ONTARIO TRILLIUM BENEFIT - ENERGY AND PROPERTY TAX CREDIT

What is the Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC)?

The OEPTC is a refundable tax credit designed to help offset part of the cost of:

• Property tax, and
• Sales tax on energy costs (such as electricity, gas, or heating).

Homeowners pay these costs directly, while tenants, long-term care residents, and students in school residences may pay them indirectly through rent, accommodation, or residence fees.

Because the credit is aimed at low- to moderate-income households, it is gradually reduced once family net income passes a threshold.

Eligibility: 

To qualify for the July 2026 to June 2027 benefit year, a person must:

• File a 2025 tax return
• Be a resident of Ontario on December 31, 2025, and
• Before June 1, 2027, be either:

• 18 years or older, or
• Under 18 but currently or previously had a spouse, or lived with their child.

In addition, for the Energy component, at least one of the following must apply for 2025:

• Paid rent on their principal residence;
• Paid property tax directly (or someone else paid it for them).
• Lived in a long-term care home and paid accommodation costs (or someone paid for them).

For the Property Tax component, one of the following must apply for 2024:

• Paid rent on their principal residence
• Paid property tax directly (or someone paid it for them)
• Lived in a designated Ontario university, college or private school residence.

Benefit amount for rental units and long-term care homes:

The benefit is calculated for the family as a whole. The benefit amount depends on several factors, including:

• Whether the person (or one member of a couple) is a senior,
• The amount of rent, property tax, or accommodation fees paid,
• Net family income, and
• Whether the household received an Ontario Senior Homeowners’ Property Tax Grant.

Because of all these variables, the calculation is somewhat complex and not fully explained here.

The maximum for a single person or couple, where neither is a senior, is $1,272 ($282 for energy + $990 for property tax).

The maximum for a single person or couple, where one or both are seniors, is $1,448 ($282 for energy + $1,166 for property tax).

Example benefit calculations:

Consider four low-income individuals in 2025, each paying $15,000 for accommodation:

• Person 1: Paid rent to a private landlord.
• Person 2: Paid rent to a landlord who does not pay property tax.
• Person 3: Paid accommodation fees to a private long-term care (LTC) home, with no breakdown of costs provided on the receipt.
• Person 4: Paid accommodation fees to a public LTC home.

The Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC) entitlement for each person, based on the 2025 tax year, would be as follows:

Benefit amount for student residence:

The OEPTC benefit amount is $25 ($0 energy component and $25 property tax component).

Applying in UFile:

To apply for the benefit a person must file a tax return and include the ON-BEN application form. UFile generates this form if the correct boxes are completed.

Steps in UFile:

1. Go to Ontario tax credits.
2. Click the plus sign (+) next to ON-BEN – Application for the 2026 Ontario
   Trillium Benefit.
3. In the ON-BEN section, answer “Yes” to: Do you want to apply for the 2026 OEPTC?
4. In the ON-BEN Declaration section, click the plus sign (+) next to the appropriate declaration (e.g., rent paid, property tax paid, or another applicable declaration) and complete the details.

When benefits are paid:

The OEPTC is combined with the Ontario Sales Tax Credit. If $360 or less it is paid in July after the tax year. If more than $360 it is paid in 12 monthly installments beginning in July. A person must be a resident of Ontario at the beginning of a month to receive that month's payment.

Note: The Ontario Senior Homeowners’ Property Tax Grant is issued separately, but the amount received can affect the OEPTC calculation.

Issues regarding “rent”:

See the document dedicated to this issue.

Person is unsure whether the place they lived in is a student residence:

The Ontario government maintains a list of residences that can be checked.

Spouses living in separate residences for medical reasons:

Both spouses can claim their own credit, but this requires extra steps in UFile. For example, if the head of household lives independently while their spouse resides in a long-term care (LTC) home:

1. Spouse Identification

• Answer “No” to the question: “Do you have the same address as your spouse?”

2. Spouse’s Current Address

• Enter whichever mailing address the spouse prefers (either the head’s address or the LTC home address).
• If you use the head’s address, then answer “No” to: “Is your home address the same as your mailing address?”

3. ON-BEN Section (Head and Spouse)

• Answer “yes” to the question, “Do you want to apply for the [year] OEPTC?”
• In the Involuntary separation subsection, answer “Yes” to: “Do you want to apply individually?”

4. Ontario Tax Credits Section (Head and Spouse)

• Click Ontario tax credits on the left.
• Under Separate residences, answer “Yes” to: “Do you live at a different address from your spouse?”

5. Spouse’s Rent Declaration

• If the spouse’s current address was entered as the head’s address, then in the ON-BEN rent declaration section, record the LTC home address instead.

6. Verification

• Review the benefit calculations and check both ON-BEN forms.
• Confirm that Parts B and C are completed correctly with the proper addresses.

Child pays their parent’s property tax:

Assuming the child is not a beneficial owner of the property, the child cannot declare the property tax. However, the parent can declare the property tax since the tax was paid on their behalf.

Effect of change in marital status from single to spouse:

If sometime in the tax year two single individuals become spouses, they will each be treated as single for the benefit period. For example, if two single people became spouses sometime in 2025, each will have their own OEPTC amount for the period of July 2026 to June 2027, calculated as if they were single.^[1] UFile’s calculation estimate, in error, will not reflect this, and instead will calculate the benefit based on the combined family net income.

References:

• Ontario Taxation Act, 1997, Part IV.1
• Ontario website - Ontario Trillium Benefit
• Ontario website - Energy and Property Tax Credit Questions and Answers
• ON-BEN form
• List of student residences
• List of Properties and Tax Status