Quebec real estate glossary · French to English
Taxes municipales et scolaires = Municipal and school taxes. They are municipal and school taxes, both calculated from the property assessment roll.
En bref, en français : « Taxes municipales et scolaires » se dit municipal and school taxes. Les deux se calculent à partir du rôle d'évaluation foncière.
The City of Montreal states in English that the assessment roll "serves as the basis for calculating municipal and school taxes". Two separate bills, one common base.
They are also not the welcome tax. That is a third, one-time charge on the transfer itself, and the confusion between the three is constant among buyers new to Quebec.
Three different bills
- Municipal taxes: annual, from your city, usually payable in instalments.
- School taxes: annual, separate bill, same assessed value as the base.
- Transfer duties: one-time, after you buy, nicknamed the welcome tax.
At the notary
Municipal and school taxes are adjusted between buyer and seller at closing, so that each pays for the portion of the year they own the property. Transfer duties are not: that bill arrives later, from the municipality, in your name.
Say it in a sentence
The word on its own is rarely the problem. These are the sentences you will actually hear, and what they become in English.
| Vous entendrez | In English |
|---|---|
| Les taxes municipales sont payables en versements. | Municipal taxes are payable in instalments. |
| La taxe scolaire arrive séparément. | The school tax comes as a separate bill. |
| Les taxes ont été ajustées chez le notaire. | The taxes were adjusted at the notary. |
The mistake we see most often
The mistake is budgeting for one bill. New owners see the municipal account, set up their instalments, and are caught by the school tax arriving on its own schedule from a different sender. Both are annual, both are based on the same assessed value, and neither has anything to do with the one time welcome tax that also lands in your first year.
Where this fits in a Quebec transaction
Buying or selling in Quebec means signing documents that exist in both languages, written under civil law rather than common law. A word-for-word translation is sometimes right and sometimes actively misleading. The full list is in our Quebec real estate glossary, French to English.
Related terms
Questions we get asked
How do you say taxes municipales et scolaires in English?
Municipal and school taxes. They are two separate annual bills based on the same property assessment roll.
Are they the same as the welcome tax?
No. The welcome tax, legally transfer duties, is a one-time charge on the transfer of the property. Municipal and school taxes are annual.
Are they adjusted when I buy?
Yes. The notary adjusts them between buyer and seller so each pays for their portion of the year.
Published by the Loaa & Manseur team, number one team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025. We work in French and in English. Tell us about your project.