The Charter of the French language and its regulations govern the consultation of English-language content.

Applying a Tax Refund to the Payment of Tax Owing

You may wish to use a GST or QST refund or rebate (such as a refund of an amount of tax paid in error or a rebate for public service bodies) for a given period to offset the net GST or QST payable for the same period. To do so, you must complete the appropriate application and file it along with your GST or QST return.

If you file a single return for both the GST and the QST, you can use a QST refund to offset GST payable, and vice versa. In this case, you would remit the difference to us, or claim it as a refund, as applicable. However, we do not generally allow registrants to offset GST payable using a QST refund if they have:

  • other debts to the federal or Québec government (even if a tax debt agreement has been reached); or
  • failed to file a return for a previous reporting period.
Example

You collected $1,200 in GST and $2,400 in QST. You are entitled to an input tax credit (ITC) of $1,750 and an input tax refund (ITR) of $150.

GST collected $1,200
ITC $1,750
Refund of net GST ($550)
QST collected $2,400
ITR $150
Net QST payable $2,250
Net QST to be remitted $2,250
Refund of net GST $550
Amount of remittance $1,700

If you have branches or divisions that file separate GST and QST returns, you can use the refund of one branch or division to offset the tax payable by another (GST offset by QST, or vice versa). To do so, you must file the returns of the branches or divisions at the same time.

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