Canadian General Index of Financial Information – GIFI
A Necessity for Filing Corporate Tax in Canada
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The General Index of Financial Information (GIFI) is a system which assigns a unique code to a list of items commonly found on business's income statements, balance sheets, and statements of retained earnings. The listing was created by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in 1999.
Using the GIFI Used
The purpose of the GIFI is to allow the CRA to collect and process financial information more efficiently; for instance, the GIFI lets the CRA validate tax information electronically rather than manually. Information from financial statements is categorized under the appropriate GIFI code and entered on corporate income tax returns. If you file a T2 income tax return (the tax return for corporations), then you need to use the GIFI, choosing the GIFI codes that best matches the items that you report.
Code | GIFI name |
1000 | Cash and deposits |
1001 | Cash - bank drafts, bank notes, cheques, coins, currency, money orders, postal notes, and post-dated cheques |
1002 | Deposits in Canadian banks and institutions – Canadian currency |
1003 | Deposits in Canadian banks and institutions – Foreign currency |
1006 | Credit union central deposits (credit unions only) |
1060 | Accounts receivable (claims, dividends, royalties, and subsidies receivable) |
1061 | Allowance for doubtful accounts |
1066 | Taxes receivable (GST/HST, income tax refunds, and tax credits receivable) |
1067 | Interest receivable |
1068 | Holdbacks receivable |
1120 | Inventories |
1121 | Inventory of goods for sale (finished goods) |
1122 | Inventory parts and supplies |
1123 | Inventory properties (companies involved in real estate, development, or construction) |
1124 | Inventory of aggregates |
1125 | Work in progress (goods in process) |
1126 | Raw materials |
1180 | Short-term investments (short-term marketable securities) |
1181 | Canadian term deposits |
1182 | Canadian shares |
1183 | Canadian bonds |
1184 | Canadian treasury bills |
1186 | Other short-term Canadian investments |
1240 | Loans and notes receivable |
1241 | Demand loans receivable (amounts such as call loans, day loans, and demand loans) |
1242 | Other loans receivable |
1243 | Notes receivable |
1244 | Mortgages receivable |
1300 | Due from shareholder(s)/director(s) (corporations only) |
1301 | Due from individual shareholder(s) (corporations only) |
1302 | Due from corporate shareholder(s) (corporations only) (due from parent company) |
1303 | Due from director(s) (corporations only) |
1310 | Due from member(s)/general partner(s) (partnerships only) |
1311 | Due from limited partners (partnerships only) |
1312 | Due from members that are partnerships (partnerships only) |
1313 | Due from general partners (partnerships only) |
1314 | Due from specified members who are not limited partners (partnerships only) |
1360 | Investment in joint venture(s)/partnership(s) current investment or equity in joint venture(s), partnership(s), and syndicate(s) |
1380 | Due from joint venture(s)/partnership(s) (current amounts due from joint venture(s)/partnership(s), or syndicate(s), such as advances, loans, and notes) |
1400 | Due from/investment in related parties |
1402 | Interest receivable from related parties |
1403 | Loans/advances due from related parties |
1480 | Other current assets |
1481 | Future (deferred) income taxes (corporations only) (income taxes applicable to future years) |
1482 | Accrued investment income |
1483 | Taxes recoverable/refundable |
1484 | Prepaid expenses |
1599 | Total current assets |
Code | GIFI name |
2600 | Bank overdraft |
2620 | Amounts payable and accrued liabilities ( accrued liabilities, agreements payable, claims payable, rent payable, and utilities payable) |
2621 | Trade payables |
2622 | Trade payables to related parties |
2623 | Holdbacks payable |
2624 | Wages payable |
2625 | Management fees payable |
2626 | Bonuses payable |
2627 | Employee deductions payable ( payroll deductions for employee benefits such as employment insurance, Canada Pension Plan, Quebec Parental Insurance Plan, group insurance, and pension plans) |
2628 | Withholding taxes payable |
2629 | Interest payable ( accrued interest payable) |
2680 | Taxes payable ( capital taxes, foreign taxes, GST/HST, current income taxes, sales taxes, etc) |
2700 | Short-term debt ( corporate loans, demand loans, etc.) |
2701 | Loans from Canadian banks |
2705 | Cheques and other items in transit |
2706 | Lien notes |
2707 | Credit card loans |
2770 | Deferred income |
2780 | Due to shareholder(s)/director(s) (corporations only) |
2781 | Due to individual shareholder(s) (corporations only) |
2782 | Due to corporate shareholder(s) (corporations only) ( due to parent company) |
2783 | Due to director(s) (corporations only) |
2790 | Due to member(s)/general partner(s) (partnerships only) |
2791 | Due to limited partners (partnerships only) |
2792 | Due to members that are partnerships (partnerships only) |
2793 | Due to general partners (partnerships only) |
2794 | Due to specified members who are not limited partners (partnerships only) |
2840 | Due to joint venture(s)/partnership(s) |
2860 | Due to related parties |
2861 | Demand notes due to related parties |
2862 | Interest payable to related parties |
2863 | Advances due to related parties |
2920 | Current portion of long-term liability |
2960 | Other current liabilities |
2961 | Deposits received ( bids, contract deposits, rental deposits, tenders, and security deposits) |
2962 | Dividends payable |
2963 | Future (deferred) income taxes (corporations only) ( income taxes applicable to future years and reserve for income taxes shown current) |
2964 | Reserves for guarantees, warranties, or indemnities |
2965 | General provisions/reserves ( contingent liabilities, provision for losses on loans, and pension reserves shown current) |
3139 | Total current liabilities |
The complete GIFI index is contained in the CRA's Guide to the General Index of Financial Information (GIFI) for Corporations which you can get in different formats, such as printed versions if you like.
Using the GIFI lets you electronically file your T2 income tax return, and in turn, means faster processing of your return.
Tax processing and accounting software programs designed for use by Canadian corporations include the GIFI.
If your corporation has both gross revenue and assets of less than one million dollars each, is not a life insurer, deposit insurer, or general (casualty and property) insurer, and you do not use tax preparation software, you will be able to use the GIFI Short Form.