The RL-1 tax slip is the document your Quebec employer issues each year to report your employment income, taxable benefits, and the amounts already withheld from your pay for provincial tax, the Quebec Pension Plan, and the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan. Employers have until the last day of February following the tax year to give it to you.1Revenu Québec. RL Slips It functions as Quebec’s counterpart to the federal T4 and covers salaries, wages, commissions, tips, scholarships, and other taxable payments tied to your job.2Revenu Québec. RL-1 Slip: Employment and Other Income
What the RL-1 Reports
Almost anything you receive because of an employment relationship shows up on this slip. Regular pay, overtime, commissions, tips, bonuses, and fees are all captured. So are taxable benefits like employer-paid group insurance premiums or personal use of a company vehicle, which the employer values at fair market value.
Reporting continues past the end of active employment. Payments to a former or future employee still appear on an RL-1, and so do amounts paid to a beneficiary after an employee’s death. If money moved because of the employment relationship during the year, it belongs on the slip.1Revenu Québec. RL Slips
The Boxes That Matter When You File
The slip organizes your numbers into lettered boxes and alphanumeric codes. A few carry most of the weight at tax time.
Box A: Gross Employment Income
Box A is your total taxable earnings before deductions. It includes gross pay, overtime, and the Quebec taxable benefits reported in boxes J and L. Non-taxable amounts, such as certain overtime meal allowances, are excluded, and an overpayment corrected in the same calendar year won’t inflate the figure.3Canada.ca. Sample T4 and Releve 1 Tax Slips This is where your provincial tax calculation begins.
Box E: Quebec Income Tax Withheld
Box E is the amount of Quebec income tax your employer already deducted from your paycheques and remitted to Revenu Québec. It’s credited against what you actually owe when you file. If no provincial tax was withheld, the box is left blank.4Revenu Québec. Guide to Filing the RL-1 Slip: Employment and Other Income
Box G: Pensionable Salary or Wages (QPP)
Box G shows the earnings on which your Quebec Pension Plan contributions were calculated. For 2026, maximum pensionable earnings under the QPP are $74,600, with an employee contribution rate of 6.40%. Earnings above that trigger a second additional QPP contribution (QPP2) at 4% on the portion between $74,600 and $85,000.5Revenu Québec. Maximum Pensionable Earnings and Quebec Pension Plan Contribution Rate The QPP amounts actually withheld appear in boxes B.A and B.B.
Box H: QPIP Premiums
Box H reports your Quebec Parental Insurance Plan premiums. Quebec runs its own parental leave program in place of the federal EI maternity and parental benefits, and premiums are tracked separately. The employee premium rate for 2026 is 0.430% on insurable earnings up to $103,000.6Revenu Québec. Maximum Insurable Earnings and the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan Premium Rate The figure moves to line 97 of your TP-1-V return.7Revenu Québec. Line 97 – Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) Premium
The Other Codes
Additional boxes and alphanumeric codes identify things like Employment Insurance premiums, union dues, charitable donations through payroll, and various taxable or non-taxable benefits. The slip itself notes which TP-1-V line each box feeds into, and certified tax software reads the codes for you.
Using the RL-1 to File Your Quebec Return
Your RL-1 feeds directly into the TP-1-V, Quebec’s provincial income tax return. Each box corresponds to a specific line, and the slip tells you which one.8Revenu Québec. How to Complete Your Income Tax Return Before you start, gather your RL-1 with any other RL slips you received (RL-2 for retirement income, RL-31 for rent, and so on) and the receipts for deductions you plan to claim, such as childcare or tuition.
Your Quebec and federal returns are separate filings. You don’t attach federal T4 slips to your Quebec return, except in the rare case of income earned outside the province.8Revenu Québec. How to Complete Your Income Tax Return The T4 goes to the Canada Revenue Agency; the RL-1 goes to Revenu Québec. The two systems run in parallel.
Most people file electronically through NetFile Québec.9Revenu Québec. Income Tax Return Certified tax software maps the RL-1 boxes to the correct return lines automatically, and you’ll get a confirmation message with a reference number once your return is transmitted.10Revenu Québec. Filing Your Income Tax Return Online Paper filing is still an option, but it takes longer to process.
Whether you file online or on paper, don’t send your RL slips, federal information slips, or receipts with the return unless Revenu Québec asks. Keep the originals and digital copies on hand.10Revenu Québec. Filing Your Income Tax Return Online
Deadlines and Late-Filing Consequences
For the 2025 tax year (filed in 2026), salaried workers must submit the Quebec return by April 30. Self-employed people who ran a business or earned income as a family-type or intermediate resource have until June 15. If either date falls on a weekend, it shifts to the next business day.11Revenu Québec. Deadline for Filing Your Income Tax Return
The payment deadline doesn’t move with the self-employed filing extension. Any balance owing is still due April 30.11Revenu Québec. Deadline for Filing Your Income Tax Return
Filing late when you owe a balance costs 5% of what you owe, plus 1% for each full month the return is overdue, up to 12 months. Interest also accrues on the unpaid amount from April 30 onward. Even if you can’t pay everything right away, filing on time avoids the late-filing penalty and limits what accumulates.
Refunds arrive in roughly 14 days for electronically filed returns and about 28 days for paper returns. You can view your notice of assessment through My Account, Revenu Québec’s secure portal.12Revenu Québec. My Account for Individuals13Revenu Québec. Income Tax Refunds If you owe, payment can go through your financial institution, by pre-authorized debit, at an ATM, or by cheque or money order payable to the Minister of Revenue of Québec. Payments over $10,000 must be made electronically.14Revenu Québec. Income Tax Balance Due
Errors, Missing Slips, and Corrections
If something on your RL-1 is wrong, contact your employer first. The employer is responsible for issuing the amended slip and filing the correction with Revenu Québec.15Revenu Québec. Amending RL Slips
If you never received your RL-1, ask your employer directly. If that doesn’t work, contact Revenu Québec. You may still need to file by the deadline using pay stubs or other records to estimate your income and withholdings, because waiting for a missing slip doesn’t excuse the late-filing penalty when you owe a balance.
US Citizens Working in Quebec
If you’re a US citizen or green card holder earning wages in Quebec, the RL-1 matters for your American return too. The US taxes its citizens on worldwide income, so the wages on your RL-1 also belong on your US federal return.
Two tools help avoid double taxation. The foreign earned income exclusion (Form 2555) lets qualifying taxpayers exclude up to $132,900 of foreign earned income for the 2026 tax year, provided they meet either the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test.16Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 202617Internal Revenue Service. About Form 2555, Foreign Earned Income The foreign tax credit (Form 1116) offsets your US tax by the Quebec provincial and Canadian federal income tax you already paid, and it generally saves more than taking a deduction for the same taxes. You cannot claim the foreign tax credit on income already excluded under the foreign earned income exclusion.18Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Tax Credit Working through both calculations usually shows which approach leaves less US tax on the table.