Catch-up
What happens to the GST credit and child benefit if you do not file?
2026-10-30 · 6 min read · Tax Everyday, Vaughan
Those payments are not a courtesy. The GST/HST credit, the Canada Child Benefit, and the Ontario Trillium Benefit are calculated from a filed T1. If the return is missing, CRA does not have the income figure it uses, and the payments stop or never begin. Filing the missing year is the switch. There is no separate “please restart my benefits” form that replaces the return.
The Guaranteed Income Supplement is income-tested using the return as well. Seniors lose that supplement over a missing file more often than they lose Old Age Security itself. OAS is not automatically cancelled because a T1 is late. Treat the letters separately and read which program actually wrote to you.
How far back the payments can go
Benefit programs have their own retroactive limits, and they are not identical to the three-year income-tax refund rule. A Canada Child Benefit claim generally has a limited retroactive period. Waiting “until we do all ten years” can push a child-benefit month past the period CRA will pay. File the years CRA needs for the benefit even if the older tax years are still being rebuilt.
- GST/HST credit: no return, no quarterly credit.
- Canada Child Benefit: no return from the person who must file, no monthly payment.
- Ontario Trillium Benefit: needs the Ontario part of the T1, including rent or property tax if you claim it.
- A spouse who does not file can block the other spouse. CRA often wants both returns.
- A balance owing does not bar you from filing. Pay what you can, or ask for an arrangement after the returns exist.
File the benefit years first when money is tight
If you can only gather two years this month, gather the years the benefit letter names, plus any refund year still inside the three-year window. Tell us which benefit stopped and the date of the last payment. That date decides the order.
Straightforward personal years are $90 plus HST. Families with children, a spouse, and childcare or rent receipts are still personal returns. They are quoted if the file is thicker than a T4 year. Book a time or start the personal tax form and upload the benefit letter with the slips.
Short answers
My GST credit stopped two years ago. Will I get those quarters back?+
Maybe, for the period the credit’s own rules still allow, and only after the returns for those years are assessed. Do not assume every missed quarter is repaid. File, then read the notice.
Can I get the child benefit if my ex is the one who did not file?+
The person who is required to file has to file. If you are the eligible parent, your own return is the one that matters, and CRA may still ask for the other parent’s income. Bring both names and the dates the children lived with you.
Want this applied to your file?
These notes are general. A return is prepared only after we see your slips.