The GST/HST credit, in plain English
Every time you buy groceries, clothes, or fuel in Canada, sales tax is added at the till: the federal goods and services tax (GST) of 5%, or the harmonized sales tax (HST) where a province has combined its sales tax with the GST. For households with low or modest incomes, that tax takes a bigger share of every paycheque. The GST/HST credit is the federal answer to that problem: a tax-free payment, four times a year, that returns part of the sales tax to people who can least afford it.
The credit in one paragraph
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) pays the credit quarterly, in January, April, July, and October, to Canadian residents for income tax purposes whose family income is low or modest enough to qualify. You do not apply for it in the usual sense: the CRA works out your entitlement from your tax return, so filing a return every year — even with no income to report — is what keeps the payments coming. The amount depends on your marital status, the number of children under 19 in your care, and your adjusted family net income. For the benefit year from July 2026 to June 2027, based on your 2025 tax return, the maximum is $679 a year for a single person, $890 for a couple, and $234 for each eligible child under 19.
The numbers that matter most, July 2026 to June 2027
| Household | Maximum per year | Per quarter |
|---|---|---|
| Single person, no children | $679 | $169.75 |
| Couple, no children | $890 | $222.50 |
| Each eligible child under 19 | $234 | $58.50 |
| Single parent, one child | $1,124 | $281.00 |
| Couple, two children | $1,358 | $339.50 |
Those are maximums, not promises. The credit shrinks as income rises: above $46,432 of adjusted family net income, it falls by 5 cents for every extra dollar, until it reaches zero. A single person with no children stops receiving anything at $60,012, while a couple with two children keeps receiving something up to $73,592. The full tables are on the income thresholds page, and the arithmetic is walked through on the worked examples page.
How this site is organised
Start with who can qualify for the residency and age tests, then how amounts work for the building blocks behind every figure. Income thresholds gives the phase-in, phase-out, and cut-off tables. Payment schedule lists the quarterly months, the confirmed 2026 dates, and the under-$50 rule. How to apply explains automatic assessment and the newcomer forms. Provincial credits explains which provincial amounts arrive with the federal payment and which run on their own timetable. Changes and overpayments covers what to report and what happens if you were paid too much. Worked examples runs seven households through the calculation, vs other benefits keeps this credit apart from the Canada Child Benefit and the Canada Workers Benefit, and FAQ and myths answers the questions people ask most.
Three misunderstandings, cleared up at the start
You do not need earnings to qualify. A return showing no income still produces an entitlement; in fact, people with no income are among those the credit is designed for. What disqualifies you is not filing at all. The credit is not taxable. It is not added to your income, and you do not report it on your tax return. The credit did not end in 2026. The July 2026 rename confused many recipients, and some online posts claimed the program had closed. It had not: the payment continued, under its new name, at higher amounts.
One warning applies to the whole site: benefit years run July to June, and every July the CRA recalculates the credit from the previous year's return. Treat every figure here as the July 2026 to June 2027 position, and check the CRA before relying on a figure for a decision in a later benefit year.