We can use a refund that we or the Québec government owes an individual or business to repay their tax debt. For example, if you qualify for tax credits, we can use them to pay or reduce your income tax balance.

We can register a legal hypothec on your movable or immovable property, including:

• your residence, rental property, automobile or recreational vehicle
• business assets and property such as machinery, inventory or IT equipment

We can then exercise hypothecary recourse such as a sale under judicial authority.

If a debt must be recovered under one of Québec's tax laws, fees for registering or cancelling the hypothec may be added to your debt. These fees are charged in accordance with tax legislation and bear interest at the legal rate (see Interest Rates on Debts).

Under this administrative procedure, we can require a third person to send us any amount owing to you so we can use it to pay your debt. A third person can be:

• an employer
• a financial institution
• a client
• a tenant
• any other physical or legal person who owes you money

Steps

• We send a Notice from the Minister of Revenue to a Garnishee (or a Formal Demand for Payment for GST/HST debt) to a third party who owes you money.
• Upon receiving the notice of seizure, the third person must remit the amount you are owed to us.
• Once we receive the money, we use it to pay part or all of your tax debt.

What we can seize

We can seize:

• the seizable portion of your income (through your employer)
• a bank account
• accounts receivable
• rental income (if you own rental property)
• any other amount a third party owes you

In some cases, we can hold a third party (a physical or legal person) solidarily liable for your debt. This includes:

• a director of a corporation
• a relative, such as your spouse, to whom you transferred property to the detriment of your creditors
• the liquidator of property

For example, if a corporation has QST and source deductions debt, we can hold its directors solidarily liable for the corporation's debt and take recourse against them. They may therefore have to pay the amounts the corporation owes.

We can issue a certificate attesting that your debt is payable and specifying the amount owing. Once it has been filed at the office of the Court of Québec, the Superior Court or, in the case of GST/HST debt, the Federal Court, the certificate is equivalent to a judgment rendered by a competent court and is equally enforceable.

We can have your movable and immovable property seized and sold under judicial authority. This property includes:

• your residence, rental property, automobile or recreational vehicle
• business assets and property such as machinery, inventory or IT equipment

The net proceeds of the sale will be used to pay part or all of your debt.