All the Numbers

Ontario's credits for lower incomes

From the All the Numbers wiki · Tax

Ontario has three income-tested credits that matter at modest incomes. One lowers income tax and two are paid out as cash. Each shrinks as income rises, so they matter most near the bottom of the range and are nil above it. The federal side of family benefits is covered in benefits tested on family income; the other Ontario payment, for children, is the Ontario Child Benefit, and the federal counterpart of the sales tax credit is the GST/HST credit.

The rules (2026)

  • LIFT, the Low-income Individuals and Families Tax credit. 5.05% of employment income, up to $875.[1][2] It is reduced by 5% of the amount by which adjusted individual net income exceeds $32,500 (nil at $50,000)[3] or adjusted family net income exceeds $65,000 (nil at $82,500),[4] whichever reduction is greater.[5] It reduces Ontario tax and cannot be paid beyond it.
  • Ontario sales tax credit. $378 for each adult and each child under 19,[6] reduced by 4% of adjusted family net income over $29,047 for a single person, or $36,309 with a spouse or children.[7][8][9]
  • Ontario energy and property tax credit. Based on occupancy cost, which is 20% of rent paid plus property tax paid.[10] The energy part is the occupancy cost up to $290.[11] The property tax part is 10% of occupancy cost up to $944 plus $73[12][13][14] (at 64 and over, up to $581 plus $617).[15][16][17] It is reduced by 2%[18] of adjusted family net income above $29,047 for a single person under 64, $36,309 for couples under 64, single parents and single seniors, or $43,571 for senior couples.[19][20][21]
  • Ontario Trillium Benefit. The sales tax credit and the energy and property tax credit are paid together under this name, from a return filed for the base year.[22] An entitlement of $500 or less is paid in one July payment.[23] Larger entitlements are paid monthly from July. Under $2 nothing is paid,[24] and between $2 and $10 it is paid as $10.[25]

What the engine does

  • Calculates LIFT in the annual assessment, after the Ontario tax reduction and before the health premium, limited to the Ontario tax left to offset. It uses adjusted family net income where the household has one, otherwise the person's own; see income tax brackets.
  • Pays the sales tax credit and the energy and property tax credit in every Ontario plan, from the base year's family income, as the Trillium Benefit on the schedule above. The energy and property tax credit reads the rent the plan pays and the property tax on your home in that year; while part of the home is rented, only the part you live in counts. For the year before the plan, which the plan does not hold, it takes the plan's first six months of rent and property tax, doubled. This is our convention.[26] See benefits tested on family income.
  • Treats the receipts as cash, not income.

What it deliberately does not

  • The June lump-sum election for the Trillium Benefit is not modelled.
  • The Northern Ontario energy credit is not modelled.
  • Long-term-care and on-reserve energy costs are left out of the energy and property tax credit.
  • Adjusted family net income omits the UCCB and RDSP adjustments and split income.

See also

  • Benefits tested on family income · The Canada Child Benefit, the GST/HST credit, the provincial child benefits and the Ontario Trillium Benefit are calculated on family net income and on facts about children and rent. All the Numbers pays the child benefits for the children you enter, and the GST/HST credit and your province's sales-tax and low-income credits to every household; Ontario's energy and property tax credit is not yet in a plan.
  • Combined marginal tax rates · The marginal rate is the federal and Ontario tax on the next dollar of income. In 2026 it runs from 19.05% to 53.53% on ordinary income, and the top rate is lower on capital gains and dividends than on interest.
  • GST/HST credit (Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit) · A quarterly tax-free payment to people with low and modest incomes, now called the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit. Every plan includes it, worked out from the household's family net income.
  • Income tax brackets and your marginal rate · Federal and Ontario tax are each charged in slices of income at rising rates, then reduced by credits, with an Ontario surtax and health premium on top. The marginal rate is what the next dollar costs; the average rate is total tax over income.
  • Ontario Child Benefit · An Ontario monthly payment of up to $146.66 for each child under 18, reduced as family income rises above $26,865. All the Numbers pays it for the children you enter, with the Canada Child Benefit.

References

  1. ↑ontario.ca — Low-Income Workers Tax Credit · LIFT: this rate of employment income, capped at the maximum · 5.05% · effective 2022-01-01
  2. ↑ontario.ca — Low-Income Workers Tax Credit ("$875 or 5.05% of your employment income, whichever is lower"); Taxation Act, 2007 s.103.0.5 · Ontario LIFT credit maximum (2022 and later) · $875 · effective 2022-01-01
  3. ↑ontario.ca — Low-Income Workers Tax Credit · LIFT reduced by the reduction rate of adjusted individual net income over this · $32,500 · effective 2022-01-01
  4. ↑ontario.ca — Low-Income Workers Tax Credit · LIFT reduced by the reduction rate of adjusted family net income over this; the greater of the two reductions applies · $65,000 · effective 2022-01-01
  5. ↑ontario.ca — Low-Income Workers Tax Credit · LIFT reduction rate · 5% · effective 2022-01-01
  6. ↑CRA — Province of Ontario, OSTC; Taxation Act, 2007 s.103.8 · Ontario sales tax credit for each adult and each child under 19 · $378 · effective 2026-07-01
  7. ↑CRA — Province of Ontario, OSTC · OSTC reduction rate · 4% · effective 2010-07-01
  8. ↑CRA — Province of Ontario, OSTC · OSTC reduced by the reduction rate of adjusted net income over this (single, no children) · $29,047 · effective 2026-07-01
  9. ↑CRA — Province of Ontario, OSTC · OSTC reduced by the reduction rate of adjusted family net income over this (with a spouse or children) · $36,309 · effective 2026-07-01
  10. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheets, Step 1 · OEPTC occupancy cost: this share of rent paid, plus property tax paid (plus a flat amount for a student residence) · 20% · effective 2010-07-01
  11. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheets, Step 2 ("D or $290.00, whichever is less") · OEPTC energy component: occupancy cost capped at this · $290 · effective 2026-07-01
  12. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheets, Step 3 · OEPTC property tax component, as a share of occupancy cost before the cap and add-on · 10% · effective 2010-07-01
  13. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheet, single individuals no children, Step 3 · OEPTC property tax component, under 64: the property share of occupancy cost capped at this, plus the add-on, capped at the occupancy cost · $944 · effective 2026-07-01
  14. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheet, Step 3 · OEPTC property tax add-on, under 64 · $73 · effective 2026-07-01
  15. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheet, single seniors no children, Step 3 · OEPTC property tax component, 64+ at December 31 of the base year: the property share of occupancy cost capped at this, plus the senior add-on · $581 · effective 2026-07-01
  16. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheet, seniors, Step 3 · OEPTC property tax add-on, seniors · $617 · effective 2026-07-01
  17. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheets ("64 or older on December 31, 2025") · OEPTC senior rules apply from age 64 at December 31 of the base year · 64 years · effective 2010-07-01
  18. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheets, Step 4 · OEPTC reduction rate on AFNI over the threshold · 2% · effective 2010-07-01
  19. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheet, single individuals no children, Step 4 · OEPTC reduction threshold, single under 64 with no children · $29,047 · effective 2026-07-01
  20. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheets (married/common-law; single with children; single seniors), Step 4 · OEPTC reduction threshold, couples under 64, single parents and single seniors · $36,309 · effective 2026-07-01
  21. ↑CRA — 2026 OEPTC calculation sheet, married or common-law seniors, Step 4 · OEPTC reduction threshold, married/common-law seniors · $43,571 · effective 2026-07-01
  22. ↑ontario.ca — Ontario Trillium Benefit, "How you get the OTB" · OTB payment schedule: an entitlement up to the one-payment limit is paid in July, a larger one monthly from July (a June lump-sum election exists and is not modelled) · See the source · effective 2026-07-01
  23. ↑ontario.ca — Ontario Trillium Benefit · OTB entitlements at or below this are paid in one July payment · $500 · effective 2026-07-01
  24. ↑ontario.ca — Ontario Trillium Benefit · OTB entitlement at or below this is not paid · $2 · effective 2010-07-01
  25. ↑ontario.ca — Ontario Trillium Benefit · OTB entitlements over the floor and under this are paid as this · $10 · effective 2010-07-01
  26. ↑CRA — Ontario energy and property tax credit questions and answers: rent and property tax paid for the principal residence (Q10, Q11); not the part of a home used for rental or business (Q12) · The Ontario energy and property tax credit reads the rent and property tax the plan pays on the home in each base year (only the part you live in while part is rented). The credit paid from July of the first year is for the year before the plan, which the plan does not hold: it takes the plan's first six months of rent and property tax, doubled · effective 2026-11-02