The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Quebec intends to carry on with a plan to coax Netflix into
collecting and remitting provincial sales tax on its video-streaming
service, despite an agreement with the federal government to
forgo its own sales tax on the company's Canadian subscribers.
The Globe's Le Perreaux writes that Carlos Leitao, the province's
Finance Minister, said the video-streaming service "falls well within the basket of taxable services"
and he intends to collect up to $20-million a year despite the federal deal that gave up on GST
in favour of a commitment from Netflix to spend $500-million on
Canadian programming over five years, including $25-million for francophone markets.
The deal unveiled last week by Heritage Minister Melanie Joly
has provoked disapproval in the Quebec government and among cultural and arts groups, broadcasters and other business leaders
who complain the agreement provides insufficient requirements for French-language programming and also gives Netflix
an unfair advantage over homegrown streaming services. Between 1.2 million to 1.45 million Quebec households have the service. Mr. Leitao was short on details for how he will tax Netflix.
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