Specific Tax on Alcoholic Beverages

When you buy alcoholic beverages in Québec, the retailer must collect a specific tax in addition to the GST and QST. The GST and QST are calculated on the amount including the specific tax, which may not be listed separately on the sales receipt. Different rates for this specific tax apply according to where the beverage is consumed.

Alcoholic beverages sold at grocery stores, convenience stores or the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) for home consumption

The tax rates are as follows:

• $0.40 per litre for beer 
• $0.89 per litre for other alcoholic beverages

Alcoholic beverages for consumption in an establishment such as a bar, restaurant or location designated on a reunion permit

The tax rates are as follows:

• $0.65 per litre for beer 
• $1.97 per litre for other alcoholic beverages

Special cases

Special rules apply to holders of reunion permits (for social, cultural, educational or sporting events) based on whether the beverages were acquired from the SAQ or from a holder of a grocery permit.

For beer purchased from a holder of a grocery permit, the tax collected by the vendor is normally calculated using the rate applicable for home consumption. The holder of the reunion permit must therefore calculate the difference between this rate and the rate applicable for consumption in an establishment. The holder of a reunion permit to serve alcoholic beverages must remit the difference to Revenu Québec. The holder of a reunion permit to sell alcoholic beverages must collect the tax from the individuals who buy the beer and remit the previously determined difference to Revenu Québec.

For alcoholic beverages purchased from the SAQ, the tax on alcoholic beverages should be calculated using the rate applicable for consumption in an establishment. We recommend you check that such is indeed the case. In this situation, the holder of a reunion permit needs to neither recalculate the tax on alcoholic beverages nor remit it to Revenu Québec.

Tax reduction

Alcoholic beverages produced in Québec by microbreweries or small-scale producers benefit from a lower specific tax on alcoholic beverages:

• For beer brewed in Québec by a brewery whose volume of beer sold world-wide in the calendar year prior to the year in question does not exceed 30,000,000 litres, the tax reduction is:
  • 67% on the first 7,500,000 litres
  • 33% on the next 7,500,000 litres
• For other alcoholic beverages sold by a small-scale producer whose volume of beverages produced and sold world-wide in the calendar year prior to the year in question does not exceed 1,500,000 litres, the tax reduction is:
  • 100% on the first 150,000 litres
  • 85% on the next 1,350,000 litres