How much disability tax credit will I get?

For the 2025 tax year the federal disability amount is $10,138, which cuts federal tax by roughly $1,520 at the 15 percent rate. A child under 18 can claim $16,052, worth about $2,408. Because the credit is non-refundable, you keep only as much as the tax you actually owe.

That last sentence is where most pages stop being useful. The disability tax credit is not a cheque and not a monthly payment. It is a reduction of tax payable, so two people with identical CRA approvals can end up with very different amounts. Below is the arithmetic, written out step by step, with your own figures easy to substitute.

How much is the disability tax credit worth in 2025?

For 2025 an adult claims a disability amount of $10,138. Multiplied by the roughly 15 percent federal non-refundable rate, that is about $1,520.70 off federal tax. A person under 18 adds the $5,914 supplement for a combined $16,052, worth roughly $2,407.80. Those are ceilings, not guaranteed payments.

The left-hand column is the amount you write on your return. The right-hand column is what it is actually worth to you federally. Confusing the two is the most common mistake we see. Someone reads $10,138 and expects a cheque for $10,138, when the federal credit behind it is about $1,520.70. The CRA sets out the amount itself on its line 31600 disability amount page.

The 15 percent figure is the federal non-refundable credit rate. We describe it as roughly 15 percent because that is how the CRA describes it, and because rounding at the return level can shift the final cent or two. For planning purposes, treat $1,520 as the realistic federal ceiling for an adult in 2025.

How do you calculate your own DTC amount?

Take the disability amount for the year, multiply it by about 15 percent, then compare the result to the federal tax you would still owe after your other non-refundable credits. Your benefit is whichever number is smaller. Provincial credits are calculated separately and added on top.

Here is that comparison run all the way through for an adult who owes a meaningful amount of federal tax. The $4,200 figure is an assumption chosen to illustrate the arithmetic, not a CRA number. Replace it with the federal tax figure from your own notice of assessment and the rest of the table still works.

This taxpayer gets the full value because step 4 comfortably exceeds step 3. Nothing is wasted. If you want to sketch the same comparison for your own household before you file, our RDSP and disability credit calculator walks through the same logic with your numbers.

One assumption is doing quiet work in step 4. Federal tax still payable means the tax left after your basic personal amount and other non-refundable credits have already been applied. Real returns apply credits in a set order, so the exact residual can differ from a rough estimate. The direction of the answer does not change.

What if your tax payable is lower than the credit?

Then you get less than the maximum. The credit is non-refundable, so it can bring federal tax down to zero but never below it. Any unused portion is not paid out in cash. It may instead be transferred to a supporting spouse, parent or other qualifying relative.

This is the case almost every competing article skips, and it describes a large share of the people who ask the question. Someone on a modest fixed income may owe very little federal tax. Here is the same calculation with $600 of federal tax payable instead of $4,200.

The approval is identical in both examples. The outcome differs by $920.70 purely because of tax payable. That unused $920.70 is not lost automatically. Where the person with the impairment cannot use the full amount, the balance can be transferred to a supporting person on line 31800, or between spouses and common-law partners on line 32600.

The practical takeaway is that the credit is often worth more to a household than to an individual. Before you assume the credit is not worth pursuing because income is low, check whether a parent, spouse or other supporting relative can absorb the transfer.

Do provincial credits add to the federal amount?

Yes. Every province and territory runs its own disability amount with its own dollar figure and its own rate, applied to provincial tax payable. That provincial credit stacks on top of the federal one, so your total saving is larger than the federal number alone. We do not quote provincial figures here.

We leave the provincial numbers out on purpose. They are set by thirteen separate governments, they are indexed on different schedules, and a stale figure in an article like this one does more harm than no figure at all. Quebec administers its own income tax system and its own credit for a severe and prolonged impairment, entirely separate from the federal one.

So read every federal number on this page as a floor rather than a total. Your combined federal and provincial saving will be higher. How much higher depends on where you filed on December 31 of the tax year in question. Your provincial tax form, or the software you file with, applies that layer automatically once the federal approval is in place.

How much can you claim for a child under 18?

A person under 18 at year end can claim the $10,138 disability amount plus the $5,914 supplement, for $16,052. At roughly 15 percent that is about $2,407.80 in federal credit. The supplement shrinks if child care or attendant care expenses were claimed for that child.

The supplement alone is worth about $887.10 federally, since $5,914 multiplied by 0.15 comes to $887.10. That is the difference between an adult claim and a child claim in the same year, all else being equal. Parents usually claim the child amount themselves, since a minor rarely has enough tax payable to use it.

The reduction rule matters. If someone claimed child care expenses on line 21400 for that child in the year, or attendant care expenses on line 33099 or line 33199, or the child claimed attendant care on line 21500 or line 33099, the supplement is reduced. It is a trade-off rather than a penalty, and which route leaves you better off depends on the size of those expense claims.

Separately from the credit, an approved child may open the door to the child disability benefit. For the July 2026 to June 2027 period that is up to $3,480 per year, or $290.00 per month, per eligible child. It requires eligibility for both the Canada child benefit and the DTC, and it starts to be reduced once adjusted family net income exceeds $82,847, at 3.2 percent of the excess for one eligible child and 5.7 percent for two or more.

How much is a 10 year retroactive claim worth?

The CRA allows adjustments for up to 10 years. Adding the disability amounts from 2016 through 2025 gives $88,311, worth about $13,246.65 federally at 15 percent. You only collect that if you had enough tax payable in each of those years, which many people do not.

Read that bottom row carefully. The $13,246.65 is the sum of ten separate annual ceilings, and each year is capped independently by the tax you owed in that year. A year in which you owed $400 of federal tax contributes $400, not $1,286. Retroactive totals quoted elsewhere are almost always the uncapped version.

The under-18 column adds up to $51,515 across the same decade, which is about $7,727.25 of additional federal credit for a child who was eligible throughout. The CRA explains the adjustment mechanics on its claiming the DTC page, and each prior year is reassessed on its own terms.

What raises or lowers the amount you actually get?

Your age at year end, the number of years you claim, the federal tax you owe, your province, and whether anyone claimed child care or attendant care expenses for a child. None of these change the approval itself. They change how much of the approved amount converts into money.

None of it applies until the CRA approves Form T2201, certified by a medical practitioner. Two recent changes are worth knowing about: since July 14, 2026 the submit documents section of a CRA account can no longer be used to send DTC applications unless the CRA asked for more information, and as of September 8, 2026 versions of the form published before 2023 are no longer accepted.

Approval also unlocks a registered disability savings plan, which is where the credit stops being a one-time tax adjustment and starts compounding. If you are not sure whether the impairment meets the criteria, our disability tax credit eligibility guide covers what the certifying practitioner has to attest to, and you can start an application with us when you are ready.

We cannot promise an approval or a specific refund figure, and neither can anyone else. What we can tell you is that the ceiling for an adult in 2025 is about $1,520.70 federally, that the number you receive is bounded by the tax you owe, and that the provincial layer sits on top of both.

Frequently asked questions

Is the disability tax credit paid out as a cheque?

No. It is a non-refundable credit applied against tax payable on your return, not a monthly benefit. If a past year is reassessed you may receive a refund of tax already paid for that year, but the credit itself never creates a payment beyond the tax you owed.

What is the maximum disability tax credit for 2025?

The disability amount is $10,138 for someone 18 or older, and $16,052 for someone under 18 once the $5,914 supplement is added. At roughly 15 percent federally, that works out to about $1,520.70 and about $2,407.80 in federal credit, before any provincial credit is calculated separately.

Can I get the credit if I do not owe any tax?

Not directly. With no federal tax payable there is nothing for a non-refundable credit to reduce. The unused amount can often be transferred to a spouse, common-law partner, parent or other supporting relative who does owe tax, using lines 31800 or 32600 of their return.

How far back can I claim the disability tax credit?

Up to 10 years. For 2016 through 2025 the disability amounts total $88,311, which is roughly $13,246.65 of federal credit at 15 percent. The real figure depends on the tax you actually owed in each year, so treat that total as an upper limit only.

Does the child disability benefit come with the DTC?

It can. From July 2026 to June 2027 the child disability benefit pays up to $3,480 per year, or $290.00 monthly, per eligible child. You must qualify for both the Canada child benefit and the DTC. Payments shrink once adjusted family net income passes $82,847.

Do provincial credits change how much I get?

Yes, and often by a meaningful amount. Each province and territory sets its own disability amount and its own credit rate against provincial tax payable. That sits on top of the federal credit shown here. We do not publish provincial figures because they change independently of the federal ones.

Do I need approval before I can claim any amount?

Yes. The CRA must approve Form T2201 first, certified by a medical practitioner, before any disability amount can go on a return. Approval is also required to open and maintain a registered disability savings plan, so the two steps are worth completing in order.