Effective July 17, 2025, restaurants can charge no-show fees of up to $10 per person. For more information, see the Office de la protection du consommateur website.

No property or service is supplied when a restaurant reservation isn't kept. However, restaurant owners can charge a no-show fee to the person who made the reservation.

These fees are not paid as consideration for the taxable supply of a property or service. Although the GST/HST and QST do not apply under the general rules, a specific rule provides that when an amount is paid following the modification, cancellation or failure to uphold a contract on the taxable supply of a property or service (other than a zero-rated supply), such as a meal, that amount (i.e. the no-show fee) is deemed to include the amount of the consideration for the taxable supply and the applicable taxes.

Under this rule, the person who made the reservation is deemed to have paid consideration calculated using the following formula:

100 ÷ (100 + tax rate) × fee

In addition, the restaurant owner is deemed to have collected the taxes on the supply calculated at the applicable rates for the consideration, and the person who made the reservation is deemed to have paid them.

Example