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SMBs and Large Corporations
Tax Credits
Tax Credit to Support Digital Transformation in Print Media Companies
If you are starting or continuing the digitization of your operations, you may be entitled to a tax credit. Find out more!
This tax credit is designed to safeguard Québec’s print media. It offers corporations in this sector an annual tax credit of up to $7 million for the digital transformation of their activities.
Details of Tax Assistance
This is a refundable tax credit equivalent to 35% of eligible conversion costs incurred after March 27, 2018, and before January 1, 2024.
These costs correspond to the total amounts paid by the corporation in a given taxation year for the wages of its eligible employees and expenditures related to an eligible digital conversion contract.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible Media
A media that meets the following conditions is eligible:
- It is produced and published daily or periodically (at least 10 times a year) by the corporation in print, web or mobile format (an information-only application).
- It has been produced and published for at least 12 months prior to the filing of the initial application.
- It publishes original written content relating to news of general interest addressing Quebec's population and covering at least three of the following seven news topics: politics, municipal affairs, international affairs, cultural affairs, business and the economy, local interest, and general interest items.
- The newsroom is located in the corporation’s establishment located in Québec and the persons responsible for the original written information content, including reports, portraits or interviews, news analysis, regular columns, investigative stories and editorials, are journalists.
Eligible Employees
- An eligible employee is an employee who holds a full-time job
- At least 75% of the employee’s duties are devoted to carrying out or supervising eligible digital conversion activities for the eligible corporation or directly supporting such activities.
Eligible Digital Conversion Activities
Eligible digital conversion activities are activities related to the corporation’s productivity, namely:
- The development, integration, maintenance and evolution of information systems and technological infrastructure.
- The design and development of solutions for interactive decision-support tools (business modelling); merely operating such tools is not an eligible activity.
- The design and development of tools to provide an image of the current state of the corporation for data analysis (business intelligence) purposes; regularly operating such tools is not an eligible activity.
Certificate for Eligible Digital Conversion Contract
“Eligible digital conversion contract” means a contract that relates to one or more of the following:
- The acquisition or lease of universal electronic data processing equipment and related operating software, including ancillary data processing equipment, as well as the required application software.
- Eligible digital conversion services provided in whole or in part to eligible media.
- Eligible right of use or licence in respect of another person’s property provided that it is intended that this right of use or licence will be used in whole or in part by the eligible corporation to carry out digital conversion activities.
Each of these elements will be eligible only if used to initiate or continue the digital conversion of an eligible media at its Québec establishment where it produces and publishes the eligible media.
Specific Requirements
To benefit from the tax credit to support digital transformation in print media companies, your corporation must obtain a certificate each year from Investissement Québec for the media, for each eligible employee and for the conversion contract.
Fees
Fees are charged for the analysis of all eligibility certificate applications. For more information, contact an Investissement Québec advisor or see the rate schedule on our website.
How to Obtain the Tax Credit
- Call 1 844 474-6367 to contact an Investissement Québec advisor, who will be pleased to answer your questions and inform you how to obtain the application for certification, which is available on our website.
- Complete the applications for eligible media, employee and conversion contract certification for the taxation year in question and send them to us by the method your advisor has indicated.
If your corporation needs cash immediately, you can apply for financing for refundable tax credits.
Want to receive your refund right away?
If your company is eligible for this tax credit, you may want to apply for financing for refundable tax credits to put your cash to work sooner. For more details, please contact one of our financing experts at
1 844 474-6367.