GST payment dates 2026

GST payment dates for 2026

The CRA pays the benefit four times a year: on January 5, April 2, July 3 and October 5 in 2026.^{[cgeb_dates][cra_dates]} The January and April payments were the last made under the GST/HST credit name and were based on 2024 income; July and October are CGEB payments based on 2025 income. A one-time top-up was also paid on June 5, 2026.^[topup]

If your quarterly amount would be under $50, the CRA pays the whole year in one payment in July. If a payment does not arrive, wait 10 business days before calling the CRA.^[cgeb_dates] The CRA has not yet published its 2027 dates; we add them when it does.

What is the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit?

The Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit is the new name of the GST/HST credit from July 2026: a tax-free quarterly payment to individuals and families with low and modest incomes. Eligibility, the calculation and the payment schedule are the same as the old credit, but the amounts went up 25% in July 2026 and the increase stays for five years, 2026 to 2031.^[cgeb] You do not apply separately: filing your tax return each year is the application, and the CRA works out the amount.

The one-time top-up on June 5, 2026 generally equalled 50% of your July 2025 to June 2026 credit (twice the January 2026 payment): up to $267 for a single person, $349 for a couple and $441 to $717 for families with one to four or more children.^[topup]

GST credit amount: how it is calculated

The yearly amount is a base for you, your spouse and each child, reduced by 5% of adjusted family net income above $46,432 (2025 income).^{[cgeb_amounts]} Single people without children also get a supplement of up to $234 that phases in at 2% of income above $11,564; single parents get the full supplement and an adult-sized amount for their first child.

Worked example. A couple with two children and 2025 family net income of $35,000 gets $445 + $445 + 2 × $234 = $1,358.00 a year, paid as four payments of about $339.50; their income is under $46,432, so nothing is taken off. At $60,000 the same family would lose 5% × $13,568 = $678.40 and receive $679.60.

The calculator lists what each 2026–27 payment date brings (July 3 and October 5, 2026, then January and April 2027 once the CRA confirms the dates) and compares the result with the old GST/HST credit amounts for the same income. For the family above, the old 2024-income amounts gave $1,066.00 a year, so the CGEB pays $292.00 more.^{[cgeb_amounts]}

Who is eligible

You are eligible if you are a resident of Canada for tax purposes in the month before and at the start of the payment month, and you are 19 or older (or under 19 with a spouse or partner, or living with your child).^[cgeb_elig] Your family net income also has to be under the cut-off: for 2025 income that is $60,012 for a single person, $64,232 for a couple without children and $68,912 for any family with one child. If you turn 19, file a return for the previous year and the first payment comes on the next payment date after your birthday.

Carbon tax rebate: no more payments

The Canada Carbon Rebate ended with the April 2025 payment; the federal fuel charge and the rebate for individuals stopped on March 15, 2025.^[ccr] Under legislation proposed in November 2025, people who had not filed returns for 2018 to 2024 had until October 30, 2026 to file and receive any rebate they were owed. The quarterly payment many households still receive is the CGEB described on this page.

The benefit gives back some of the GST and HST households pay; to see how much tax is in a purchase, use the GST calculator or the HST calculator. If you are working out pay, see the Ontario minimum wage.