Quebec Budget: The Government Paves the Way to Tax Fairness

The Coalition for Culture and Media applauds the Quebec government’s decision to update its taxation measures so they apply to foreign companies selling intangible goods and services online. The Quebec government is the first in the country to take a step toward tax fairness in the digital economy by requiring that businesses both here and abroad collect its sales tax (QST) as of January 1, 2019. It goes without saying that the Coalition believes that a good portion of the additional revenue that will be collected by the government should be reinvested in culture and media.

The Coalition’s member organizations expect that all the members of the National Assembly will support the government in this first initiative to adapt the Quebec taxation system to the digital economy. This support would be in line with the unanimous motion adopted last October by the National Assembly in favour of tax fairness for all digital platforms in the wake of Ottawa’s agreement with Netflix.