Quebec businesses can no longer ask for tips on taxes

Quebec became the first Canadian province to enact legislation stipulating that recommended tip amounts on payment terminals must be calculated using the subtotal — the price before the GST (five per cent) and the province’s sales tax (9.975 per cent) are applied. In most Canadian retail and service settings, when a consumer is presented with a digital debit machine displaying suggested tip percentages, that figure is calculated using the post-tax total. It should be common knowledge, but it’s not, and it often results in people paying an added gratuity on money ultimately paid to government. As of Wednesday, suggestions on a $100 tab at a Quebec brasserie, for example, will be determined by that number, not the current $114.98 after tax sum. That means an 18 per cent gratuity works out to be $18, not $20.70. The province introduced the measures to return to the halcyon days when patrons, particularly those at bars and restaurants, were given a bill that displayed the tax breakdown, allowing them to determine how much to tip before the server returned to collect payment.

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While promoting the changes last fall, Simon Jolin-Barrette, Quebec’s minister responsible for consumer protection, cited a January 2024 Canadian survey that found 62 per cent of people went overboard on tips because of percentages presented or by doing the math themselves based on the after-tax total. “We shouldn’t feel pressured when someone hands us the terminal at the time of payment,” Simon Jolin-Barrette told the National Assembly when Bill 72 was passed in November. The new rules also state that the tipping options must be “presented in a uniform manner.” On many debit machines, choices are sometimes accompanied by praise for the employee, like “good,” “great,” or “amazing.” “There should no longer be undue pressure with exclamation points, comments, smiley faces, depending on the level of satisfaction linked to the level of the tip,” Québec solidaire member Guillaume Cliche-Rivard said in support of the measures last fall. Quebec is the only remaining province where a lower minimum wage is paid to those who regularly receive tips — they make $12.90 hourly compared to the $16.10 everyone else earns. Ontario eliminated its reduced wage in 2022, and Alberta abandoned its in 2019. “We really do depend on the tips to make a living, so with it being less, it’ll just affect my yearly income and everyday life,” Montreal waiter Tyler Muehleisen told City News this week. When passed last fall, Montreal barista Sophia Cooke told The Link she worried skewing tipping culture toward the consumer rather than the worker could create more competition for the most sought-after positions in an already competitive market. As for consumers, a recent survey by H&R Block suggests Canadians are growing weary of tipping expectations and being asked to tip for services that traditionally wouldn’t warrant one. “A colossal 94 per cent of Canadians say they’re annoyed by card payment machines prompting tip options for services that tips or gratuities weren’t previously expected,” the survey of 1,790 people in February found. Regardless, 57 per cent who tip only do so because they feel uncomfortable not choosing a tip option. As for how much they tend to leave, more than half (53 per cent) choose the lowest option or only tip for exceptional service, while 39 per cent consider themselves generous tippers. While respondents were divided on whether the tip money is actually making it to the worker or being pocketed by their employer, the vast majority (88 per cent) agreed that tipping culture allows the employer to pay lower wages. Another survey, conducted by Lightspeed Commerce in 2024 and featuring 1,500 Canadian respondents, found nearly half (47 per cent) tip between 10 and 15 per cent . About a quarter will tack on 16 to 20 per cent. Additionally, more than three-quarters (77 per cent) are opposed to auto-tipping prompts like those now more tightly regulated in Quebec. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.