Purchase of a New Road Vehicle
Calculating and paying the GST
If you make a retail purchase of a new road vehicle, you must pay the GST to the dealer. As a rule, the GST is calculated on the sale price agreed upon with the dealer.
Calculating and paying the QST
If you purchase a new road vehicle, you must pay the QST calculated on the sale price agreed upon with the dealer.
If the road vehicle is a new motor vehicle, you can ask the dealer to register the vehicle using the online services of the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ). Otherwise you must go to a SAAQ registration centre. The QST is paid to the SAAQ upon registration. For other types of road vehicles, such as motorcycles, snowmobiles, trailers and all-terrain vehicles, the QST is always collected by the dealer who sold you the road vehicle.
The dealer must calculate the QST and provide you with a sales contract or other document clearly showing the amount of QST payable to the SAAQ, as well as other information, including:
- the sale price;
- the amount on which QST was calculated;
- the amount of GST charged;
- the trade-in amount, if applicable;
- the delivery date.
If you do not register the motor vehicle within 15 days following the delivery date, the QST will be considered payable at the time the vehicle is actually delivered to you.
If, as a purchaser of a motor vehicle, you paid the QST to the vendor in error, you still have to pay the QST to the SAAQ when registering. Moreover, Revenu Québec will not refund you the QST amount paid to the vendor.
To recover the QST amount paid in error, you must deal directly with the vendor. Neither Revenu Québec nor the SAAQ will refund (as an ITR or in another manner) the QST amount wrongly paid to the vendor.
Certain dealers act as the purchaser's mandatary for the purpose of registering a vehicle and paying the QST to the SAAQ. If your dealer provides these services, you can pay the registration fee and the QST to the dealer. However, should the dealer fail to remit these amounts to the SAAQ, you will have to pay the amounts again directly to the SAAQ.
Property and services acquired with a motor vehicle
If the price of property or services sold along with a motor vehicle is listed separately on the sales contract, the purchaser must pay the QST applicable to the property and services to the dealer. Examples of such property and services include:
- extended warranty or coverage;
- paint sealer;
- rust-proofing treatment;
- anti-theft marking;
- upholstery protection;
- remote starter;
- electronic starter lock;
- anti-theft system.
Road vehicle equipped with new tires
A person that purchases a road vehicle equipped with new tires must pay the specific duty on new tires.
As a rule, the GST and QST apply to the specific duty on new tires.
The GST does not apply if:
- the vendor is a small supplier that is not registered for the GST; or
- the sale of the road vehicle or tires, or the lease of the road vehicle, is zero-rated under the GST system.
The QST does not apply if the sale of the road vehicle or tires, or the lease of the road vehicle, is zero-rated under the QST system.
Accommodation sales of road vehicles
Where a person acquires a road vehicle from a dealer and asks the dealer to act as an intermediary in the sale of the person's old vehicle to a third party, the sale is known as an “accommodation sale.” See Accommodation Sales of Road Vehicles for details on how to calculate the taxes in this situation.