{"id":6103,"date":"2026-06-12T14:42:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/new-qst-exemption-does-it-apply-to-you\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T10:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T14:29:13","slug":"new-qst-exemption-does-it-apply-to-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/new-qst-exemption-does-it-apply-to-you\/","title":{"rendered":"New QST Exemption: Does It Apply to You?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Warning! This new measure does not apply to all sellers <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>On May 25, 2026, the Government of Quebec announced a new measure to exempt certain food and hygiene products from the QST, in order to help Quebecers cope with the rising cost of living. This <u>permanent<\/u> measure will take effect on July 15, 2026. <\/p>\n<p>Basic food products are generally tax-exempt\u2014that is, subject to a 0% tax rate. However, there are currently exceptions to this rule, specifically regarding product size or quantity. Among other things, products sold in single-serving portions are now subject to the QST.  <\/p>\n<p>The tax exemption will apply only to sales of certain food products made to end consumers. Consequently, sales of the covered products between wholesalers, distributors, or other suppliers will not be eligible for this tax exemption. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>WHO IS THIS FOR?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Grocery stores, food markets, or similar establishments: This <\/strong>tax exemption measure will apply only to certain foods intended for human consumption that are not already exempt from tax. More specifically, it applies to certain products that are typically subject to tax when sold in individual portions or in a format suitable for immediate consumption. See the summary table below.  <\/p>\n<h3><strong>WHICH SELLERS ARE EXCLUDED?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>An establishment such as most restaurants, convenience stores, or pharmacies where <\/strong>all or nearly all (90% or more) of food or beverage sales are taxable. Among other things, the QST exemption will not apply to food covered by this measure that is sold: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>through a vending machine<\/li>\n<li>under a catering services contract or provided in conjunction with a catering contract<\/li>\n<li>by an establishment where all or virtually all sales of food or beverages are already subject to tax under current rules<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Furthermore, the QST exemption will not apply to sales made throughout the distribution chain. Consequently, the usual rules for collecting the QST will continue to apply to sales made by the manufacturer, producer, wholesaler, and distributor. <\/p>\n<h3><strong><u>FOOD PRODUCTS:  <\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n<table style=\"height: 1061px;\" width=\"988\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"123\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Category<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" width=\"217\"><strong>Covered Products<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Conditions for Tax Exemption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"123\">Frozen Desserts<\/td>\n<td width=\"217\">Ice cream, frozen dessert, frozen milk, sorbet, frozen yogurt, and products containing any of these items<\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">Sold in:<\/p>\n<p>Individual portions of less than <strong>500 g<\/strong> or less than <strong>500 ml<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"123\">Baked Goods and Pastries<\/td>\n<td width=\"217\">Doughnuts, cookies, croissants with sweet coatings, glazes, or fillings; cakes, muffins, pastries, tartlets, pies, and similar products<\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">Sold as:<\/p>\n<p>Individual portions weighing less than <strong>230 g<\/strong> or in packages containing <strong>fewer than 6 units<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"123\">Prepared Desserts<\/td>\n<td width=\"217\">Dessert cream, flavored gelatin, mousse, flavored whipped desserts, and products similar to dessert cream<\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">Sold as:<\/p>\n<p>Individual portions weighing less than <strong>425 g<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"123\">Prepared fruit<\/td>\n<td width=\"217\">Fruit salads, platters, and fruit arrangements (cut, washed, etc.)<\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">Also applies to accompanying items when provided and sold for a single price (e.g., chocolate sauce)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"123\">Prepared vegetables<\/td>\n<td width=\"217\">Platters and arrangements of prepared vegetables (cut, washed, etc.)<\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">Also applies to side dishes when provided and sold as part of a single transaction (e.g., dip)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"123\">Seeds and Nuts<\/td>\n<td width=\"217\">Salted or seasoned seeds and nuts<\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">Important note:<\/p>\n<p>The seasoning must consist entirely or almost entirely (90% or more) of ingredients <u>other than sugar or sugar-based ingredients<\/u><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"123\">Cereal bars and mixes, nuts, and dried fruit<\/td>\n<td width=\"217\">Cereal bars, \u201chiker\u2019s mix\u201d-type blends, and similar products<\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">Consisting mainly of oat flakes or other grains, seeds, nuts, or dried fruits, either mixed together or presented separately, such as \u201chiker\u2019s mix\u201d blends<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong><u>HYGIENE PRODUCTS:  <\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>This applies to all types of sellers.  <\/strong>Unlike food products, the hygiene products covered by this measure will be exempt from tax throughout the distribution chain. However, the measure will apply only to a limited category of products, namely certain paper hygiene products intended for human use, including: <\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Toilet paper;<\/li>\n<li>Paper tissues.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Please note that<strong> the GST will continue to apply<\/strong> to the sale of food products as well as to the sale of the hygiene products mentioned above.<\/p>\n<p>We recommend that you ensure your billing systems and cash registers are properly configured to account for the QST tax exemption effective July 15, 2026. This new measure will raise several operational challenges, and affected businesses will need to ensure they correctly apply the tax treatment applicable to the products in question. <\/p>\n<p>If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our excise tax team.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">An article by our <a href=\"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/our-services\/services-for-private-companies\/consumption-taxes-private-companies\/\">Excise Taxes<\/a> team<\/p>\n<p>For more information:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.revenuquebec.ca\/fr\/salle-de-presse\/nouvelles-fiscales\/details\/2026-05-27\/detaxation-de-certains-produits-dans-le-regime-de-la-tvq\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Tax Exemptions for Certain Products Under the QST System | Revenu Qu\u00e9bec<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Warning! This new measure does not apply to all sellers On May 25, 2026, the Government of Quebec announced a new measure to exempt certain food and hygiene products from the QST, in order to help Quebecers cope with the rising cost of living. This permanent measure will take effect on July 15, 2026. Basic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6027,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[132,137,134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-company-management","category-consumption-taxes","category-did-you-know-that"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6103"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6104,"href":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6103\/revisions\/6104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amyotgelinas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}