The RL-31 is a short tax slip, but it carries one of the highest per-mistake penalties in Quebec landlord compliance. If you own residential rental property in Quebec, you issue one to every qualifying tenant each January and file the totals with Revenu Québec by February 28.
Here is the clean version of what the slip is, who gets one, and how to avoid the $100-per-slip minimum penalty.
What the RL-31 Is
The RL-31 (Relevé 31) is an information slip issued by landlords to tenants. Its sole purpose: to let each tenant claim the Quebec solidarity tax credit, which includes a housing component. Without the RL-31, a tenant cannot claim that credit, which is typically worth a few hundred dollars per household annually.
Revenu Québec requires the slip because they use the filed data to validate tenant claims. The tenant copy goes to the household; the reported copy goes to the government.
Who Must Receive One
You issue an RL-31 to each tenant who occupied an eligible dwelling on December 31 of the reporting year.
- "Eligible dwelling" means a rented residential unit that is the tenant's principal residence
- One slip per dwelling, per qualifying household
- Subsidized housing (HLM, rent supplement units) does not require an RL-31 — the agency handles it
If two unrelated adults share a dwelling and both pay rent as co-tenants, you issue the slip to the dwelling, not per person, but both names appear on it.
What Information Goes on the Slip
An RL-31 contains:
- Dwelling address including civic number, street, and municipality
- Dwelling number (apt/unit identifier)
- Number of tenants (co-occupants named on the lease who are adults)
- Tenant names — each co-tenant as reported
- Number of months the unit was rented during the reporting year (1–12)
- Your identification as landlord — name, address, SIN or QST number depending on your status
The number of months is the one field people get wrong. It is the number of months the dwelling was rented during the year, not the number of months this specific tenant lived there. If the unit was rented all year — to anyone — the value is 12.
The February 28 Deadline
RL-31s must be distributed to tenants and filed with Revenu Québec by February 28 of the year following the reporting year. So for the 2025 tax year, slips are due by February 28, 2026.
Penalties are flat and painful:
- $100 per slip for late filing (minimum)
- Up to $2,500 cumulative per landlord for repeated or willful failures
- Additional penalties if the slip is filed but contains incorrect information
For a landlord with 40 units, a single missed filing year can exceed $4,000 in penalties before interest.
Handling Mid-Year Move-Outs
The rule is strict: only the tenant occupying the dwelling on December 31 receives an RL-31. If a tenant moved out November 30 and a new tenant moved in December 1, the December tenant gets the slip — the former tenant does not get anything from you.
If the unit was vacant on December 31, no slip is issued for that dwelling.
This is the most common source of tenant complaints to Revenu Québec. Former tenants sometimes ask for an RL-31 covering the months they lived there. The correct response is that the RL-31 system does not work that way — their previous landlord issues one based on December 31 occupancy of another address, or nobody does. Either way, it is not yours to issue.
How to Submit to Revenu Québec
Two paths depending on volume:
Under 51 slips: You may file on paper. Revenu Québec sends pre-printed forms on request, or you can generate them and mail in the summary. The summary form is the RLZ-1.S.
51 or more slips: You must file electronically via XML through Revenu Québec's online service (Mon dossier pour les entreprises). The XML schema is published annually and changes slightly year to year. Most property management platforms, including Tenaivo's RL-31 generator, export directly in the current schema.
Tenant delivery is separate from government filing. Tenants can receive their copy on paper or electronically if they have consented in writing to electronic delivery.
Practical Takeaway
Set two calendar reminders: January 15 to prepare slips from your December 31 occupancy data, and February 15 to file and distribute. The two-week cushion matters — Revenu Québec's XML service has had outages in late February that have caught procrastinators badly. And remember the December 31 rule: it is the single fact that determines every slip you issue.