RL-31 slip (Relevé 31): who files it, when and how

Who has to file an RL-31 slip

Any person or partnership that owns a building and rented out a dwelling for which rent was paid or payable on December 31 must file a Relevé 31 (RL-31) slip, "Information About a Leased Dwelling," for that dwelling. Revenu Québec's guide applies the rule to 2025 and every year after. A corporation that owns the building has the same obligation as an individual.

The dwelling must be in Québec. It can be a house, an apartment in a duplex, a rental building or a condo, or a room.

What counts is the situation on December 31, not the whole year: the slip reports who occupied the unit on that day. If no rent was paid or payable for a unit on December 31, there is no slip to file for it.

Units that don't need a slip

No RL-31 is required for:

• low-rental housing within the meaning of the Civil Code, including a unit in an HLM (habitation à loyer modique), or a unit for which the Société d'habitation du Québec (SHQ) agreed to pay part of the rent for a period that includes December 31, such as a unit with a rent supplement;
• a unit for which part of the rent is paid, for a period that includes December 31, under a program governed by the National Housing Act (some housing co-ops, for example);
• a unit in a publicly funded hospital, CHSLD (long-term care centre) or rehabilitation centre, in a Cree health facility, or in an intermediate or family-type resource;
• a room in your principal residence, if fewer than 3 rooms are rented or offered for rent there, unless the room has its own outside entrance or bathroom facilities separate from yours;
• a room in a hotel establishment or rooming house rented for less than 60 consecutive days.

What goes on the slip

You need one slip per unit. The guide's example: two duplexes rented from December 1 to 31 means four RL-31 slips.

• The year and the slip code: R for an original, A for an amended slip, D for a cancelled one.
• Box A, the dwelling number: a unique pre-printed number that can't be reused from one year to the next.
• Box B, the number of tenants: those who signed the lease and are responsible for the rent. Guarantors and occupants who didn't sign don't count.
• Box C, the unit's address.
• The tenants: surname, first name and mailing address of each tenant or subtenant who signed, up to 5 per slip.
• The owner: name, address, phone number and signature.

Each signer gets their own copy, the RL-31.CS. A couple who both signed the lease get two copies, even if their children live in the unit too.

The deadline: the last day of February

By the last day of February of the following year, you must both send copy 1 (RL-31) to Revenu Québec and give copy 2 (RL-31.CS) to each tenant or subtenant who signed the lease.

The date is in the landlord's calendar, along with the April 30 income tax returns.

How to prepare and send the slips

Revenu Québec accepts four filing methods:

• its online service, "Prepare and View the RL-31 Slip";
• software authorized by Revenu Québec, which produces an XML file;
• software you developed yourself that meets Revenu Québec's requirements;
• paper forms, ordered from Revenu Québec.

More than 5 slips: online filing is mandatory. Above 5 RL-31 slips, you must file online, through the online service or authorized software. With 5 slips or fewer, paper is allowed: mail only copy 1 of each slip to Revenu Québec, 3800, rue de Marly, Québec (Québec) G1X 4A5.

Plexago prepares each slip's data from your leases, ready to enter in the online service: see the RL-31 section of the tax guide.

The tenant's copy

Give the RL-31.CS in person or by mail. To send it electronically, by email for instance, you first need the tenant's written consent. That consent stays valid until the tenant revokes it; you must tell them how to revoke it, protect their personal information and use a format they can't modify.

Why your tenants need it

Tenants use the slip to claim the housing component of Québec's solidarity tax credit (crédit d'impôt pour solidarité). They enter the dwelling number from box A on Schedule D of their income tax return.

In March 2026, Revenu Québec told tenants to ask their landlord for any missing RL-31. A forgotten copy will get you a phone call.

Penalties

• $100 per missing piece of information: each required item left off a slip can cost $100. For the tenant's identity, the penalty doesn't apply if you made reasonable efforts to get it.
• Late filing: the RL-31 guide also provides for a penalty when slips are filed late.
• Paper instead of online: a penalty applies to a landlord who files more than 5 slips without sending them online.

Revenu Québec explains how the last two are calculated on its pages on the penalty for failure to file and on failure to follow the filing method (in French). The easiest way to avoid the $100 penalty: record each signer's full name and address when the lease is signed.

Common questions

Do I need an RL-31 for a unit that was empty on December 31?

It depends on the rent, not on whether someone lived there. If no rent was paid or payable for the unit on December 31, there is no slip; if a lease was running and rent was payable, you need one.

My tenant moved out in October: do they get an RL-31?

The slip reports the situation on December 31: the tenants who had signed the lease on that date are the ones named on it and the ones who get a copy.

Do guarantors and children count in box B?

No. Box B counts only the tenants or subtenants who signed the lease and are responsible for the rent.

Can I email the RL-31 to my tenants?

Yes, if each tenant has first agreed in writing. Otherwise, hand it over in person or mail it.

My plex is owned by a corporation: who files the slips?

The corporation, since it owns the building and rents out the units.