Case study 1
An estate with papers scattered across several countries
The executor had boxes of correspondence, statements in more than one language, and no list of what the deceased actually owned or where. Nothing could be filed until that was known. The work started with the checklist rather than a return: identifying each asset and each account, establishing which jurisdiction had a claim on it and on what basis, and requesting from institutions what the family could not find. The engagement produced a documented inventory with a source for every line, which then drove the filings in each country.
Case study 2
A client who sent everything and had sorted nothing
The papers arrived complete and entirely unordered, which is a better problem than the opposite but still a problem. Working the checklist against the pile did two things. It turned the material into a filing set organised by year and by income stream, and it exposed what was genuinely missing rather than merely mislaid. The gaps were identified in the first week and requested immediately, so nothing was discovered late. The engagement produced an ordered document set, a short list of outstanding items, and a scope that did not move after it was agreed.
Case study 3
Withholding certificates reconstructed from the payers' own records
The client's relief claim depended on evidencing tax withheld abroad, and the certificates for the earlier years had not been kept. Asserting the amounts was not an option, because a relief claim has to be supported. The work was to identify each payer, request duplicate documentation for the years concerned, and reconcile what came back against the bank credits actually received, so that every figure was traceable. The engagement produced a supported claim for each year in the span, with the evidence held rather than promised.
Case study 4
Document gathering that set the scope of a pricing review
A group knew it needed transfer pricing documentation and wanted a fee before anyone knew what existed. Working the checklist first answered that: intercompany agreements existed for some flows and not others, and the flows without paperwork were the ones carrying most of the value. The gathering stage therefore determined the work, rather than the other way round. The engagement produced a mapped set of intercompany transactions, the agreements and records supporting each, and a fixed fee agreed in writing for the documentation that followed.
Case study 5
A departure asset list built from records rather than memory
The client was leaving the country and had drafted their own list of what they owned, from recollection, over an evening. Departure computations turn on what was held on a particular date and what it was worth then, so a list without sources is a computation that cannot be defended. The work was to rebuild the list from statements, registers and title documents as at the departure date, and to value each item on evidence contemporaneous with it. The engagement produced a sourced inventory that the departure filing was then prepared from.
Case study 6
Ordering the years before a voluntary disclosure was submitted
The client had decided to come forward and wanted to submit quickly, with whatever was to hand. A disclosure is read as a whole, so an incomplete one invites exactly the enquiry it is meant to close. The checklist set the order of work: establish the span of years, obtain account-level detail for each, reconcile the accounts against the income reported, and only then draft. The engagement produced a submission in which every year was supported by documents obtained from the institutions themselves.
Case study 7
A Company Abroad Owned by a US Person
A business incorporated where the owner lives is a foreign corporation to the IRS, with a reporting package of its own and schedules that need local accounts restated. Classification comes first, because it decides what is reportable and when profits are taxed.
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Case study 8
A US Filer Married to Someone Outside the System
Electing to treat a non-resident spouse as a US filer buys joint rates and brings that spouse's worldwide income and foreign accounts into the return. The election is easy to make and hard to revoke, so both positions are modelled first.
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