Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
The Montreal sales tax is 14.975%: 5% GST plus 9.975% QST, worked out separately on the same price. A $1,000 purchase adds $149.75, so the bill is $1,149.75. Same rate on a laptop, a winter coat or a pair of skates, with the grocery exceptions further down.
Is Montreal’s rate different from the rest of Quebec?
We didn’t find a separate one. The rates in the official pages we read are federal and provincial, and they apply across Quebec. So what you pay on Sainte-Catherine is what you’d pay in Gatineau or Quebec City. If the city adds a levy on a particular service, such as a hotel stay, that’s outside what we checked.
How does the total add up on small and large bills?
Quebec buyers often notice that the receipt shows two tax lines, not one. Both taxes are calculated on the price before tax, then added. QST isn’t charged on the GST.
| Price | GST 5% | QST 9.975% | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45.50 | $2.28 | $4.54 | $52.32 |
| $80.00 | $4.00 | $7.98 | $91.98 |
| $1,000.00 | $50.00 | $99.75 | $1,149.75 |
| $2,000.00 | $100.00 | $199.50 | $2,299.50 |
These come from the GST and QST calculator, which rounds each tax to the cent on its own. A shop’s till may round differently by a cent, so don’t panic over a penny.
On a small purchase the tax is a few bucks at most. A $3.00 coffee carries 15 cents of GST and 30 cents of QST, so you pay $3.45. It adds up over a year of mornings, but it’s never a shock at the till.
Does Montreal cost more than Toronto?
A bit. On $1,000 you’d pay $1,149.75 in Montreal against $1,130 in Ontario, where the 13% HST is one tax. Alberta charges GST only, so the same purchase comes to $1,050. If you’re crossing a border to shop, the gap is about $20 per $1,000 next to Ontario. That won’t cover gas.
The GST and HST calculator lets you flip between provinces on one price, which is handy for a quick comparison. Sellers shipping from Montreal to other provinces should remember that the rate follows the place of supply, and that rule is spelled out on the CRA page. We haven’t worked through online orders here, so read it before you set up a shop.
How can you find the price from a Montreal receipt?
Divide the total by 1.14975. A $1,149.75 receipt gives a $1,000 price. Don’t subtract 14.975% of the total, because that takes off $172.17 and leaves you with a price that’s too low.
Anyone reconciling expenses hits this sooner or later. A receipt for $91.98, for instance, breaks down to an $80 price, $4.00 of GST and $7.98 of QST, and it’s easy to get a few cents out when you do it by hand on a phone. The reverse tax calculator is the quick way when you only have the total.
Expect to be a cent off on small receipts. Divide $52.32 by 1.14975 and you get about $45.51, not the $45.50 on the shelf tag, because each tax was rounded on its own. That’s normal.
For a quick mental estimate at the shelf, use 15%. It runs a hair high, about a quarter of a cent per $10, so $80.00 gives $12.00 against the true $11.98. Close enough to decide whether the jacket fits your budget, and you can leave the exact figure to the till.
What should a business here know?
Revenu Québec runs both the GST and the QST in the province, so a business normally deals with one agency for the two. We couldn’t open Revenu Québec’s page directly and relied on a summary of it, so verify the details before you register or file.
On the federal side, the CRA says a business is a small supplier if taxable sales stay at or under $30,000 across four consecutive calendar quarters. Whether Quebec’s QST follows the same limit is something we didn’t confirm.
What about groceries? The CRA zero-rates basic groceries across the country for GST. Whether QST applies to an item, Quebec decides. So a grocery bill may not look like a flat 14.975% either way, and you’re better off reading the receipt line by line than guessing.
Where this information comes from
The 5% GST, zero-rated basic groceries and the small supplier rule come from the Canada Revenue Agency. The 9.975% QST and the rule that it’s calculated before GST come from Revenu Québec‘s pages on the basic rules and on calculating the taxes, read in September 2026 through a summary. Examples come from our own calculators using those rates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the sales tax rate in Montreal?
14.975%, made of 5% GST and 9.975% QST on the price before tax.
How much tax do I pay on $100 in Montreal?
$14.98 after rounding, so the total is $114.98.
Does Montreal have a city sales tax?
We found no separate city rate in the official sources we read. Levies on services such as hotel stays weren't checked.
How do I remove the tax from a receipt?
Divide the total by 1.14975. A $1,149.75 receipt comes to a $1,000 price.
Who do businesses pay GST and QST to?
Revenu Québec administers both in the province, based on a summary of its pages that we couldn't open in full.
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