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Account & Billing

Selling to Québec: the QST registration alert

Know when your sales to Québec approach CA$30,000 in 12 months, the point at which Revenu Québec expects a business in Canada outside Québec to register for the QST.

Overview

If your business is in Canada but outside Québec, Revenu Québec expects you to register for the Québec sales tax (QST) once your taxable sales to consumers in Québec pass CA$30,000 over 12 months. This is Revenu Québec's specified system for suppliers outside Québec. BestWebby keeps a running total of your sales shipped to Québec and tells you when it reaches 80% and 100% of that amount.

This alert is information, not tax advice. Read Revenu Québec's own page, QST registration for suppliers outside Québec, or ask your accountant before you act on it.

What we count

Once a day, for the last 365 days:

  • paid orders whose shipping address is in Québec, in Canadian dollars;
  • the amount before tax, with shipping included and any refunds taken off.

Orders in other currencies are not counted. Sales to Québec businesses that are registered for the QST do not count towards Revenu Québec's threshold, but an order does not tell us whether the buyer is one, so our figure can be higher than yours. It is never lower for the orders it covers.

Who gets the alert

Your store gets the alert when its Origin address (Shipping → Origin address) is in Canada, in a province other than Québec. A store in Québec is under a different set of rules and is not alerted. If your origin address has no province, we cannot tell where you are, so add it to receive the alert.

When you are told

  • At 80% (about CA$24,000): a heads-up that you are getting close.
  • At 100% (CA$30,000): your sales to Québec have passed the threshold.

Each one is sent once, in the dashboard and by email to the owner, admins and managers. If your total falls well back below a level (under 90% of it, for example after refunds or as older orders leave the 12 months), that level is reset and you are told again if you cross it later. If you cross both at once, you get the 100% message only.

You can change who gets it, and how, under Settings → Notifications (Sales to Québec are nearing the QST registration threshold).

What stays with you

  • Registering. BestWebby does not register you with Revenu Québec.
  • Charging QST. Your store charges QST only once you add a Québec rate under Finance → Tax rules. Nothing changes at checkout because of this alert.
  • Filing. Returns and remittances are yours to make, through Revenu Québec.