INTERPRETATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE BULLETIN CONCERNING THE
LAWS AND REGULATIONS
Consumer Taxes
TVQ. 164-1
Amount Claimed by a Municipality from the Owners of Alarm Systems after
False Alarms
Date of publication: Novembre 30, 2000
Reference(s):
An Act respecting the Québec sales tax (R.S.Q., c. T-0.1), sections 1 “consideration”
and 164
This bulletin discusses how the Act respecting the Québec sales tax (the “Act”) applies when a
municipality claims an amount from the owners of alarm systems after false alarms.
THE ACT
1. Under the Act, the term consideration is defined as follows:
“consideration” includes any amount that is payable for a supply by operation of law.
2. Section 164 of the Act is worded as follows:
A supply of a municipal service made by or on behalf of a government or municipality to owners or
occupants of immovables situated in a particular geographic area is exempt where
(1) the owners or occupants have no option but to receive the service; or
(2) the service is supplied because of a failure by an owner or occupant to comply with an
obligation imposed under a law.
Exceptions.
This section does not include a supply of a service of testing or inspecting any property for the
purpose of verifying or certifying that the property meets particular standards of quality or is
suitable for consumption, use or supply in a particular manner.
APPLICATION OF THE ACT
1. Certain municipalities charge an amount to the owners of alarm systems after a false alarm. A
false alarm occurs when a call or other communication technique is used to alert a municipality that
an alarm system has been set off and a police or fire officer is dispatched to the building equipped
with the alarm system, but that officer can detect no evidence of trespassing, housebreaking or
forcible entry, fire or damages.
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2. The amount claimed by a municipality may take the form of a fine, i.e. a pecuniary penalty
whose amount is fixed and is not directly connected with a supply of property or a service made by
the municipality.
3. The question of determining if the amount claimed by a municipality from the owners of alarm
systems constitutes a fine or not is a question of facts.
4. The use of the word “fine” to designate an amount is not determinant per se in concluding that a
fine exists. The wording of the regulatory text pursuant to which the amount is claimed is a very
important factor to be considered. Thus, an amount claimed by a municipality pursuant to a
regulatory provision that reads as follows constitutes a fine:
“Every user of an alarm system responsible for more than X false alarms in a single calendar year
commits an infraction and is liable to a minimum fine of X dollars, plus costs, for each false alarm
after the third false alarm and to a minimum fine of X dollars, plus costs, for each false alarm after
the tenth false alarm.”
5. If the amount claimed constitutes in fact a fine levied by a municipality, that fine does not
constitute consideration for a taxable supply and is consequently not subject to the QST.
6. Furthermore, the amount claimed by a municipality after a false alarm may not be a fine. It then
constitutes consideration for a taxable supply for the purposes of the Act, unless the conditions
provided for in section 164 of the Act are met. This would be the case for a service provided by a
municipality applying a regulatory provision worded as follows:
If an alarm system is set off, that it has been sounding an audible alarm for more than X minutes,
that no one in the vicinity can stop it, that it is impossible to contact the responsible persons
referred to in section X or that none of the responsible persons mentioned is able to stop the
system within a reasonable time, then a police officer may take all necessary measures to stop the
system or to have the system stopped.
All expenses incurred to stop the system are charged to the person who owns, rents or occupies
the premises.
7. This bulletin has effect from July 1, 1992.
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Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
ISSN 0822-3726
© Gouvernement du Québec