TP-59-V: Employment expenses for salaried employees and/or employees who earn commissions in Québec

Important: We’re in the process of updating this help article for tax year 2020. Please check back soon!

If you’re a resident of Québec who earned salary or commission in 2020, and your employment contract required you to pay for some or all of your work-related expenses, you might be able to claim a deduction for these expenses on form TP-59-V: Employment expenses for salaried employees and/or employees who earn commissions in Québec.

Note: You can’t claim a deduction for your expenses if your employer has reimbursed you for them – only expenses that you had to pay out of your own pocket are eligible.

Your employer will need to give you a completed TP-64.3-V: General Employment Conditions form so that you have the necessary information to complete the TP-59-V form. If you haven’t received one, speak to your employer before you start your return.

Important: In addition to the TP-59-V, you’ll also need to complete the federal T777: Statement of employment expenses form. To make things easier, the TP-59-V and the T777 forms (and others) are combined in H&R Block’s tax software.

You might be able to deduct the following employment expenses on your return:

  • Accommodation and transportation

    If your work required you to pay accommodation expenses (such as the cost of a hotel or motel room) or transportation expenses (for example, by bus, airplane, ferry, train or taxi), you can deduct these expenses. However, you can’t deduct expenses paid for regular travel between your home and your employer’s place of business.

  • Telecommunication expenses

    You can deduct the following telecommunications expenses, as long as they’re directly related to the performance of your job duties:

    • charges for long-distance calls
    • charges for cellular calls (including costs paid to acquire a package or prepaid air time, provided these costs are calculated in proportion to your use of the phone in the performance of your duties)
    • the cost of sending telegrams
    • Internet charges that are billed on a per-usage basis
    • the portion of an Internet service package that was used for the performance of your work

    Note: You can’t deduct the cost of a cellular phone, the cost of having a cellular phone connected or cancelled, or internet connection charges.

  • Expenses for cultural events

    You can deduct certain expenses that you paid when taking clients to a cultural event such as a:

    • concert of a symphony orchestra or a classical music or jazz ensemble
    • an opera
    • dance performance
    • vocal performance by a vocal artist, provided the performance isn’t held in a venue normally used for sports events
    • theatre performance or performing arts variety show (for example, a comedy show or a musical theatre production) or
    • museum exhibit

    You can claim the cost of all or almost all (90% or more) of the tickets you paid for a cultural event in Québec or subscription costs to at least 3 different cultural events that take place in Québec.

    Note: You can’t deduct the cost of going to a recreational facility or club fees.

  • Other expenses (such as supplies, meals, use of vehicle costs, home office costs, etc.)

    For more information on which expenses you can claim, refer to your employment contract, and check out Revenu Québec’s Employment Expenses Guide.

Follow these steps in H&R Block’s 2020 tax software:

Before you begin, make sure you told us that you lived in Québec on December 31, 2020.

  1. Under the PREPARE tab, click the IN THIS SECTION icon.

  2. Under Employment Expenses box, click the Add This Topic button.

  3. Click the EMPLOYMENT icon. You'll find yourself here:



  1. Under the EXPENSES heading, select the checkbox labelled Employment expenses, then click Continue.

  2. When you arrive at the Employment expenses page, enter your information into the tax software.

Tax tip: If you deduct the cost of your expenses from your income, you might be able to claim a Québec sales tax (QST) rebate.