The restaurant industry fears that the transition to the new sales registration module imposed on it by Revenu Québec by August 31 will not be delivered on time and struggles to trust the government to complete the project. term without a hitch.
“We tried to raise awareness with the government on several occasions by telling them that we would not be able to make the transition if there was not a greater presence on their part,” explains Denis Robert, Executive Vice-President at Payfacto, a payment processing technology provider.
By May 31, 2025, restaurateurs must have signed a contract with a point-of-sale company like Payfacto, which also owns Véloce and Maître’D. A three-month deadline was granted for the installation of the MEV-WEB following pressure from the industry, which may not be enough, Mr. Robert fears.
Because the government is imposing a technological transition at the level of the Sales Registration Module (MEV).
This blue box which allowed the manual transmission of sales made to Revenu Québec will become a cloud computing system nicknamed MEV-WEB. The transmission of information will be automated.
A physical MEV
Zoe Arcand
Around 15,000 restaurateurs are subject to MEV-WEB, according to data from Payfacto, which has concluded contracts with 1,500 of them.
Only 11% of subject merchants had transitioned by mid-November according to Revenu Québec, which ensures that online information sessions will be held from January 2025.
Traffic jam ahead
“Seven months before the deadline, there are restaurateurs who do not know what we are talking about when we talk to them about MEV-WEB” deplores Mr. Robert, according to whom several merchants are postponing the transition due to the high costs due to by technological deficits.
“We are very late,” worries the man who deplores the lack of financial incentives from the government and who fears that the industry is heading towards a traffic jam.
“We will have to do more than 2000 merchants per month. It’s almost ten times normal deliveries,” illustrates the one who observes that “not only are restaurateurs furious, but they have a lack of confidence in the government’s ability to deliver this project in a solid manner. »
Huge costs
The vice-president of public and government affairs of the Association des restaurateurs du Québec (ARQ), Martin Vézina, explains that he tried to convince the government to increase its compensation program.
For now, restaurateurs who purchased a physical MEV in the two years preceding October 31, 2023 are entitled to $700.
The ARQ also asked the government to cap the prices charged by designers like Payfacto.
But the costs of this transition are also absorbed by these designers, assures the executive vice-president of this Montreal-based company.
“For us, this technological transition represents an investment of $4 million. It’s major,” explains Mr. Robert.
According to Payfacto estimates, their customers will have to pay on average $3,500, but for some, it will cost several million dollars,” he emphasizes.
Revenu Québec estimates that implementation costs will average up to $6,000 per business.
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