Operators of a Restaurant Establishment
GST and QST
As a rule, you must register for the GST and QST if you operate a restaurant establishment in Québec.
If you sell alcoholic beverages, you must register for the QST before making your first sale, regardless of the total amount of your annual taxable sales.
Once registered for the GST and QST, you must file a GST and QST return for each reporting period.
For more information on the GST and QST, see GST/HST and QST.
Applying the GST and QST in the food services sector
Special rules regarding the GST and QST apply to certain food products. For more information, see Food Services Sector – Applying the GST and QST.
Specific tax on alcoholic beverages
If you sell alcoholic beverages in your establishment, you are required to collect the specific tax on alcoholic beverages. To do that, you must be registered for the QST.
Depending on your activities, you may also have other obligations, such as registering for the GST.
For more information, see Specific Tax on Alcoholic Beverages.
Mandatory billing
We have put mandatory billing measures in place to ensure healthy competition and foster tax fairness in the Québec restaurant sector.
If you operate a restaurant establishment, one of your obligations is to give your customers bills without delay and at all times.
For more information, see Mandatory Billing in the Restaurant Sector.
Tips
If you are an employer in the restaurant sector and your employees receive tips directly or indirectly as part of their duties in a regulated establishment subject to the tax measures respecting the reporting of tips, you have tax obligations.
For example, at the end of every pay period, you must add your employees' tips to their base wages to calculate their source deductions and employer contributions. You must also complete an employer's statement of tips and tippable sales for each calendar year.
For more information, see Tips.
Tips offered freely to employees for their services are not subject to the GST or the QST. However, tips added automatically to the bill as service charges are taxable.
Source deductions and contributions on certain advantages granted to your employees
If you are an employer in the restaurant sector, you might grant certain benefits to your employees. In this case, you may be required to make source deductions and pay employer contributions on the value of the benefits. The following pages contain helpful information:
For more information on source deductions and employer contributions, see the Source Deductions and Employer Contributions page.