Have you declared your income for the year 2021? If so, there’s a good chance that your tax refund – including Quebec’s $500 inflation tax credit – landed in your bank account without warning.
• Read also: $500 tax credit: answers to all your questions
If you were expecting to receive a one-time transfer of $500 directly into your bank account, think again. This refund is made at the same time as your income tax refund from Revenu Québec, a few days after submitting your return.
If you owe money to the tax authorities, this sum has been deducted from the $500 and conversely, if you have a tax return already established, the amount of $500 has been added to it.
How do I know if I got it?
As every year, Revenu Québec sends taxpayers their notice of assessment by mail (and on your online account) and details the calculations that led to the amount established for the refund or the balance due.
It is on line 464 of this notice that the “tax credit allocating a one-time amount to compensate for the increase in the cost of living” appears.
Remember that this tax credit is granted to all individuals over the age of 18 whose net income is less than $105,000 – that is 94% of the Quebec population. The receipt of this credit is conditional on the declaration of income for the year 2021.
• Read also: $500 to counter inflation: what does that represent, concretely, in our pockets?
But if your net income for the year 2021 is greater than $100,000 but less than $105,000, the amount of $500 will be reduced by 10% of the part of the net income that exceeds $100,000. For an income of $102,000, for example, you will receive a tax credit of $300.
The Quebec government presented this measure as a way to counter the rise in the cost of living in its last budget on March 22.
If you are one of the Quebecers who had already submitted their income tax return on March 22, you should know that Revenu Québec had to review all the files received before this date to grant the $500 tax credit to eligible people. Unless there is an error, all files will be completed before June 1st.