Step 3 – Register for the GST and QST – Short-Term Accommodations
If you carry on commercial activities in Québec and the total of your and your associates' worldwide taxable supplies (including the amounts you received for the rental of one or more accommodation units) exceeds $30,000 in a given calendar quarter or for the four calendar quarters that precede the given quarter, you must register for the GST and QST.
The $30,000 limit must include the fair market value (FMV) of the amounts received in any barter, exchange or transfer transactions as well as the income from any commercial activity. Do not include amounts from financial services, sales of capital property or the goodwill of a business.
Small supplier
If your total taxable supplies do not exceed $30,000 in a given calendar quarter or for the four calendar quarters that precede it, you are considered a small supplier and as such you are not required to register for the GST and QST or to collect these taxes.
However, if you do business through a digital accommodation platform operated by a person registered for the taxes, this person must collect the GST and QST on your taxable supplies and remit them to us even if you are a small supplier.
If you are a small supplier, you can choose to register for the GST and QST if you meet certain criteria. You must then collect and remit those taxes each time you rent out an accommodation unit. You will be able to claim an input tax credit (ITC) and input tax refund (ITR) for some expenses incurred to rent out the unit.
If you are registered for the GST and QST and you rent out an accommodation unit through a digital platform whose operator is registered for the taxes, you must report and remit the GST and QST on your taxable supplies, even if the renter pays the rent amount to the platform operator.
Self-employed persons
If you are a self-employed person (such as a hairdresser or an electrician), you must include the amounts you received for short-term rentals of an accommodation unit in your total taxable supplies to determine whether they exceed $30,000.
From January 1 to December 31, 2022, you sold $26,000 of handcrafted jewellery. You also received $5,600 for short-term rentals of your cottage.
| Sales of handcrafted jewellery | $26,000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Rental of a cottage for short-term stays | + | $5,600 |
| Total taxable supplies | = | $31,600 |
Since your total taxable supplies exceed $30,000 in the first four consecutive calendar quarters preceding the first calendar quarter of 2023, you are no longer a small supplier and must register for the GST and QST. You must collect the taxes on your taxable supplies as of the date of registration.