Quebec tax cuts kick in July 15 for ice cream, pastries, toilet paper, and more
Starting Tuesday, grocery items including frozen treats, baked goods, and household essentials will be exempt from the Quebec Sales Tax in a permanent measure.
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Starting July 15, Quebec will stop charging the Quebec Sales Tax on a range of grocery items, giving households an estimated $50 in annual savings.
The permanent exemption — confirmed in May by Premier Christine Fréchette's government — applies to ice cream, doughnuts, cookies, croissants, cakes, muffins, pastries, prepared fruit and vegetable platters, salted nuts and seeds, trail-mix-style bars and blends, toilet paper, and facial tissues. But there are size thresholds: ice cream in individual portions under 500 grams, doughnuts and pastries sold individually in portions under 230 grams or in packages of fewer than six.
Finance Minister Eric Girard framed the change as addressing an inconsistency in the law — where a product could be taxed on its own but tax-free in a six-pack — while putting buying power back into household budgets.
The tax cut does not apply to restaurant sales or vending machines. It stacks on top of existing exemptions for meat, cereal, fruit, vegetables, eggs, bread, fish, and dairy products like milk, cheese, butter, cream and yogurt.
The measure was one of several cost-of-living moves announced in May, alongside a roughly $50 reduction in licence plate renewal fees starting in September and a one-time grocery and energy payment of up to $200 per household that went out to eligible Quebecers in June.
