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GST/HST Credit Statistics – 2019-2020 Benefit Year

The Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) credit statistics present data based on the information that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) collected and processed as of January 2021 for all individual recipients for the 2019-2020 benefit year, which covers the period from July 2019 to June 2020.

The assessed amounts reported here use a different data source than those used to report for the Public Accounts of Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency Audited Financial Statements - Administered Activities. As such, the assessed amounts reported here may not align with those publications. These statistics exclude the GST/HST credit one-time additional payment that was made in April 2020.

Explanatory notes

Confidentiality procedures

To ensure the protection of taxpayer information, data have been suppressed where warranted. As well, counts are rounded to the nearest multiple of 10. For example, 104 would be rounded to 100 and 105 would be rounded to 110. Dollar amounts have been rounded to the nearest thousand in all tables. The sum of the data may not add to the total due to rounding or suppression.

Data source

Income data were taken from the T1 General Income Tax and Benefit Returns and related schedules filed by individuals for the 2018 tax year. Tax filers used the following types of returns for the 2018 tax year:

Description of GST/HST credit items

Benefit year: This refers to the year for which the credit is issued. The benefit year runs from July to June, spanning two calendar years.

Tax year: This refers to the base tax year with which the credits are calculated. The base year for a particular benefit year is the preceding tax year.

GST/HST credit recipients: This refers to the number of recipients who received at least one GST/HST credit payment in the benefit year.

GST/HST credit payment amounts: This refers to the net GST/HST credit issued to a recipient.

Eligible recipient: The recipient is a resident of Canada for income tax purposes in the month prior to and at the beginning of the month in which the GST/HST credit is issued, and meets at least one of the following eligibility criteria:

Major classification variables

The following variables are used in one or more of the tables in this publication:

Province or territory of residence

Province or territory of residence - used in all tables - refers to the province or territory in which the recipient lived as of the last issuance of the benefit year.

Net family income

Net family income – used in table 1 – is calculated based on the recipient's marital status.

For recipients who are not married (see Marital status below), the net family income refers to the net income reported on line 236 of their T1 General Income Tax and Benefit Return for the 2018 tax year. For those who are married (see Marital status below), the two net incomes are combined to form the net family income.

Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) and Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) payments are not included in the adjusted net family income for calculating a recipient's GST/HST credit.

Marital status

Marital status – used in table 2 – refers to the marital status of the recipient as of the last issuance of the benefit year. Specific to the GST/HST credit, the only marital statuses shown are not married and married. Not married includes all single, separated, divorced, and widowed recipients. Married includes all married and common-law recipients.

Number of dependent children

Number of dependent children – used in table 3 – refers to the number of dependent children per recipient. Family sizes are determined as of the last issuance of the benefit year. The children must be under 18 on that date to be considered dependent.

Shared custody situations can result in two recipients claiming entitlement for the same child, and being counted separately in the tables. For further details on shared custody situations, please refer to: Shared custody.

Description of GST/HST credit tables

Each table contains the number of recipients and their respective payment amounts. In some cases, the sum of the data may not add to the total due to rounding or suppression.

Tables 1, 2, and 3:

All three tables present information according to the province or territory of residence as of the last issuance of the benefit year. For details on the province of residence classification, please refer to: Province or territory of residence.

It should be noted that eligible recipients are required to file a T1 General Income Tax and Benefit Return or a T1S-D Credit and Benefit Return to receive a GST/HST credit payment.

Table 1:

This table presents information based on net family income. The income groupings give figures for various income levels.

Certain types of income are not included in net family income because they are non-taxable. As a result, true economic income may be understated. For details on the net family income classification, please refer to: Net family income.

Table 2:

This table presents information based on marital status. For the purpose of this credit, marital statuses are grouped under two classifications: not married and married. For each married couple, only one individual is counted. For details on the marital status classification, please refer to: Marital status.

Table 3:

This table presents information based on the number of dependent children. Four different groupings give figures for various family sizes. For details on the number of dependent children classification, please refer to: Number of dependent children.

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