Quebec Welcome Tax Infographic: Brackets, Exemptions, and Payment

The Quebec welcome tax is a one-time municipal duty every buyer pays when property changes hands, calculated on a progressive scale that starts at 0.5% on the first $62,900 of value for 2026 and rises through higher brackets from there. The bill doesn’t come at closing. It arrives by mail from your municipality weeks later, and you have 30 days to pay it in full.

What the Tax Is Charged On

Your municipality doesn’t automatically use the purchase price. Quebec law sets the taxable value, called the basis of imposition, as the highest of three figures: the consideration you actually furnished for the property, the consideration written into the deed of sale, and the property’s market value at the time of transfer.¹ In practice, that comparison usually reduces to the purchase price against the adjusted municipal assessment.

The adjusted municipal assessment is the value on the city’s property roll multiplied by a comparative factor that bridges the roll’s last valuation cycle and current market conditions. Montreal’s comparative factor for 2026 is 1.00, meaning the roll figure and market value are treated as aligned. Other municipalities update theirs annually, and the number can land above or below 1.00.² Your city hall or local assessment office can tell you the current factor. If your purchase price is higher than the adjusted assessment, the purchase price becomes your basis of imposition.

2026 Standard Brackets

Quebec uses a progressive structure, so each slice of the property’s value is taxed at its own rate. For the 2026 municipal fiscal year, the standard brackets are:¹

0.5% on the portion up to $62,900
1.0% on the portion from $62,900 to $315,000
1.5% on the portion above $315,000

The thresholds are indexed each year, which is why the 2026 figures sit slightly above 2025’s $61,500 and $307,800. A worked example: on a $400,000 home outside Montreal, you pay 0.5% on the first $62,900 ($314.50), 1.0% on the next $252,100 ($2,521), and 1.5% on the remaining $85,000 ($1,275). Total welcome tax: about $4,111.

Montreal’s Higher Brackets

Montreal layers additional brackets on top of the standard three, which matters in a market where many homes clear $500,000. For transfers registered from January 1, 2026 onward:²

0.5% on the portion up to $62,900
1.0% on the portion from $62,900 to $315,000
1.5% on the portion from $315,000 to $552,300
2.0% on the portion from $552,300 to $1,104,700
2.5% on the portion from $1,104,700 to $2,136,500
3.5% on the portion from $2,136,500 to $3,113,000
4.0% on anything above $3,113,000

A $1,200,000 condo in Montreal generates a welcome tax bill of roughly $12,537, compared to about $10,086 under the standard provincial rates alone. Other Quebec municipalities can adopt their own higher brackets, so if you’re buying outside Montreal in an elevated market, ask city hall before you estimate.

Who Qualifies for an Exemption

The Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables waives the tax entirely in several situations. The ones that come up most often for individual buyers:¹

Transfers in the direct line of ascent or descent — parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren. If the person transferring to a descendant acquired the property from a descendant (or a trust that did), they must have owned it for at least two years.
Transfers between married spouses, civil union spouses, and de facto partners. De facto spouses must have lived together for at least 12 months before the transfer, or be parents of a child together.
Transfers between former de facto spouses after a breakdown, if completed within 12 months of separation or within 30 days of a mediation agreement, homologated agreement, or final court judgment addressing the property.
Any transfer where the basis of imposition is under $5,000.

The exemption has to be documented in the deed of sale by the notary at the time of registration. If the notary omits the required mention, the municipality issues an invoice automatically.³ Fixing it after the fact is possible but troublesome, so raise the exemption with your notary before signing.

One point that catches people out: Quebec offers no welcome tax exemption or rebate for first-time homebuyers. Buying your first home here does not reduce what you owe.

Transfers between an individual and a corporation they control can also be exempt, but the ownership threshold is high. The natural person or group must hold shares carrying at least 90% of the voting rights in the corporation immediately after the transfer, and when the transfer goes from a corporation to an individual, that 90% must have been maintained throughout the 24 months before the transfer.⁴ Partnerships follow an equivalent 90% rule based on income share. If the condition stops being met within 24 months after the transfer, the transferee must disclose that to the municipality and the exemption unwinds. Get professional tax advice before structuring any corporate property transfer.

Even a fully exempt transfer still triggers a flat special duty of $200.¹ The one exception: if the basis of imposition is under $40,000, the special duty equals what the normal transfer duties would have been. Budget for that $200 even if a family exemption applies.

When the Bill Arrives and How to Pay

Once the notary registers the transfer with the provincial land registry, the municipality calculates the tax, generates an invoice, and mails it to the new owner. It usually shows up within 30 to 90 days of closing. The invoice breaks the calculation down bracket by bracket and states the total owed.

From the billing date on that invoice, you have exactly 30 days to pay in full.⁵ Most municipalities accept payment through major banks in person or online, through their own payment portals, or by mailed check. The welcome tax cannot be split into installments the way annual property taxes can, which is where buyers who didn’t plan ahead run into trouble.

What Happens If You Pay Late

Missing the 30-day deadline triggers monthly interest. Each municipality sets its own rate, but 1% to 1.5% per month, roughly 12% to 18% annually, is typical. Interest starts the day after the deadline and compounds until the balance is cleared. On a $5,000 bill, a few months of delay adds several hundred dollars.

The Act also penalizes deliberate evasion. False statements in the transfer documents or intentional avoidance can result in a fine of up to $2,000 plus a penalty equal to 25% of the duty evaded.¹ Municipalities do pursue outstanding balances; the welcome tax is a real slice of local revenue.

Estimating Your Bill Before Closing

Look up the property’s value on the municipal assessment roll through your city hall website. Multiply that value by the current comparative factor to get the adjusted assessment, then compare it to your agreed purchase price. The higher of the two is your basis of imposition, and you can run it through the brackets above for an estimate.

Set the money aside early. The invoice lands weeks after closing, when you’ve already paid notary fees, moving costs, and inspections, so the welcome tax can feel like it comes out of nowhere. Your notary can give you a precise estimate during the closing process. If you qualify for an exemption, confirm well before signing that the required mention will appear in the deed of sale.

1
Légis Québec. Act Respecting Duties on Transfers of Immovables D-15.1
2
Ville de Montréal. How Property Transfer Duties Are Calculated
3
Ville de Montréal. Exemptions on Property Transfer Duties
4
Ministère des Finances Québec. Changes to Certain Exemptions From the Payment of Transfer Duties
5
Ville de Montréal. Taxes for New Homeowners