GST HST Credit Payment Dates in 2026 | Canada

Mukesh Jha Published: Aug 25, 2026 11 mins read Business central

For years, Canadians knew this benefit simply as the GST/HST credit: a quarterly, tax-free deposit from the CRA meant to soften the cost of sales tax on everyday spending. That name changed in July 2026. The program is now the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB), and it pays roughly 25% more than the credit it replaced.

Nothing about how you qualify, how it is calculated, or when it arrives is different. What changed is the label on your CRA statement and the size of the deposit. This blog walks through eligibility, payment amounts, and the full 2026 payment schedule.

What is the GST/HST Credit ?

GST/HST credit offsets the goods and services tax, or the harmonized sales tax in provinces where GST is blended with provincial sales tax, paid by lower- and modest-income households.

The Canada Revenue Agency administers it, and in most provinces, related programs ride along in the same deposit means the BC climate action tax credit, the Nova Scotia affordable living tax credit, the Saskatchewan low-income tax credit, and a few others depending on where you live.

If you are in one of those provinces, the number hitting your account is usually larger than the federal portion alone, which is part of why the amount can look inconsistent from one recipient to the next even with similar incomes.

There is no separate application form for most people. File your return, and the CRA checks eligibility automatically at assessment.

Who Is Eligible for the GST/HST Credit ?

Eligibility for the GST HST credit comes down to three things including residency, age, and family status.

You need to be a resident of Canada for tax purposes in the month before a payment and at the start of the month it's issued. Beyond that, you must be at least 19, or younger, provided you are currently or previously married or common-law, or a parent living with your child.

Income is where most of the confusion sits. Your adjusted family net income (AFNI) must fall below a threshold that moves with marital status and number of children. For the 2025 base year, a single person with no children needs an AFNI under roughly CA$60,012 to qualify for anything. A married couple with four or more children can earn closer to CA$82,952 and still receive something. The credit does not cut off sharply at these numbers; it phases out gradually as income climbs past the threshold, which is why households sitting right near the cutoff often still get a partial payment instead of nothing.

Shared custody works the same way it does for the Canada Child Benefit. Each parent generally receives half the credit for that child, split based on the custody arrangement on file with the CRA.

Base year (2025)	No children	1 child	2 children	3 children	4+ children
Single / single parent	$60,012	$68,912	$73,592	$78,272	$82,952
Married / common-law	$64,232	$68,912	$73,592	$78,272	$82,952

How is the GST/HST Credit Calculated

The CRA recalculates your payment every July using the adjusted family net income from your prior year's tax return. A raise, a new job, or a shift in your spouse's income can all move your payment even when nothing else in your household has changed, which is the single most common reason people call the CRA confused about a smaller deposit.

The formula starts with family net income (line 23600 on your return, combined with your spouse's or common-law partners, if applicable), adjusts for any Universal Child Care Benefit or RDSP income received, and adds back any repaid amounts. That adjusted figure determines whether you qualify and how much you get, scaled against the base amount for your family size and reduced gradually as income rises above the threshold.

GST/HST Credit Payment Dates 2026

Payments arrive four times a year, generally on the 5th of January, April, July, and October — moved to the closest earlier business day if the 5th lands on a weekend or holiday. If your total annual credit works out to be less than CAD $50 per quarter, the CRA skips the quarterly split entirely and pays the full year amount as one lump sum in July.

The full GST/HST credit payment dates 2026 schedule looked like this:

January 5, 2026: regular payment, based on 2024 income
April 2, 2026: final payment under the original GST/HST credit structure
June 5, 2026: one-time top-up payment (details below)
July 3, 2026: first payment under the restructured benefit, based on 2025 income
October 5, 2026: second payment under the restructured benefit

Turning 19 partway through the year changes the timing too. You won't see payment until the first date after your birthday, and only if you've already filed a return payment, even one reporting zero income.

How Much You Can Get

For the July 2025 to June 2026 benefit period, calculated from your 2024 tax return, the maximum annual amounts were:

CAD $533 for a single individual
CAD $698 for a married or common-law couple
CAD $184 for each eligible child under 19

Those numbers applied to the January and April 2026 payments. From July 2026 onward, the amounts shifted, and that shift is really its own story.

The 2026 Update: GST/HST Credit Is Now the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit

This is the part most guides have not caught up on yet. As of July 2026, the GST/HST credit was formally renamed the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB). The eligibility rules and the calculation method did not change. What changed is the name of your CRA account, the payment amount, and how the transition was handled.

The amount increased by 25%, and that increase is locked in through 2031. For the July 2026–June 2027 period, based on 2025 income, the new maximums are:

CAD $679 for a single individual
CAD $890 for a married or common-law couple
CAD $234 per eligible child under 19

A one-time bridge payment went out ahead of the switch. On June 5, 2026, the CRA issued a top-up equal to 50% of each household's annual GST/HST credit entitlement for the 2025–26 benefit year.

A household with a CAD $698 annual credit would have received roughly CAD $349. Anyone who filed a 2024 return and was entitled to the January 2026 payment qualified automatically means no separate application.

Your CRA account now shows a different label. Sign into My Account and the benefit appears as "Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (formerly the GST/HST credit)." Nothing about your eligibility was interrupted. It is a rename, not a new program you need to reapply for.

If you have seen search results referencing a "Canada GST/HST credit June 2025" payment, that is most likely a mix-up with the June 2026 top-up. The CRA does not issue payment in June under the standard quarterly schedule; the closest real event was the regular July 2025 payment, which followed the old structure entirely. The one-time bonus is a 2026 event, not a 2025 one, and it is worth clearing that up since the confusion shows up in search often.

Also Read: International Financial Reporting Standards

How to Apply for the GST/HST Credit

Most Canadians never fill out a form for this. File your tax return every year, even with zero income, and the CRA determines eligibility automatically once your return is assessed.

Newcomers to Canada are the exception. If you have just become a resident, you will need to apply before filing your first tax return. Without children, Form RC151 can be completed online. With children under 19, you will need both Form RC151 and Form RC66 (the same form used for the Canada Child Benefit), along with proof of birth for each child. Only one application per household is required.

Filing late has real consequences beyond a slower refund. Miss the April 30 deadline and your quarterly payments can pause until the CRA assesses your return, though anything you were owed arrives as a retroactive payment once your file is processed.

GST/HST Credit vs. Business GST/HST Filing

Worth separating this individual benefit from what businesses deal with under the same acronym. The GST/HST credit is a personal benefit paid to individuals and families. Businesses registered for GST/HST collect the tax on sales and remit it to the CRA separately, typically through GST/HST NETFILE, on a schedule that has nothing to do with the CRA payment dates individuals track for their own credit. A small business owner in Toronto filing quarterly GST/HST returns for their company is not affected by their personal eligibility for the credit, and vice versa; the two just happen to share a name.

Businesses running Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central or Dynamics 365 Finance handle this compliance differently than individuals do. Sales tax codes, remittance schedules, and GST/HST NETFILE submissions get built into the accounting workflow instead of tracked manually, which matters operationally: manual sales tax reconciliation is usually where errors creep into month-end close, especially for businesses operating across Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec, where GST, HST, and PST rules don't line up the same way. A business in Vancouver charging GST alone is working with a different tax setup than one in Toronto charging HST, and a system that doesn't distinguish between the two ends up generating rework for every filing period.

Also worth separating from CPP and EI deductions. Those come off an employee pay cheque and fund entirely different programs, retirement benefits and employment insurance, respectively. They are payroll deductions, not a benefit paid by the CRA, so they have nothing to do with GST/HST credit eligibility or amounts.

If Your Payment Does Not Arrive

Check CRA My Account first for the payment status, and confirm your address, marital status, and direct deposit details are current. Outdated information is the most common reason a payment gets delayed or sent to the wrong place. The CRA publishes its official GST/HST credit payment dates on its site, so that's the first place to cross-check the schedule before assuming something's wrong. If ten business days pass after the expected date with nothing showing up, that's the point in calling the CRA directly rather than keeping waiting.

Final Thoughts

Staying current on federal benefit changes like the CGEB rename matters for individuals, but for Canadian businesses, GST/HST compliance is a recurring operational task, not a once-a-year check-in. Dynamics Square Canada works with mid-market businesses across Ontario, British Columbia, and the rest of Canada to implement Business Central and Dynamics 365 Finance, with GST/HST, PST, and remittance workflows built directly into the system rather than bolted on afterward. If your finance team in Toronto, Vancouver, or Calgary is still reconciling sales tax by hand at month-end, that's usually the first sign it's time to talk to a dynamics 365 business central consulting partner.