What happened to the GST/HST credit, and how much the quarterly payment is now

For close to three decades a modest deposit labelled "GST/HST credit" has arrived in the bank accounts of lower- and middle-income households at the start of January, April, July and October. In July 2026 the label changed. The payment is now called the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, the Canada Revenue Agency says the eligibility rules and the way it is calculated are unchanged, and the amounts went up by a quarter. Here is who qualifies, what the figures are for the current period, how income trims the payment and when it arrives.

Who qualifies, and why there is no form to fill in

The CRA sets three conditions. You must be a resident of Canada for tax purposes in the month before a payment and at the start of the payment month. You must be at least 19 years old, or, if younger, have (or have had) a spouse or common-law partner, or be a parent who lives (or lived) with your child. And your adjusted family net income must sit under the thresholds below.

Nobody applies for the credit as such. The CRA checks eligibility automatically each year when it assesses your return, so the official advice is simply to file every year, even with no income to report. New residents can ask for the benefit before their first return with Form RC151, and someone who turns 19 during the year receives a first payment on the next payment date after their birthday, provided a return is on file.

The amounts for July 2026 to June 2027

The benefit year runs from July to June, recalculated each July from the previous year's return, so payments from July 2026 to June 2027 rest on 2025 income. The table compares the last GST/HST credit year with the first under the new name.

Source: CRA, Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit payment amounts, base years 2024 and 2025. The 25 % increase applies for five years, from 2026 to 2031; the CRA says ordinary indexation resumes in 2027.

A single person with no children can therefore receive up to $679 a year, a couple up to $890, and each child under 19 adds $234. The benefit is tax-free and is not reported on the return.

How income shrinks the payment

The figure that matters is adjusted family net income: the net income of both partners from line 23600, less any Universal Child Care Benefit or registered disability savings plan income received, plus any of those amounts repaid. Once that figure passes $46,432, the benefit is reduced. The CRA's payment chart makes the pattern plain: a couple with no children receives the full $890 up to $46,432, $711.60 at $50,000 and $211.60 at $60,000, and nothing by $65,000. Each extra $5,000 of income removes $250, which is five cents per dollar over the threshold.

An illustrative example. A couple with two children under 19 and a 2025 adjusted family net income of $55,000 starts from $890 plus two times $234, which is $1,358. Their income is $8,568 over the threshold, and five cents on each of those dollars is $428.40. The result is $929.60 for the year, or about $232 per quarter. For a single person without children the $234 supplement phases in only once income passes $11,564, which is why the CRA's chart shows $445 at very low incomes and $679 at $25,000.

Every extra $5,000 of family income above $46,432 takes $250 off the year's benefit, until it runs out.

The payment dates for 2026

The CRA lists four regular dates for 2026: 5 January and 2 April, which were the last two payments made under the GST/HST credit name, then 3 July and 5 October, the first two under the new name. A one-time top-up was also issued on 5 June 2026. The CRA publishes the following year's calendar on its benefit payment dates page. If the quarterly amount works out at less than $50, the CRA pays the whole year's entitlement as a single sum in July instead.

The amount can also change mid-year: the CRA recalculates after a reassessment, when a child turns 19, when marital status or the number of children in your care changes, or when custody starts or stops being shared. The same information feeds the Canada Child Benefit, which uses the same income figure.

Provincial credits that arrive in the same deposit

Several provinces run their own sales tax credits and ask the CRA to pay them together with the federal quarterly payment, so one deposit can contain two or more programs. New Brunswick's HST credit, for example, is worth up to $300 for an individual, $300 for a spouse and $100 per child, reduced by 2 % of adjusted family net income over $35,000. Nova Scotia's affordable living tax credit, up to $255 for an individual or couple plus $60 per child, works the same way.

Ontario does it differently. The Ontario Sales Tax Credit, up to $378 per adult and per child for July 2026 to June 2027, is paid as part of the Ontario Trillium Benefit on the 10th of each month rather than with the quarterly federal deposit. Quebec runs its own solidarity tax credit through Revenu Québec, entirely separate from the federal payment.

Good to know

The CRA says its email and text notifications never ask for personal information or contain links. A "grocery rebate" message asking you to click or confirm banking details is not from the CRA.

When a payment does not arrive

Start with your CRA account, under Benefits and credits, where the payment and its notice are shown. Check that your address, direct deposit details and marital status are up to date, and that both you and your partner filed last year's return, since a missing return is the most common reason a payment stops. If none of that explains it, the CRA asks you to wait 10 business days after the expected date before calling. Once a late return is assessed, amounts for past quarters are paid retroactively, as a lump sum or with the next quarterly payment.

Who this matters for, and what to check

• Single adults and couples with adjusted family net income under roughly $65,000, and families with children somewhat above that.
• Anyone who turned 19 in 2026, including students with little or no income: the credit only starts once a return has been filed.
• Households whose 2025 income changed noticeably: the July 2026 recalculation reflects it, as the notice in your CRA account shows.
• Residents of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and other provinces with combined credits, whose deposit is larger than the federal figure alone; Ontario residents, whose provincial credit comes separately each month.

The takeaway

The rename changes the label, not the mechanics. The credit still runs from July to June, is still worked out from the previous year's return, still reduces by five cents for every dollar of family income above the threshold, and still lands four times a year. What did change is the size: up to $679 for a single person and $890 for a couple, plus $234 per child, for July 2026 to June 2027. For how the same income figure interacts with your income tax, see how the 2026 federal brackets and basic personal amount work.