Take a single person with $35,000 of family income and no children, the form’s default. The maximum credit for a single adult is about $519 a year. The credit only starts to shrink once income passes roughly $42,335, and at $35,000 this person is below that threshold, so the full $519 is paid with nothing clawed back. Spread across the four quarterly payments in July, October, January, and April, that is about $130 a quarter, entirely tax-free. Now compare a couple with two children earning $45,000. Their maximum is higher, about $1,217 ($519 base plus $340 for the spouse plus $179 for each of the two children), but they sit $2,665 over the phase-out threshold, so 5 percent of that excess, about $133, is removed, leaving roughly $1,084 for the year. The credit is generous at low income and tapers smoothly as income rises.
How it is calculated
The GST/HST credit is a tax-free quarterly payment that offsets the sales tax lower-income Canadians pay. The tool builds the maximum credit from your household: a base amount for a single adult, an extra amount if you have a spouse or common-law partner, and a per-child amount for each child under 19. It then applies the income test, reducing the credit by 5 percent of every dollar of family net income above the phase-out threshold, with the result floored at zero so it never goes negative. The annual figure is divided by four to show the quarterly payment. There is no application to file because the CRA calculates eligibility automatically from your T1 return, which is why filing taxes even with little or no income still matters for low earners. The base amounts here are recent approximations indexed each July, so the exact entitlement depends on the current year’s figures and your assessed family net income.
Frequently asked questions
Auto-enrolled?
Yes, just file your taxes. CRA automatically calculates eligibility from your T1 return. Quarterly payments July, Oct, Jan, April.
What income does CRA use to calculate the credit?
CRA uses your family net income from your T1 return for the prior tax year. For the July 2026 to June 2027 benefit year, CRA looks at 2025 net income. Both spouses must file even if one has no income, because the credit is based on combined family net income.
How does the phase-out work?
Once your family net income exceeds the phase-out threshold (roughly $42,335 for 2025-2026), the credit is reduced by 5 cents for every dollar above that threshold. The credit is floored at zero and cannot result in an amount owing. Families with higher incomes may receive a partial credit before it phases out entirely.
Is the GST/HST credit the same as the HST rebate in Ontario or other provinces?
No. The federal GST/HST credit from CRA is separate from any provincial sales tax rebates. Some provinces such as Ontario layer on a provincial sales tax credit that is paid alongside the federal credit but calculated independently. The amounts shown in this tool are federal estimates only and do not include any provincial top-ups.