Later deadlines for filing your returns this year
Any amounts owed to the government will not need to be paid before July 31
Quebec is giving citizens and companies battered by the coronavirus pandemic a break by extending the tax-filing deadline.
Individuals will now have until June 1 to file and produce income tax returns instead of April 30, Finance Minister Eric Girard said Tuesday. Any amounts owed to the government won’t need to be paid before July 31, he added.
Quebec is also giving an extension to businesses, allowing them to take as long as July 31 to pay instalments and taxes that are due now, the finance ministry said.
All told, the postponements will inject $7.7 billion of liquidity into the Quebec economy, with personal income taxes accounting for about $4.5 billion of the total, Girard said. About two million individual taxpayers and 500,000 businesses will benefit from the extension.
Individuals and companies “will have more time, more oxygen, more liquidity,” the minister said Tuesday in a televised news conference in Quebec City.
The federal government is also expected to extend its tax deadline to June 1, the National Post reported Tuesday, with federal ministers expected to announce a range of financial measures on Wednesday.
Eligible taxpayers can expect a speedy refund from the provincial government, according to Carl Gauthier, head of Revenu Québec. “Our priority is to accelerate reimbursements.”
Although final numbers for March will probably show a contraction in economic output, Quebec won’t need to borrow the $7.7 billion because the government already has ample liquidity on hand, Girard said. Should the need arise, the province would “easily” tap the debt markets, he said.
“Yes, there is economic uncertainty, but Quebec has never been in a better position from the point of view of public finances and the economy to confront adversity,” Girard said. “All the required resources for health care will be available.”
Quebec is also working on an aid package for businesses to be unveiled “soon” by Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon, Girard said. That program will include measures to help companies with liquidity problems, Premier François Legault said Tuesday at a separate news conference.
“We’re trying to work together with Ottawa, with the Business Development Bank of Canada, to make things as simple as possible for executives and entrepreneurs,” Legault said.
He didn’t elaborate.
It’s too early to estimate how much the pandemic will cost Quebec, but in a worse-case scenario, Quebec could use part of its $14-billion stabilization reserve, he said.
“Right now, we’re managing the crisis,” Girard said. “Individuals and companies need us, and we are here for them. There will be other announcements. The federal government will be making announcements, and the government of Quebec will continue to make announcements. And when the situation stabilizes, we will look at stimulating the economy.”