Quebec Tax Document Checklist for IT Contractors

The 2025 tax document checklist for IT contractors covers the federal documents: T4A slips, T2125, GST/HST return, and corporate documents for incorporated contractors. Quebec residents need all of those, and more.

Quebec residents file a second personal return with Revenu Québec, use a separate business income form for self-employed income, and receive Quebec-specific information slips alongside their federal counterparts. Incorporated contractors add a CO-17 corporate return and Quebec payroll documents. The combined GST and QST return is filed with Revenu Québec, not CRA.

Quebec sole proprietors generally file a T1 and TP-1 personally, and a T2125 and TP-80 for self-employment income. Incorporated contractors add a T2 and CO-17 at the corporate level, plus personal T1 and TP-1 returns. Each pair covers the same underlying transactions but is filed separately with a different tax authority and under a different legislative framework.

This checklist covers the Quebec additions to the federal document set. It is organized by return type to match how a CPA handling both federal and Quebec returns will request and review the documents.

Quebec personal return: TP-1

Every Quebec resident files a TP-1 income tax return with Revenu Québec covering the same calendar year as the federal T1. The TP-1 applies Quebec tax rates, credits, and deductions, which differ from the federal system.

Documents specific to the TP-1:

• Prior year Revenu Québec Notice of Assessment (avis de cotisation) showing Quebec carryforward amounts, including any Quebec business losses
• Quebec-specific credit receipts: donations to Quebec registered charities, union dues, and Quebec tuition amounts not captured on federal slips
• Solidarity credit documentation if applicable (housing, childcare, and other Quebec-specific credits)
• Prior year TP-1 return if changing accountants or filing for the first time

Deadlines: Both the T1 and TP-1 are due April 30, with a June 15 filing extension generally available where the taxpayer or their spouse or common-law partner carried on a business during the year. Any balance owing under the TP-1 accrues interest from April 30 regardless of the extended filing deadline.

RL slips: Quebec information slips

Quebec-resident taxpayers receive RL slips alongside federal information slips. The RL slips go with the TP-1; the federal slips go with the T1.

• RL-1: Employment income, Quebec source deductions, QPP contributions, and QPIP premiums. Issued by employers and by incorporated contractors paying themselves salary. The RL-1 is the Quebec equivalent of the T4.
• RL-3: Investment and dividend income paid to Quebec residents. An incorporated contractor receiving dividends from a Quebec corporation should receive both a T5 from the corporation and an RL-3. Both are required for the respective federal and Quebec returns.
• RL-16: Trust income, the Quebec equivalent of the T3. Required if you hold units in a mutual fund trust or other flow-through structure that issues RL-16 slips.
• RL-31: If you are a tenant who paid rent in Quebec during the year, residential landlords in Quebec generally issue an RL-31, which is needed for the solidarity credit calculation.

Cross-check RL-1 amounts against the T4 from the same employer. The employment income and source deduction amounts should be consistent across both slips. Any discrepancy indicates an error that needs to be resolved before filing.

Self-employed sole proprietors: TP-80

A Quebec self-employed IT contractor files a TP-80 Business or Professional Income and Expenses alongside the federal T2125. Both forms report substantially the same revenue and expense information, although Quebec applies certain provincial rules and adjustments separately from the federal return.

Documents for the TP-80 preparation:

• All revenue records and invoices (same records used for the T2125)
• All business expense receipts (same records used for the T2125, reviewed for Quebec-specific treatment)
• Home office square footage calculation and annual home expense totals
• Prior year TP-80 CCA schedules if you have depreciable assets and claimed CCA on the Quebec return
• Prior year Quebec business loss carryforward amounts from the Revenu Québec notice of assessment
• Any Revenu Québec correspondence regarding prior year self-employment income

The TP-80 is prepared from the same source documents as the T2125. The distinction is in how those documents are applied: some provincial deduction calculations and adjustment rules may differ from the federal return in specific situations. See the business expenses guide for Quebec IT contractors for where the two forms diverge.

QST and GST return documents

In Quebec, both GST and QST are filed with Revenu Québec on a combined return. Most Quebec-based registrants file GST and QST together through Revenu Québec rather than filing GST separately with CRA.

Documents for the combined return:

• QST registration number (Numéro de TVQ) and GST registration number (Numéro TPS), both assigned by Revenu Québec
• Total QST collected from clients during the reporting period, reconciled against invoices
• Total GST collected from clients, reconciled against invoices
• Input tax refund (ITR) receipts: QST paid on all eligible business expenses, with the supplier’s QST registration number visible on each receipt
• Input tax credit (ITC) receipts: GST paid on eligible expenses, same receipt set as for ITRs
• Prior period combined return filings and any Revenu Québec correspondence regarding the consumption tax account

For larger business purchases, Revenu Québec generally requires the supplier’s QST registration number and prescribed invoice information to support an ITR claim. Confirm that suppliers charging QST are registered and that their registration number appears on the invoice.

See the QST registration guide for IT contractors for how registration works, ITR eligibility, and how foreign software vendors factor in.

Quebec instalment payments

Quebec quarterly instalments are paid separately from federal instalments and calculated independently through Revenu Québec, even though many of the due dates align with the federal instalment schedule. See the Quebec quarterly instalment guide for IT contractors for how the calculation works.

Documents needed for the TP-1 preparation and Quebec instalment reconciliation:

• TP-1066-V instalment remittance forms completed during the year, or Revenu Québec My Account records of payments made
• Total Quebec instalments paid during the year with payment dates (March 15, June 15, September 15, December 15)
• Prior year Revenu Québec notice showing the Quebec instalment schedule for the current year

Quebec and federal instalment amounts are calculated separately and paid to separate agencies. A contractor who made federal instalment payments to CRA but did not make Quebec instalments to Revenu Québec owes interest to Revenu Québec independently. The two instalment obligations do not offset each other.

Many first-year Quebec contractors make federal instalments to CRA but miss the separate Revenu Québec instalment requirement because the notices arrive independently. Both should be confirmed at the start of each year.

Incorporated contractors: CO-17 and Quebec payroll

An incorporated IT contractor in Quebec files a CO-17 corporation income tax return with Revenu Québec in addition to the federal T2. The CO-17 covers the same fiscal year and the same corporation, applying Quebec’s corporate tax rules.

Documents for CO-17 preparation:

• Corporate financial statements (same set used for the T2, reviewed under Quebec rules)
• Quebec-specific tax credit calculations: Quebec small business deduction, any Quebec investment or R&D credits claimed provincially
• Prior year CO-17 return and Revenu Québec notice of assessment for the corporation
• Any Revenu Québec corporate correspondence

Quebec payroll documents apply when the corporation pays salary to the shareholder-employee:

• RL-1 slips issued by the corporation for salary paid, showing Quebec source deductions, QPP contributions, and QPIP premiums
• QPP employer contribution records: The corporation remits both the employee and employer portions of QPP on salary paid to the shareholder-employee. These remittances go to Revenu Québec, not CRA.
• QPIP contribution records: The Quebec Parental Insurance Plan applies in Quebec instead of the federal EI parental component. Both employee and employer QPIP premiums are remitted to Revenu Québec.
• Health Services Fund (HSF) contribution records: The HSF is a Quebec payroll tax paid by employers on salary. The applicable rate depends primarily on total payroll and eligibility thresholds.
• Source deduction remittance records: All Revenu Québec source deduction remittances made during the year, confirmed against RL-1 totals

If the corporation paid dividends to a Quebec-resident shareholder, the corporation must issue both a T5 (filed with CRA) and an RL-3 (filed with Revenu Québec). Both slips are required: the T5 goes with the T1, the RL-3 goes with the TP-1.

See Tax Filing for IT Contractors with a Quebec Establishment for a description of the full four-return structure and how the CO-17 interacts with the T2.

Timeline

The March 15 Quebec instalment falls early in the year. A contractor who was self-employed in the prior year and had Quebec tax owing above the instalment threshold needed to pay by that date, regardless of when the TP-1 is prepared.

Federal and Quebec instalments are paid to different agencies and calculated under different rules. Confirm both obligations separately before the first quarterly due date each year.

Coordinating with a CPA

The document set for a Quebec IT contractor is larger than for an equivalent contractor in any other province. A sole proprietor needs all federal T1 documents plus the TP-1 additions and the Quebec portion of the combined QST and GST return. An incorporated contractor needs the full federal document set plus the CO-17, Quebec payroll records, RL slips, and the Revenu Québec corporate account.

A CPA preparing both the federal and Quebec returns in the same preparation cycle can review the source documents once and apply them to both sets of returns. Where the federal and Quebec returns are prepared separately, or by different preparers, the risk is that coordination between the two returns is missed and that the same documents are evaluated under different standards at different times.

For most Quebec IT contractors, a single CPA firm handling both the federal and provincial filings together is the most practical arrangement.

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