Marcel, 74, pays someone to clean his Gatineau bungalow and someone else to clear the front walk. He is quite capable of telling both of them how he would do it. He is less certain which bills belong in his tax file.
Quebec's refundable home-support services credit can apply even when a senior is independent. For the 2025 claim, the basic conditions are Quebec residence and age 70 or older on December 31. In the year you turn 70, eligible services must be provided on or after your birthday. Eligibility.
Start with the service and your home
For someone living in their own house, housekeeping and snow removal are among the eligible services. Cleaning supplies, food and other goods are not service expenses. Construction, repairs and renovations do not qualify under this credit.
Marcel asks for an invoice that identifies the work, date, provider and amount. A store receipt for detergent belongs in a different pile from the cleaner's invoice. Services supplied by a spouse or dependant are excluded; personal-assistance arrangements involving a person claiming the Quebec caregiver credit also need checking. House: eligible and excluded services.
An apartment, condominium or private seniors' residence has different rules for services included in rent or common expenses. Use the category that matches where you actually lived. The entire rent or condo-fee bill does not become an eligible service cost.
Use the rate for the expense year
For 2025, the credit starts at 39% of eligible expenses, subject to annual limits and the family-income reduction. The 2025 reduction begins above family income of $71,010, with the calculation depending on autonomy and family circumstances. Use Schedule J and Work Chart 458 for the actual result. 2025 return instructions.
Suppose Marcel has $2,400 of qualifying, unreimbursed services for 2025 and no applicable income reduction. His starting credit is $936. A separate $80 purchase of cleaning products does not increase that calculation.
The rate reaches 40% for 2026 under the scheduled increase. Do not use that rate on a 2025 return simply because you file it in 2026. Quebec's published rate schedule.
Decide when to receive the credit
You can claim through Schedule J with the return or request advance payments through My Account or the appropriate form. Advance applications generally must arrive by December 1 of the year concerned. Payments require direct deposit and supporting documents.
At filing time, reconcile the advances. RL-19 box D goes to line 441; it is not another expense to add to the cleaner's bills. Keep the invoices, normally for six years after their tax year. The same expense cannot support both this Quebec credit and Quebec's medical-expense credit. Claiming and advance payments.
Report relevant changes promptly, including a move, changed services, family circumstances or income. Keeping an old advance amount after circumstances change can leave an overpayment to repay. Updating advance payments.
Marcel's useful habit is simple: each payment stays with its invoice and service date. When the annual statement arrives, he has something better than a memory of a very snowy February.
Checked October 20, 2026. The worked example uses the 2025 return rules.
