Earlier this year, unseasonable and excessive spring rains created flooding in many areas of Quebec. The floodwaters have retreated, but many residents are still affected with damage to their homes, their businesses and their home-based businesses. Due to the widespread damage, insurance claims, rebuilding, and access to assistance is slow. Some families in Rigaud have waited more than five weeks for a visit from a building inspector.
Revenu Quebec’s Tax Relief Measures
To help residents affected by the floods, Revenu Québec has announced tax forgiveness measures. Do you qualify? See below:
To be eligible for relief: you must:
- You must be a tax-paying resident of Quebec
- Be directly affected by the spring 2017 flooding
- Be unable to meet your tax obligations by the regular deadlines because of the flooding
If you meet the criteria, you can contact Revenu Québec to have your interest and penalties cancelled. This program will run as long as flooding prevents taxpayers from meeting their obligations due to the flooding.
How does this Affect your Small Business?
Many small businesses in Quebec are run out of homes, basements, or small brick-and-mortar locations. Some locations are leased or rented and some are owned. Flooding has damaged businesses’ inventory, records, assets and many of the items they need for day-to-day operations. Recovery and getting back to functionality is the first priority. With such an upset to business operations, many small businesses in Quebec have missed, overlooked or have been completely unable to adhere to Revenu Quebec’s deadlines. This has resulted in fines and fees. Those whose revenue stream was interrupted also face penalties late or missing returns, or late and missing installments.
Knowing that Québec’s small businesses in flood zones are currently in recovery mode, Revenu Québec hopes that offering fine and penalty relief will help entrepreneurs get back on track faster, without having to worry about being fined for things beyond their control.
Revenu Quebec Encourages Fairness
The government organization says it is “eager to help all those affected by the flooding,” but also knows that taxes keep things fair for everyone. “Revenu Québec’s mission is to ensure that all taxpayers contribute their fair share toward the funding of public services. Its goal is to maintain tax fairness in the interest of all,” it states on the website that outlines the program.
Learn More About this Program
To learn more about how you can get interest and penalty relief, call 1-800-267-6299 (individuals) or 1-1-800-567-4692 (businesses, employers and mandataries) or visit the Revenu Quebec website. You can also contact us here at AF Accounting. We specialize in helping small businesses with their accounting needs, and we stay on top of the programs and incentives offered by Revenu Québec so we can keep our clients informed.
Like Revenu Québec, we have a vested interest in helping local entrepreneurs succeed. Browse our website to learn how AF Accounting can help your small business today.
