Case study 1
Bringing a United States citizen in Canada back into annual filing
The client had filed in Canada every year since moving and had assumed that becoming resident there ended the American obligation. It does not, because United States filing follows citizenship. We established the years at issue, prepared the outstanding American returns, worked out the credit for the Canadian tax properly payable on the same income, and completed the account and holding disclosures that sit alongside the returns and carry penalties of their own. The engagement produced a filed set of years on both sides, a reconciliation between them, and a single annual process covering both returns from then on.
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Case study 2
Sourcing a commuter's wages by the days worked in each country
The client lived on one side of the border and worked on the other, and the whole salary had been reported to the country of residence only. Employment income is generally taxed first where the work is physically done. We rebuilt the year by workday from calendars, building access records and travel documents, split the wages accordingly, filed in the country of work for the portion earned there, and claimed the credit at home on the tax that country was entitled to. The work produced a defensible day count, two consistent returns, and a record-keeping habit for the following year.
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Case study 3
Documenting a state charge the treaty did not reduce
The federal position had been settled on the treaty, and then a state assessment arrived taxing the same income as though no treaty existed. Sub-national governments are not always bound in the way the national one is. We established the basis of the state's claim, confirmed which days and which income it reached, filed the state return on the correct figures, and then reviewed how much of that tax the home country would actually credit, since national and sub-national tax are not always treated alike. The engagement produced a settled state assessment and a revised credit claim.
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Case study 4
Splitting a bonus and share awards across a mid year move
The client moved between the two countries partway through a year and then received a bonus and vesting share awards. Both related to work performed before the move, and the date of payment is not the test. We obtained the award documents, established the period each amount was earned over, allocated it by where the work was actually done, and reflected the split consistently on both returns so neither country taxed a portion the other had already properly taxed. The work produced an allocation schedule, two returns built on it, and a note to apply to the following year's vesting.
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Case study 5
Recomputing a foreign tax credit category by category
A credit had been claimed as a single aggregate figure and the assessment reduced it. Credits are generally computed separately by category of income, so a surplus on one category cannot relieve a shortfall on another, and the two countries were measuring the same income on different bases in any event. We rebuilt the claim category by category, reconciled each country's measurement of the underlying income, and identified where the real answer was a refund from the other country rather than a larger credit. The engagement produced an amended return, a supportable credit, and a source-country refund claim.
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Case study 6
Recovering withholding in the country that took it
Tax had been over-withheld at source and the client had claimed the whole amount as a credit at home, on the reasoning that it had been paid. A credit follows what the source country was entitled to take, not what was withheld. We established the correct source-country liability, filed there to recover the excess, and reduced the home credit claim to the settled figure before it was assessed. The work produced a refund from the source country, a credit claim that stood on review, and a withholding instruction to the payer so the next year did not repeat it.
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Case study 7
A Canadian Employer With Staff in the United States
Employing someone in the US creates federal and state obligations that begin with registration, not with the first return. Which states are engaged is decided by where the work happens rather than where the company is.
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Case study 8
A US LLC Owned by a Canadian, Taxed Twice by Design
The two countries classify an LLC differently, so the credit relief that ought to apply frequently does not. The engagement looks at whether the structure can be changed, and where it cannot, at how to make the credit work.
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