The Quebec lodging tax, known as the taxe sur l’hébergement, is a 3.5% charge added to the price of each overnight stay in most short-term accommodations across the province. It applies to stays shorter than 32 consecutive days at hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, and short-term rentals in 21 of Quebec’s 22 tourism regions. Guests pay it at booking or checkout, and the operator holds the money in trust until it goes to Revenu Québec.1Revenu Québec. Tax on Lodging – Paying and Billing the Tax
The Rate and One Exception
The standard rate is 3.5% of the price of the stay. Most bookings you make directly with an accommodation will use that percentage.1Revenu Québec. Tax on Lodging – Paying and Billing the Tax
There is one exception. When an intermediary such as a tour operator buys accommodation units from an establishment and then resells them to travelers, the tax becomes a flat $3.50 per night rather than a percentage. If that same intermediary rents the unit through a digital accommodation platform, the rate goes back to 3.5%.1Revenu Québec. Tax on Lodging – Paying and Billing the Tax
How It Stacks with GST and QST
The lodging tax is added before sales tax. Both the 5% federal GST and the 9.975% Quebec QST are calculated on a subtotal that already includes the 3.5% lodging tax.2Revenu Québec. Billing the 3.5% Tax on Lodging
The effect is small per night but real. On a $200 room, the lodging tax adds $7.00, and GST and QST are then charged on $207.00 rather than $200.00. Over a multi-night stay, the compounding is worth planning for.
Where the Tax Applies
Twenty-one of Quebec’s 22 tourism regions have opted in, including Montréal, Québec City, the Laurentides, Charlevoix, Gaspésie, and the Îles-de-la-Madeleine. Nunavik is the one region where the lodging tax does not apply.3Revenu Québec. Quebec Tourism Regions Where the Tax on Lodging Applies
Revenue collected stays in the region where the stay took place and funds local tourism promotion and infrastructure rather than general provincial spending.
Stays That Do Not Trigger the Tax
Several types of accommodation fall outside the tax entirely:
- Stays longer than 31 consecutive days, which are treated as longer-term rentals
- Campsites, including tent and recreational vehicle spots
- Youth tourist accommodation establishments
- Stays of six hours or less
- Occasional rentals, meaning a home rented out once a year during a festival, a period of absence, or a school break
The occasional-rental exemption is the one most commonly misread.1Revenu Québec. Tax on Lodging – Paying and Billing the Tax It covers someone renting their home once during a specific annual event, not someone who lists a property sporadically across the year. If your place appears on a booking platform for multiple weekends, the exemption almost certainly does not cover you.
What Operators Have to Do
If you rent out short-term accommodation in Quebec, the tax comes with a compliance chain that starts before your first booking.
Register with Revenu Québec
Operators register through Form LM-1-V or through the online service in the My Account for Businesses portal. Anyone already registered for other consumption taxes can add the lodging tax through the portal’s Consumption Taxes section.4Revenu Québec. Registering for the Tax on Lodging
Get a CITQ Registration Number
Quebec law also requires any short-term rental (31 days or less) to hold a registration number from the Corporation de l’industrie touristique du Québec. The CITQ certificate has to be displayed publicly at the property, and the registration number must appear in every ad, social media post, and website that promotes the accommodation.5Corporation de l’industrie touristique du Québec. CITQ – Opening a File and Getting a Registration Number To list on a transactional digital platform, you must send that certificate to the platform before the listing can go live.6Corporation de l’industrie touristique du Québec. Cottages, Condos and Homes Rented Registration
Bookings Through Registered Platforms
Major platforms including Airbnb are themselves registered with Revenu Québec for the lodging tax and collect and remit it on behalf of hosts.7Revenu Québec. List of Digital Accommodation Platform Operators Registered for the Tax on Lodging You still need your CITQ registration, but the tax side is handled for you on those bookings. Anything you rent directly to guests outside a registered platform is still your responsibility to collect and remit.
File Quarterly and Pay on Time
Operators file quarterly with Revenu Québec, and each return is due by the end of the month after the quarter it covers. The return for January through March, for example, is due April 30, no matter when your fiscal year ends.8Revenu Québec. Reporting the Tax on Lodging
Late-filing penalties escalate fast:
- 1 to 7 days late: 7% of the amount owed
- 8 to 14 days late: 11% of the amount owed
- More than 14 days late: 15% of the amount owed
These are not annualized. Interest accrues on top.9Revenu Québec. Late-Filing Penalties If you realize a return is late, remit right away rather than waiting for the next quarter; each additional day can push you into a higher bracket.
Keep Records for Six Years
Invoices, receipts, and your copy of each filed return must be kept for six years after the year they relate to. Revenu Québec can verify returns at any point in that window.8Revenu Québec. Reporting the Tax on Lodging For any stay where you did not charge the tax, keep the documentation showing why the exemption applied. Reconstructing that later, under audit, is not a position you want to be in.