Pensions, registered plans and social security payments are taxed by the country that pays them, the country you live in, or both, depending on the treaty and the account. These guides explain how each type of retirement income is treated across a border and which elections keep the plan intact.
Retirement & Pensions — 2 in-depth guides
Do Expats Get Social Security
Do expats get social security — the mechanism, the paperwork sequence, and the errors we correct most often, with every variant of the question answered in one guide.
Does Dual Citizenship Affect Social Security Benefits
A practitioner's guide to does dual citizenship affect social security benefits: the rule that decides it, the claims that make it real, and the quick answers to every version of the question.
Other topics NRI & India, Residency & Status, Working Across Borders, Foreign Property, Tax Treaties.
Cross-border situations we are engaged for
Treaty-allocated pension's elective filing considered before a deadline closed
A retiree receiving a pension under a treaty article that allocates taxing rights differently from employment income needed an elective filing considered before a deadline closed off the option entirely. We reviewed the article's election and confirmed it before the deadline, rather than leaving the flat withholding to stand.
Returning resident's foreign accounts revalued as of the arrival date
A person returning to Canada after years abroad needed their foreign accounts and pension plans revalued as of their arrival date and reported against the correct disclosure threshold. We revalued the holdings at arrival and confirmed which accounts crossed the threshold requiring disclosure.
Cross-border retirement account's deferral election confirmed rather than assumed
A person holding a cross-border retirement account needed to confirm whether the deferral the treaty allows had actually been elected, since the deferral is not automatic on either return. We reviewed the account's filing history and confirmed whether the election had been made, correcting the position where it had been missed.
A Pension Taxed Where the Treaty Did Not Intend
Pension and annuity articles allocate taxing rights differently from employment income, and a flat withholding often exceeds what a return would produce. The alternative filing is elective and has a deadline.
Read how this one runsComing Back to Canada After Years Abroad
Returning restarts Canadian residence and re-values what you own on the day you arrive. Foreign pensions, employer plans and accounts opened abroad each land differently, and the reporting thresholds are tested against the whole portfolio rather than each account.
Read how this one runsA Retirement Plan That Grows Tax-Deferred in Only One Country
Cross-border retirement accounts are recognised by treaty, but the deferral usually has to be elected rather than assumed. The engagement checks whether the election was made, makes it where it was missed, and reports the account on whichever side requires it.
Read how this one runsA Canadian Property Sale Held Up for a Clearance Certificate
When a non-resident sells Canadian real estate the purchaser must hold back a portion of the price until the seller produces a certificate. The file applies for it on the correct basis and works to the closing date, because the holdback is released against the certificate, not against the sale.
Read how this one runsAn Assignment Priced on an Equalisation Promise
A policy that leaves the assignee no better or worse off has to be computed, not just stated, and the hypothetical deduction runs alongside the real one. The engagement builds both and reconciles them at year end.
Read how this one runsAll case studies — every published engagement in one place.
Core International & Cross-Border Tax Services
Strategy and compliance for income, assets and families spread across borders.
Industries & Client Types We Serve Worldwide
- Foreign VAT / GST / sales tax registrations
- Marketplace withholding reviews
- Inventory nexus & PE analysis
- Multi-currency books reconciled
- Cross-border revenue sourcing & withholding
- IP structuring with real substance
- Equity for cross-border teams
- U.S. expansion: entity & PE setup
- Reg 105 / 102 waivers
- Permanent establishment risk
- Partner mobility planning
- Cross-border withholding recovery
- Section 216 rental returns
- FIRPTA withholding recovery
- Section 116 clearance
- Treaty credit optimization
- Transfer pricing documentation (s.247)
- Customs value vs transfer price
- Foreign affiliate reporting (T1134)
- Country-by-country reporting
- Reg 105 & U.S. CWA agreements
- Multi-state & country calendars
- Touring income allocation
- Royalty & image-rights withholding
Working from anywhere doesn't mean taxed nowhere: residency defaults, employer payroll exposure and treaty relief decide where income actually lands.
Working from another country does not by itself end tax residence in the one you left, and it can start one where you are sitting. Day counts, ties, the employer's own exposure and the treaty tie-breaker all point at the same question, and the year you move is the year it has to be answered on paper.
- Residency analysis before moving
- Employer payroll exposure
- Totalization & social security
- Foreign tax credits
- Treaty access & PPT reviews
- FAPI & surplus computations
- Withholding-efficient routing
- Governance & substance
