Nova Scotia Income Tax: Brackets, Rates and Credits

Nova Scotia has five provincial tax brackets and a top provincial rate of 21%. It started indexing its tax system to inflation from the 2025 tax year, and its basic personal amount is the lowest of the ten provinces. Residents calculate provincial tax on Form NS428 with their federal return. This page covers the brackets, what changed recently, Nova Scotia’s own credits and the tax at several salaries. The general mechanics are on tax brackets in Canada, and every province is on the income tax by province hub.

Nova Scotia tax brackets

Source: Canada Revenue Agency – Canadian income tax rates for individuals, 2026. Verified September 5, 2026.

Indexing and the end of the income-based supplement

Quebec’s Finance ministry, which compares indexing across the provinces, notes that Nova Scotia has indexed its tax system since the 2025 taxation year, based on the period from September to August. The first threshold went from $30,507 in 2025 to $30,995 in 2026, an increase of 1.6%.

In the same 2025 tax year, the CRA’s Nova Scotia tax information records that the basic personal amount, the spouse or common-law partner amount, the eligible dependant amount and the age amount all increased, and that the income-based supplement that used to be added to these credits no longer applies.

Combined federal and Nova Scotia marginal rates

Adding the federal and Nova Scotia bracket rates for each slice of taxable income:

Combined marginal rate = federal rate + Nova Scotia rate at each income level, computed directly from 2026 bracket data (not a separately-maintained table). Source: Canada Revenue Agency – Canadian income tax rates for individuals and the provincial revenue agency.

The top combined rate of 54.0% applies above $258,482, where the top federal rate starts; Nova Scotia’s own top rate already applies from $157,124. That is below the top combined rate in Newfoundland and Labrador, which only applies above $1,141,275. The table adds bracket rates only; at high incomes the federal basic personal amount also shrinks, which nudges the federal rate up (how the federal amount works). For one specific income, use the marginal tax rate calculator.

Nova Scotia credits

Basic personal amount. $11,932 for 2026, claimed at the lowest Nova Scotia rate, so it is worth $1,049 of provincial tax (11,932 × 8.79%). The federal amount is $16,452.

Amount for young children (line 58230). On the 2025 return, a Nova Scotia resident at the end of the year can claim $100 a month for each dependent child under 6, up to $1,200 a year per child (12 months × $100). For each month claimed, all of these must hold:

• the child was under 6 and living with you on the first day of the month;
• no one else claimed the amount for young children for that child for that month;
• no one claimed the amount for an eligible dependant (line 58160) for the child;
• no one received a special allowance under the Children’s Special Allowances Act for the child for that month.

With a spouse or common-law partner at the end of the year, only the partner with the lower net income can claim it; with equal incomes, the couple decides.

Low-income tax reduction. You can claim it if you were a Nova Scotia resident on December 31 and were 19 or older, had a spouse or common-law partner, or were a parent. A couple decides who claims it, it is based on adjusted family income worked out on Form NS428, and it can’t be claimed by someone confined to a prison or similar institution for more than 6 months of the year. It can be claimed on a deceased resident’s final return or on the surviving spouse’s or partner’s return. The tax figures below leave it out.

Tax on sample salaries in Nova Scotia

What one employee pays at different salaries for 2026, from our take-home model: a single person whose only income is a salary, with the basic personal amounts, the Canada employment amount and the CPP and EI credits, and nothing else (no deductions other than the automatic one for enhanced CPP contributions, no other credits, no low-income reduction).

To try your own figures, use the income tax calculator.

Sales tax and provincial benefits

Nova Scotia’s HST is 14%, covered with its exemptions and rebates in Nova Scotia sales tax. The CRA also pays two Nova Scotia programs based on the income tax return: the Nova Scotia child benefit, combined with the Canada child benefit, and the Nova Scotia affordable living tax credit, combined with the federal GST/HST credit (now the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit). Neither needs a separate application.

For nearby provinces, see Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick income tax, or the provinces ranked by income tax.