Calculating and Collecting the Tax on Lodging
The tax on lodging must be collected every time an amount is received as consideration for an accommodation unit rented for more than six hours per 24-hour period in an establishment that is subject to the tax and located in a tourism region where the tax applies.
For more information on the establishments subject to this tax, see Establishments Subject to the Tax on Lodging.
Calculating the tax on lodging
The tax on lodging is usually 3.5% of the price of an overnight stay.
However, it is $3.50 per overnight stay if:
- the accommodation unit is rented to an intermediary (a person, such as a tour operator, who rents it to another person);
- an intermediary rents an accommodation unit to another person.
For more information, see Tax on Lodging (IN-260-V).
Rental made through a digital accommodation platform
If an accommodation unit is rented through a digital accommodation platform and the person operating the platform and the person operating the establishment are both registered for the tax on lodging, only the operator of the platform must collect the tax, provided it receives all amounts as consideration for the rental of the unit.
If the operator of the platform receives only part of the amount paid for the rental of the unit, it must calculate and collect the tax on lodging only on that amount.
In addition, the operator of a sleeping-accommodation establishment that receives only part of the amount paid for the rental of an accommodation unit must calculate and collect the tax on lodging only on that amount.
The operator of a digital accommodation platform and the operator of a sleeping-accommodation establishment each receive $60 as consideration for the rental of an accommodation unit (total consideration of $120). They must both calculate and collect the tax on lodging on the $60 they received ($2.10 each).
The rate is 3.5% (instead of $3.50 per overnight stay) when an accommodation unit is rented to an intermediary through a digital accommodation platform operated by a person registered for the tax on lodging that receives the amount paid for the rental. See Billing the Tax on Lodging to an Intermediary for more information.
Tax collected in each Québec tourism region
Digital accommodation platform operators that are registered for the tax on lodging must know the tax to collect and report for each Québec tourism region.