Do barbers in Quebec charge GST and QST on haircuts?

Short answer: yes — a registered Quebec barber charges 5% GST and 9.975% QST on every haircut and every product, both on the pre-tax price, for 14.975% in all. Registration is mandatory once taxable sales pass $30,000 in one calendar quarter or over four in a row, and Revenu Québec runs both taxes, so one registration covers both and a single combined return is optional. This post covers the receipt math, the $30,000 test, filing, tips, chair renters, voluntary registration and the BarberFlow setup.

Two taxes, one agency

Quebec never joined the HST, so a Montreal receipt carries two lines: 5% GST and 9.975% QST. Unlike BC, both apply to services and products alike — Revenu Québec's list of taxable supplies names the provision of barber and hairstylist services outright. And in Quebec, Revenu Québec administers the GST as well as the QST, so you register once with Revenu Québec, not with the CRA.

What this looks like on a Montreal receipt

Both taxes sit on the $40.00, never on $42.00. Revenu Québec's page on calculating the taxes allows a register to compute 14.975% in one step, but the 14.975% figure must not appear on the document attesting to the sale. Print GST and QST as two lines, rounding half a cent up.

When does a Quebec barber have to register?

You are a small supplier, and registration is optional, while worldwide taxable supplies made by you and your associates stay at or below $30,000. Revenu Québec's small supplier page applies one test to both taxes, with two ways past it.

• You pass $30,000 inside one calendar quarter. You stop being a small supplier immediately and must collect GST and QST on the sale that crossed the line and every sale after it.
• You pass $30,000 over four consecutive quarters but not in any single one. You stop being a small supplier at the end of the calendar month after that four-quarter period.

Tax is owed from the moment you stop being a small supplier — on the crossing sale, or on every sale after the month-end that follows the four-quarter period — so register as soon as you see the line coming, not after.

What counts toward the $30,000?

Revenu Québec's registration page counts sales, rentals, exchanges, transfers and barter, worldwide, including those of associated businesses. The small supplier page leaves out the GST and QST themselves, financial services and sales of capital property.

How often does a Quebec shop file?

Revenu Québec assigns your filing frequency from your expected annual taxable sales in Canada, and you can elect a shorter period. Because one agency runs both taxes, you can file one combined GST/HST-QST return, and since January 1, 2024 every registrant except charities files electronically.

Almost every barbershop lands in the annual row. Annual filers pay quarterly instalments only when net tax for the current or previous year is $3,000 or more, tested separately for each tax — and because QST is almost double GST, a shop can owe QST instalments while owing none on the GST. The return is due three months after year-end — June 15 for a sole proprietor with a December 31 year-end, who must still pay by April 30.

Are tips taxed in Quebec?

Not when the client chooses them. Revenu Québec's rule on tips and service charges is that tips offered freely carry no GST or QST, but tips included in the bill as mandatory or suggested service charges are taxable. The page sits under food services, but the CRA's GST/HST special cases names barbers and hairdressers in the same rule.

A terminal prompt where the client picks 15, 18, 20 or nothing is their choice; an automatic 18% on group bookings is part of your price. Quebec also regulates that prompt: the Office de la protection du consommateur says suggested tip percentages must be calculated on the price before GST and QST, with an option for the client to enter their own amount.

Chair renters have their own $30,000

A barber who rents a chair in your shop, sets their own prices and keeps their own revenue is a separate business. Their haircuts count toward their own $30,000, they register on their own GST and QST numbers, and your registration does nothing for them. The rent they pay you is a taxable supply that counts toward your threshold, and once you are registered every rent invoice carries GST and QST.

Source deductions are a separate question. Revenu Québec's page on hairdressers says a payment to a self-employed hairdresser carries no Quebec source deductions or employer contributions. Federal EI is different: the shop is the deemed employer and pays both shares of the renter's EI premium, at Quebec's lower rates — see the chair renter EI guide.

Should you register before $30,000?

Usually, yes. A registered shop claims input tax credits (ITCs) on the GST and input tax refunds (ITRs) on the QST it pays on rent, product for resale, clippers and software — about $225 a month back on $1,500 of taxable inputs.

Two conditions apply. Registering for the QST means registering for the GST too, and a voluntary registrant must stay registered for at least one year. Most full-time chairs pass $30,000 in their first year anyway, so day one keeps the books clean.

How to set up GST and QST in BarberFlow

Tax is configured per location, so a Montreal shop rings up GST and QST while a sister shop in Ottawa keeps its 13% HST, and Accounting lists the GST and QST on every payment, with an export by date range for the return.

The five mistakes Quebec shops make most

1. Charging QST on the GST. QST is 9.975% of the pre-tax price. On a $40 cut it is $3.99, not $4.19.
2. Printing one 14.975% line. Revenu Québec says the combined rate must not appear on the receipt. Show GST and QST separately.
3. Registering with the CRA. In Quebec, Revenu Québec administers GST as well as QST. One registration, and one combined return if you choose.
4. Leaving chair rent out of the count. Rent you collect counts toward your $30,000; the renter's own haircuts do not.
5. Measuring the threshold by calendar year. The test is one quarter or any four in a row.

Quick checklist

• Check worldwide taxable sales every quarter against $30,000 — the single quarter and the last four.
• Register with Revenu Québec for both taxes before you pass $30,000, or on day one to start claiming ITCs and ITRs.
• Charge 5% GST and 9.975% QST on the pre-tax price of every service and product, printed as two lines and never as one 14.975% line.
• Calculate suggested tip percentages on the pre-tax price.
• Add both taxes to chair rent invoices once registered, and count that rent toward your threshold.
• Pay both shares of EI for each chair renter.
• Keep receipts and signage in French, and never add a fee for paying by card.
• Pick the Quebec template under Settings → Locations in BarberFlow so GST and QST run as two lines.

Running a shop elsewhere? See the Ontario HST guide, the BC PST guide and the Alberta GST guide, or sales tax on haircuts in every province side by side. Renting a chair yourself? The self-employed barber tax write-offs guide covers the income side.