A Montreal restaurant tax bill adds 14.975% to the price of your meal: 5% federal GST plus 9.975% Quebec Sales Tax. Menu prices never include these charges, so the number next to a dish is what you pay before tax. Multiply the food-and-drink subtotal by roughly 15% and you have a close estimate of what the taxes will add.
How the 14.975% Breaks Down
Two taxes appear on every restaurant bill. The federal Goods and Services Tax is 5% and applies to virtually all food and drink sold in a restaurant.1Canada.ca. Eating Establishments Quebec adds its own sales tax at 9.975%.2Revenu Québec. Tables of GST and QST Rates
Both taxes are calculated on the menu subtotal, not on each other. The QST does not stack on top of the GST-inclusive amount, so your mental math stays simple.3Revenu Québec. Basic Rules for Applying the GST/HST and QST
What’s Taxable
Almost everything you order in a Montreal restaurant is taxable. Heated foods and beverages, anything prepared for immediate consumption, and items sold from a takeout counter all attract both GST and QST.4Revenu Québec. Heated Foods and Beverages Coffee, pizza, a bowl of pho: if the kitchen made it and you can eat it now, it’s taxed.
A narrow exception exists for “basic groceries.” If a restaurant sells an unheated, pre-packaged item you’d normally find on a grocery shelf, such as a sealed bottle of water, that item can be zero-rated.5Revenu Québec. Groceries For a sit-down diner ordering off a menu, assume everything is taxable.
Alcohol Costs More Than the Menu Rate Suggests
Wine, beer, spirits, and even de-alcoholized drinks are fully taxable under both GST and QST, with no exceptions. Carbonated soft drinks and energy drinks are also taxable.6Revenu Québec. Alcoholic Beverages and Carbonated Beverages
Beyond the standard 14.975%, Quebec charges a separate Specific Tax on Alcoholic Beverages at $0.63 per litre for beer and $1.40 per litre for other alcoholic beverages such as wine and spirits.7Revenu Québec. Rate of the Specific Tax on Alcoholic Beverages This charge is typically embedded in the drink price rather than shown as its own line item, which is one reason cocktails and wine feel more expensive than a straight 14.975% calculation predicts.
Tips and Service Charges
A tip you leave voluntarily is not subject to GST or QST. Whether you add 15%, 20%, or nothing, that amount stays between you and the server.8Revenu Québec. Tips and Service Charges
The rules change when a restaurant adds a service charge to the bill. Both mandatory service charges (common for large groups or private events) and suggested tip amounts printed on the bill are treated as part of the sale price and are taxable.8Revenu Québec. Tips and Service Charges An 18% service charge on the bill gets GST and QST calculated on top of it.
The 2025 Pre-Tax Tipping Rule
As of May 2025, Quebec requires that any tipping suggestions displayed on a payment terminal be calculated on the pre-tax price. Before this change, many terminals computed suggested percentages on the post-tax total, which quietly inflated the dollar amount of a 15% or 20% tip. If your meal costs $80 before tax and $91.98 after tax, the terminal must now base its tip suggestions on the $80 figure. You are still free to tip whatever amount you choose; the rule prevents the machine from nudging you toward a higher baseline.
Reading Your Receipt
Quebec law requires restaurants to produce bills through a certified sales recording system, so the format is standardized. Each menu item carries a code showing whether GST (“F”), QST (“P”), or both apply. Below the subtotal, a line separates the food charges from the tax breakdown: GST first, then QST, then the total. The restaurant’s GST and QST registration numbers appear on every bill.8Revenu Québec. Tips and Service Charges
A $100 dinner looks like this on paper:
- Subtotal: $100.00
- GST (5%): $5.00
- QST (9.975%): $9.98
- Total: $114.98
A quick sanity check: the QST line is almost exactly double the GST line. If it’s noticeably more, a taxable service charge may have been folded into the subtotal.
A Note for Visitors
Canada eliminated its Visitor Rebate Program years ago. International tourists cannot claim a refund of GST or QST paid on restaurant meals, hotel stays, or retail purchases.9Canada.ca. Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program The taxes on your bill are final.