What a Quebec QST number is and how to check one

What is QST? The rate, and who administers it

The Quebec sales tax (QST) is Quebec's own sales tax, calculated at 9.975% on the selling price excluding the GST, the federal goods and services tax, which is 5%. Together they come to 14.975%.

An agreement between the federal and Quebec governments has Revenu Québec administer the GST/HST in Quebec as well, following the federal rules. A registrant in Quebec deals with Revenu Québec for both taxes: the QST, and all its GST and HST matters, from returns and remittances to rebates, audits and objections. The one exception runs the other way: the Canada Revenue Agency administers the QST for selected listed financial institutions.

The QST registration number

A business registered for the QST has a QST registration number from Revenu Québec: ten digits followed by the letters TQ and four more digits, 16 characters in all, written like 1234567890 TQ 0001. The QST numbers of selected listed financial institutions, whose QST the CRA administers, have nine digits.

From $100, a supplier's GST/HST and QST registration numbers are both among the details Revenu Québec requires on the documents a registrant keeps to claim input tax credits for the GST and input tax refunds for the QST.

How to check a QST number

1. Open Revenu Québec's checker

   Go to Validate a QST Registration Number, one of Revenu Québec's services available without signing in to My Account. It is free.

2. Enter the number

   The service asks for one thing: the registration number to validate, as it appears on the invoice.

3. Read the result

   It shows the registration number, its status (such as "Valid from effective date"), the effective date of that status, the date you checked, the name of the entity and its business name.

What the QST checker does not cover

The same service also checks the QST numbers of suppliers outside Quebec. It does not check GST/HST numbers: for those, Revenu Québec points to the CRA's GST/HST Registry, explained on the GST and HST number lookup page. The nine-digit QST numbers of selected listed financial institutions cannot be checked online by either tool; for those, call the CRA.

Who must register for the GST and QST

As a rule, a business that carries on commercial activities in Quebec is required to register for the GST and the QST once its total worldwide taxable supplies, with its associates', exceed $30,000 in a calendar quarter or in the four preceding calendar quarters. That is the same small supplier test as for the GST.

Some businesses must register whatever their sales. Taxi businesses register for both taxes. And these must register for the QST even as small suppliers: retail sellers of tobacco, fuel or alcoholic beverages, sellers or lessors of new tires, and sellers or long-term lessors of road vehicles.

A small supplier may register voluntarily, but must then stay registered for at least one year, unless it stops its commercial activity.

QST registration with Revenu Québec

Revenu Québec offers three ways to register: its "Register a New Business" online service, if the business is not yet registered with Revenu Québec; the registration service in My Account for businesses, if it already is; or form LM-1-V, Application for Registration. As a rule, register before your first taxable supply in Quebec other than as a small supplier.

Revenu Québec then sends a confirmation of registration, which shows your filing frequency: how often you file your returns and remit the tax. While a new application is being processed, its tracking service for new businesses shows your identification and file numbers, and your GST account number if you have one.

QST numbers with NR: suppliers outside Quebec

A supplier outside Quebec that registers under Revenu Québec's specified QST system gets a registration number that includes the letters NR; one registered under the general system gets a TQ number like any other. On Revenu Québec's public list of suppliers outside Quebec registered for the QST, which shows each one's trade name, legal name and QST number, every number is NR followed by eight digits.

A supplier outside Canada that is not registered for the GST/HST must register under the specified system once its taxable supplies of incorporeal property or services to Quebec consumers pass $30,000 over 12 months. Buying from a supplier with an NR number gives no input tax refund. A business registered for the QST can avoid being charged by telling the supplier it is registered and giving its own QST number before completing the transaction.

The QST number, the NEQ and the business number

A Quebec business can have three different numbers. The QST number comes from Revenu Québec, for the sales tax. The Québec enterprise number (NEQ) is a ten-digit identifier given to every enterprise that registers in Quebec's enterprise register, and it is public. The business number (BN) is the Canada Revenue Agency's nine-digit number; registering in Quebec does not give you one, so a Quebec business registers for it with the CRA separately.

See business number vs GST number for the federal numbers, and what an invoice must show for an input tax credit for the QST details an invoice needs.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Validate a QST Registration Number(opens in a new tab)

  Revenu Québec's free checker.

• Basic rules for applying the GST/HST and QST(opens in a new tab)

  The QST rate, and Revenu Québec's role for the GST/HST.

• Registering for the GST and QST(opens in a new tab)

  Who must register, and who must whatever their sales.

• How to register for the GST and QST(opens in a new tab)

  The three ways to register.

• API used to validate a QST registration number(opens in a new tab)

  The shape of a QST number.

• QST registration for suppliers outside Quebec(opens in a new tab)

  NR and TQ numbers, and the specified system.

• General information concerning the QST and the GST/HST (IN-203)(opens in a new tab)

  Voluntary registration, and giving your number to a supplier.