Individuals report their incomes and pay income tax for the year in the province in which they are resident for tax purposes on December 31.

If you leave Québec for another province or a territory of Canada at some point in a particular year and you are physically in the other province or the territory on December 31 of that year, you may be considered to have become a resident of the other province or the territory for tax purposes, depending on the circumstances.

Have you become a non-resident of Québec?

The courts have set out the following factors for determining whether you have become a non-resident of Québec for tax purposes:

• your residential ties with Québec;
• the regularity and length of your visits to Québec;
• your anticipated return to Québec at the end of the stay outside Québec.

If you leave Québec to work or study in another province or a territory of Canada but maintain your residential ties with Québec, your absence is considered temporary. In such a case, you generally continue to be a Québec resident for tax purposes despite your physical absence on December 31 of the year.

However, if you move from Québec with no intention of returning and sever all residential ties with the province, you generally stop being considered a Québec resident for tax purposes.

For more information, see the latest version of interpretation bulletin IMP. 22-3/R2, Determining the residence of an individual who has left Québec and Canada, which is available on the Publications du Québec website.

You continue to be a Québec resident

If you continue to be a Québec resident on December 31, you will have to file an income tax return in Québec and pay any income tax on your worldwide income from all sources for the entire year there.

You have become a non-resident of Québec

If you are a resident of another province or a territory of Canada on December 31 of a particular year, you will have to file an income tax return and pay any income tax on your worldwide income from all sources for the entire year there.

Note that there may be situations in which you have to file an income tax return in Québec even though you are not a Québec resident for tax purposes. For more information, see Obligations of Non-Residents with Regard to Québec Income Tax.