Quebec to tax online streaming giant Netflix with or without federal government
OTTAWA — Quebec will forge ahead with plans to tax Netflix with or without the support of Ottawa, the province’s finance minister has said in a letter to his federal counterpart.
“Our sales taxes have to apply to the realities of the 21st century,” Carlos Leitao wrote in the letter dated Tuesday to Bill Morneau.
Calling it a matter of “fairness,” Leitao said “Quebec will have no choice but to act alone” if the federal government doesn’t budge.
An agreement Ottawa has reached with Netflix allows the U.S. web-streaming giant to forgo paying sales tax by investing $500 million in Canadian productions over the next five years.