Conditions for Making Source Deductions and Paying Employer Contributions
As an employer, you are required to make source deductions (income tax, Québec Pension Plan [QPP] contribution and Québec parental insurance plan [QPIP] premium) and pay employer contributions (QPP, QPIP, health services fund, Work Force Skills Development and Recognition Fund [WSDRF] and labour standards) on remuneration subject to such deductions and contributions that you pay an employee in any of the following situations:
- The employee reports for work at one of your establishments located in Québec (or is attached to such an establishment).
- The employee is not required to report for work at any of your establishments (located in Québec or elsewhere), but is paid from one of your establishments located in Québec.
Employee attached to one of your establishments
If an employee does not physically report for work at one of your establishments, we consider that they are reporting for work at one of your establishments if they are attached to the establishment.
An employee is attached to one of your establishments if both the following conditions are met:
- A temporary or permanent work agreement allows the employee to work full-time remotely from a location that is not one of your establishments (you and employee must be able to justify such an agreement).
- The employee is reasonably considered to be attached to one of your establishments (see the indicators below).
For the purposes of this policy, “employee” means teleworkers as well as employees who never have to report for work at any of your establishments (such as travelling representatives).
This policy does not apply if the employee is not considered to be working full-time remotely or if they are not considered to be attached to one of your establishments.
Indicators for determining whether an employee can reasonably be considered to be attached to one of your establishments
The following indicators must be used to determine whether an employee can reasonably be considered to be attached to one of your establishments.
Primary indicator
If there is no full-time remote work agreement and the employee would have to physically report to work to carry out their employment duties at one of your establishments, we consider the employee to be attached to that establishment.
If an employee physically reported to one of your establishments immediately before entering a full-time remote work agreement, we consider them to be attached to that establishment, unless the employee's circumstances or the nature of their duties have changed.
Secondary indicators
If the primary indicator is not useful for determining whether an employee is attached to one of your establishments, the following indicators must be used to determine whether they can reasonably be considered to be attached to that establishment:
- The employee attends or would attend in-person meetings at the establishment, through any type of communication.
- The employee receives or would receive work-related material or equipment or associated instructions and assistance at the establishment.
- The employee comes or would go in-person to the establishment to receive instructions regarding their duties, through any type of communication.
- The employee is supervised from the establishment, as indicated in their employment contract.
- The employee would report for work at the establishment based on the nature of their duties.
Generally, all the indicators need to be reviewed together in order to determine whether the employee is reasonably considered to be attached to one of your establishments. This determination cannot be used to avoid making Québec source deductions and paying Québec employer contributions.
You have more than one establishment
If an employee can be reasonably considered attached to more than one of your establishments, the same indicators should be used to determine which of your establishments the employee can be reasonably considered as more closely attached to.
An employee works for you as a systems analyst. You and the employee have an agreement authorizing the employee to work from their residence in Ontario 100% of the time. We must determine whether the employee can reasonably be considered to be attached to one of your establishments.
Had there been no agreement authorizing full-time remote work, the employee would have to physically report for work at one of your establishments located in Québec to carry out their duties. We therefore consider that the employee is attached to that establishment. As a result, we consider that the employee reports for work at one of your establishments located in Québec. You must therefore make Québec source deductions and pay Québec employer contributions on the salary or wages paid to the employee.
End of note
As a payer, you are required to make source deductions of income tax on remuneration subject to such a deduction that you pay a beneficiary who is resident in Québec at the time of the payment.
To find out if the remuneration you pay is subject to source deductions and employer contributions, go to the Table of Remuneration Subject to Source Deductions and Employer Contributions.
The table below summarizes the conditions for making source deductions and paying employer contributions.
| Deductions and contributions | First condition | Second condition |
|---|---|---|
| Québec income tax (amount paid to a beneficiary) | The amount paid is subject to source deductions of income tax. | The amount is paid to a beneficiary who is resident in Québec at the time of payment. |
| Québec income tax (amount paid to an employee) | The amount paid is subject to source deductions of income tax. | The amount is paid to an employee who reports for work at one of your establishments located in Québec (or is attached to such an establishment). or The amount is paid to an employee who is not required to report for work at any of your establishments (located in Québec or elsewhere), but is paid from one of your establishments located in Québec. |
| Québec Pension Plan (QPP) (employee and employer contributions) | The amount paid is subject to QPP contributions | |
| Québec parental insurance plan (QPIP) (employee and employer premiums) | The amount paid is subject to QPIP premiums. | |
| Health services fund | The amount paid is subject to the contribution to the health services fund. | |
| Labour standards | The amount paid is subject to the contribution related to labour standards. | |
| Workforce Skills Development and Recognition Fund (WSDRF) | The amount paid must be included in the total payroll. |
As a rule, if none of the above conditions are met, you do not have to make source deductions or pay employer contributions. However, you may still have to in some cases. For more information, visit Special Cases Concerning Establishments Located Outside Québec and Individuals Who Are Not Resident in Québec.