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Here are some practical tips for corporations that want to benefit from tax measures available to international financial centres (IFC).

To obtain the IFC status

The corporation must fill out the following forms and provide the documents required in them:

• international financial centre qualification certificate application
• qualification certificate application for each eligible employee:
  • a minimum of six eligible employees is required
  • if necessary, the corporation may include foreign specialists to achieve the required minimum of six employees

You will find English courtesy versions of the relevant documents in the IFC Forms section. Please note that only the French forms will be accepted.

To apply for an annual certificate

At the end of each taxation year, the corporation must fill out the following forms and provide the documents required in them:

• international financial centre annual certificate application
• forms related to each of the eligible activities carried out by the IFC
• annual certificate application for each local employee already certified:
  • a minimum of six eligible employees is required
  • if necessary, the corporation may include foreign specialists to achieve the required minimum of six employees
• qualification certificate and an annual certificate application for each new local employee who began employment during the taxation year

You will find English courtesy versions of the relevant documents in the IFC Forms section. Please note that only the French forms will be accepted.

For foreign specialists

The corporation must submit the following forms and the documents required in them:

• foreign specialist qualification certificate application no later than the last day of February of the year following the specialist’s starting date
• foreign specialist annual certificate application, for the personal tax benefit, after the end of the calendar year, no later than the last day of February

You will find English courtesy versions of the relevant documents in the IFC Forms section. Please note that only the French forms will be accepted.

To modify an official document

The corporation must submit a written request for any change relating to:

• the IFC’s address (location of the eligible activities)
• the name of the corporation operating the IFC
• the addition or removal of eligible activities from the corporation’s qualification certificate
• any other information included in the official documents issued by the Ministère

For more details about the procedure to modify an official document, contact us.

Fees and terms of payment

All applications must be accompanied with the payment of the fees due in accordance with the applicable terms of payment (see the fees and terms of payment section).

To claim the tax credits

The Québec Minister of Finance certifies the eligibility of the activities carried out by the corporation and its employees and issues the qualification certificates and annual certificates required to claim the tax credits.

In order to claim the tax credits, the corporation must attach to its income tax return the form prescribed for this purpose by Revenu Québec as well as a copy of the annual certificates issued by the Minister of Finance.

For more information on the calculation and claiming of the tax credits or to obtain a list of the documents needed for the income tax return, visit the Revenu Québec This link opens a new window. website.