Collection and Reporting
Retail sales
If you sell tobacco products at retail (This link will open a new window) in Québec, you are an agent of the Revenu Québecand, as such, must collect the tobacco tax from consumers at the time of the sale.
As a rule, you are not required to file a return with Revenu Québec concerning the tobacco tax collected from consumers, or to remit the amount collected, provided that, in conformity with the Tobacco Tax Act, you paid your supplier an amount equal to the tax at the time you acquired the tobacco products.
However, if you did not pay your supplier an amount equal to the tobacco tax, you must file a return with Revenu Québec and remit the amount of tobacco tax collected no later than the 15th day of the month following the month in which the retail sale took place.
If the amount of tobacco tax you collected is higher than the amount you paid to your supplier, you must also file a return and remit the difference to Revenu Québec. Also, if you brought tobacco into Québec with the intention of selling it at retail, you must file a return and remit the amount of tobacco tax collected.
Wholesale sales
If you sell tobacco products wholesale (This link will open a new window), you are an agent of the Minister of Revenue and, as such, are generally required to collect an amount equal to the tobacco tax from every person to whom you sell or deliver (or cause to be delivered) tobacco whose packaging is identified in accordance with the Act, or any other packages of tobacco intended for retail sale in Québec. However, this requirement does not apply if you sell cigars to another collection officer.
In addition, you must, by the 15th day of the month following the month in which the sale was made, file a return with Revenu Québec attesting to the amount you collected or should have collected during the month of the sale.
If, contrary to the Tobacco Tax Act, you did not pay your supplier an amount equal to the tobacco tax respecting the tobacco sold during the period in question, you must remit the amount to Revenu Québec. If the amount you collected or should have collected is higher than the amount you remitted to your supplier respecting the tobacco in question, you must remit the difference to Revenu Québec.
As a collection officer, you must include Schedule TA-17.5-V with your return to report your wholesale sales of cigars made in this period. This schedule is enclosed with the tobacco tax return form you receive each month.
When a collection officer sells cigars to a retail vendor, the collection officer must issue to the retail vendor an invoice indicating the following for each type of cigar sold:
The invoice must also include the following:
- sale date
- dealer’s first name, last name and address
- purchaser’s first name, last name and address
- Important
- The amount equal to the tobacco tax must be indicated separately on any document attesting to the sale.