two years of Form T2125 (Statement of Business or Professional Activities), confirmation of business registration or a GST/HST account, and, where the program allows it, an accountant's letter or unaudited financial statements corroborating the T2125 figures.
Everything a sole proprietor needs personally, plus two years of T2 Corporation Income Tax Returns with the corporation's own Notice of Assessment, the corporation's financial statements — the source of the Schedule 100 and Schedule 125 pages Course 04 covers in depth — Articles of Incorporation showing ownership percentage, and a corporate bank statement history.
A clean GST/HST filing history reads as a business in good order; gaps or arrears read as a business under cash-flow or compliance strain, whether or not that's actually true. Business bank statements — even for an incorporated file where the tax returns look clean — matter because they show whether revenue is actually landing where the tax return claims it is, rather than simply trusting the paper.
A version of this list, split cleanly by structure, is worth keeping on hand to send directly to a self-employed client at intake.
A broker requests only two years of personal T1s and NOAs from a new, incorporated self-employed client and submits the file. What is the most likely consequence?
For an incorporated borrower, the personal T1 only ever shows what was paid out — salary and dividends — never the corporation's actual results, so an underwriter needs the T2 and financial statements to see the whole picture. Assuming the personal documents are sufficient is the common, timeline-costing mistake this module is built to prevent. A stipulation for more documents is a normal, recoverable step, not a decline, and the corporation's results are very much relevant — they're often the more important half of the file.
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