Side-by-side comparisons

Two things people confuse, with the rule for deciding which applies.

  • 15+Years of cross-border experience
  • 18,000+Clients served
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  • 4Global offices — India, USA, Canada & UAE
  • 15+ years of cross-border experience
  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE
  • 18,000+ clients served
What is on this page

30 pages in this section. Two things people confuse, with the rule for deciding which applies.

← All cross-border tax answers

Every page in this section is written to the same standard: it opens with the block that exists nowhere else on the site — a threshold, a treaty article, a rule that applies to one group and not the one beside it — and it carries one worked example, worked through in full rather than a set of generalities.

Where a page needs a statutory threshold, a rate or a day-count, that figure is verified against the issuing authority before it ships. Where it cannot be verified for the year in question, the page states the mechanism and quotes no number, because a wrong threshold on a page like this is worse than no page at all. Every statutory page also carries the name of the person who reviewed it and the date they did.

Fees are fixed and agreed in writing before any work begins, and you review the finished work before it is filed. Documents move through a secure portal and you can meet us at any of our offices, so where you are makes no difference to how it works.

  • Nothing is filed until you have read it.
  • 18,000+ clients served across 4 global offices: India, the USA, Canada and the UAE.
  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file; we take the cross-border piece, with the boundary in writing.

Reviewed against current guidance for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. General information, not advice for your circumstances — call our 24-hour helpline to discuss your own position.

Common questions about this section

What does the Side-by-side comparisons section cover?

30 pages. Two things people confuse, with the rule for deciding which applies. Each one opens with the part that applies to that situation and nowhere else — a threshold, a treaty article, a filing that one group owes and the group beside it does not — and works one example through in full.

How are fees set for side-by-side comparisons?

The fee is fixed and agreed in writing before any work begins, priced from the documents you send rather than estimated afterwards, and it does not move once accepted. You see the finished work and approve it before anything is filed.

Who checks the work before it is filed?

A named adviser reviews every return and every information filing before it goes out, and the statutory pages on this site carry the name of the person who reviewed them and the date they did it. You approve the finished work yourself as the last step.

How do I get a quote for side-by-side comparisons?

Send what you have — a return, a notice, a set of statements, in whatever state it is in — through the secure portal after the first call, and you get a written fixed fee back. Or call the 24-hour helpline on +1 (416) 619-0068 and we will tell you what is needed.

Fixed fee agreed before we start

Get side-by-side comparisons handled for a fixed fee

Tell us the situation and we quote in writing before any work starts. You approve the result before it is filed.

  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file
  • 18,000+ clients served
  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE

The difference a dedicated cross-border team makes

The quote comes from your documents

Nothing is priced from a phone call. We read what you have first, then the fee is set — so the scope and the number are agreed on the same evidence.

You deal with the person who did the work

The practitioner who prepared and reviewed your file is the one who answers the question about it.

The fee is fixed before we start

Quoted from your documents and agreed in writing. The number you accept is the number you pay.

The order of filing is planned, not improvised

Which return goes first decides whether relief can be claimed at all. That sequence is worked out before anything is submitted.

Two of the firm’s advisers and the team in the open-plan office
The team at work in the open-plan office

How the work runs — quote first, then the work

  • Step 1: Upload the file as it stands – A secure link arrives after the first call. Incomplete is fine; that is what the review is for.
  • Step 2: The number is settled up front – Priced from your own documents and confirmed in writing before any preparation begins.
  • Step 3: Both returns on one desk – One engagement covers every country the file touches, reconciled line against line.
  • Step 4: Your approval, then the filing – The return is yours to check first. We file once you say so.

Quoted up front, in writing.

Contact Us 24-hour helpline +1 (416) 619-0068

Where to go next

Each of these carries its own guide, pricing pointers and FAQ.

Core services for this situation

Form 24Q — TDS on salary (India) Form 24q India — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Am I an NRI? — the 182 / 60+365 day tests The full guide to am I an NRI? — the 182 / 60+365 day tests, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
CRA Voluntary Disclosures Program — offshore and unreported income Its own page: IRS offshore voluntary disclosure program — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Selling agricultural land in India as an NRI Everything on selling agricultural land in India as an NRI, at the same depth as this page.
Global mobility calendar & day tracking Global mobility calendar & day tracking — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Form 35 — appeal to CIT(A) (India) The full guide to form 35 India, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Form W-8BEN — individual Its own page: form w-8ben individual — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Deemed resident vs factual resident Everything on deemed resident vs factual resident, at the same depth as this page.
TNMM in practice TNMM in practice — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

Who we bring this work to

Software developers — relief you're probably missing Software developers relief you're probably missing — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for franchise owners The full guide to franchise owners tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Influencers & content creators — relief you're probably missing Its own page: influencers & content creators relief you're probably missing — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Airline pilots — your filing calendar Everything on airline pilots your filing calendar, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for crypto traders Crypto traders tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for cross-border truck drivers The full guide to cross-border truck drivers tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Cross-border truck drivers — what you owe in each country Its own page: cross-border truck drivers what you owe in each country — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Seafarers & mariners — what we charge Everything on seafarers & mariners what we charge, at the same depth as this page.
Amazon FBA sellers — what we charge Amazon fba sellers what we charge — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

Where our clients live and work

Senegal tax for expats — country guide Senegal tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Uganda tax for expats — country guide The full guide to uganda tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Serbia tax for expats — country guide Its own page: serbia tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Kenya tax for expats — country guide Everything on Kenya tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Latvia tax for expats — country guide Latvia tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Canada–Singapore tax corridor The full guide to Canada Singapore tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Canada–United States tax corridor Its own page: Canada United States tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Austria tax for expats — country guide Everything on Austria tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Qatar tax for expats — country guide Qatar tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

Cross-border situations we are engaged for

Case study 1

A contractor who was an employee in the other country

A company engaged a worker abroad on a contractor agreement and paid gross for well over a year. The host country applied its own test to the substance of the relationship and reached the opposite conclusion. The work was to compare the classification tests on both sides, document the features of the engagement that actually drove the result, and register the employer where registration should have been running. The engagement produced a corrected classification, the host-country payroll filings brought into existence, and an agreement rewritten to match what the parties were really doing.

Case study 2

Resident in two countries until the treaty decided

The client met the domestic residence test in both countries in the same year, and each authority's guidance, read on its own, said they were resident there. The work was to apply the treaty's tie-breaker in sequence rather than argue about the domestic tests, gathering the evidence each stage of it turns on. It did not end there, which was the important part: the country that lost the tie-break still had filings of its own. The engagement produced a documented tie-breaker position and returns in both countries that reflect it consistently.

Case study 3

Credit claimed before anyone asked what the treaty allowed

The client had been relieving foreign tax against domestic tax for years without asking whether the source country was entitled to charge what it had charged. On part of the income it was not. The work was to establish the treaty position first, reclaim from the source country where its charge exceeded what the treaty permits, and restate the credit claimed at home to match. The engagement produced a corrected position in both countries and an order of operations the client now applies each year.

Case study 4

Which half of the moving year belonged to which country

The client had filed a full-year return on one side and nothing on the other, because the alternative looked complicated. The year in fact split at the date residency changed, with departure consequences attaching at that point and only certain income reachable afterwards. The work was to fix the date of the split on evidence, allocate each income stream to the period it belonged to, and prepare the two filings so they agreed. The engagement produced a filed pair of returns for the year, and the departure position documented alongside them.

Case study 5

Choosing between a disclosure and an ordinary late filing

The client wanted the missed years gone by the weekend and was ready to file them as they stood. The work was to make the choice deliberately first: what the exposure actually was, whether the history could be explained plainly, and what protection each route offers. On these facts the disclosure route was the right one, and filing first would have closed it. The engagement produced a submission prepared as a whole, with the account of how the omission arose drafted to match the documents rather than the other way round.

Case study 6

An estate caught between situs rules and treaty relief

The family assumed that because the deceased had never lived in the other country, that country had no claim on the estate. Certain assets are reached by where they are situated rather than by where their owner lived, and some of the holdings were. The work was to identify which assets the situs rules reach, then test what relief the treaty gives against the resulting charge. The engagement produced a schedule of assets classified by the basis of charge, the filings in each country prepared from it, and the relief claimed with its evidence attached.

Case study 7

A Home Kept in Canada After the Move Abroad

A dwelling left available is the tie the CRA weighs most heavily, and its treatment differs depending on whether it is rented at arm's length. The file settles the residence position first and the rental reporting second.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

Treaty Rate Refused Because the Paperwork Was Missing

A reduced rate under a treaty is available only where the payer is satisfied the recipient is resident in the treaty country. The certificate and the withholding form are what make the rate available at source instead of recoverable a year later.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Core International & Cross-Border Tax Services

International Tax Planning & Advisory

Strategy and compliance for income, assets and families spread across borders.

One coordinating team: filings on every side of the border are sequenced so treaty relief and foreign tax credits are claimed once — and in the right country.

U.S. & Cross-Border Tax Returns

Dual filers: U.S. citizens in Canada and Canadians with U.S. income run two parallel systems — we prepare both, in the right order, every year.

Expat & Emigration Tax

The move year is its own project: the elections and valuations filed that year decide the next decade of both countries’ returns.

Non-Resident Canadian Tax

Default withholding is 25% of gross: elective returns routinely turn over-withheld rent and pensions into refunds.

Transfer Pricing & BEPS

Documentation prepared with the return is the cheapest insurance in international tax; reconstructing it during an audit is the most expensive.

Cross-Border Estates & Trusts

Wills drafted for one country routinely misfire in the other — deemed disposition here, estate tax there, credits in between.

Cross-Border Corporate Tax

Expansion raises the same four questions every time — entity, PE, repatriation, payroll. We answer them before the tax authorities do.

India Tax for NRIs & Returning Residents

The deduction is taken on the sale price, not the gain — which is why an NRI property sale strands cash unless the certificate is applied for before closing.

Canadian Tax with a Foreign Element

Residency is decided on facts, not on a form — and the year you arrive or leave is the one where the largest amounts turn on the smallest details.

UAE Tax for Expats & Their Home Country

A zero-tax country is only half the answer — the question that decides the bill is whether the country you came from still treats you as resident.

Industries & Client Types We Serve Worldwide

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces
Technology & SaaS
Professional Services Firms
Cross-Border Real Estate
Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers
Athletes, Artists & Entertainers
Remote Workers & Digital Nomads
Investment Funds & Holding Companies

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces

  • Foreign VAT / GST / sales tax registrations
  • Marketplace withholding reviews
  • Inventory nexus & PE analysis
  • Multi-currency books reconciled
Explore E-commerce & Marketplaces

Technology & SaaS

  • Cross-border revenue sourcing & withholding
  • IP structuring with real substance
  • Equity for cross-border teams
  • U.S. expansion: entity & PE setup
Explore Technology & SaaS

Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers

  • Transfer pricing documentation (s.247)
  • Customs value vs transfer price
  • Foreign affiliate reporting (T1134)
  • Country-by-country reporting
Explore Trade & Manufacturing

Athletes, Artists & Entertainers

Performance income is taxed where earned — Regulation 105 in Canada, withholding agreements in the U.S. — with special treaty articles overriding the usual rules.

Performance income is taxed where the performance happens, and the deduction is usually taken at source on the gross fee before expenses. Recovering the difference is a filing exercise in the other country, and it only works if the tour, the residency and the withholding certificates were documented while the work was being done.

  • Reg 105 & U.S. CWA agreements
  • Multi-state & country calendars
  • Touring income allocation
  • Royalty & image-rights withholding
Explore Athletes & Entertainers

Remote Workers & Digital Nomads

  • Residency analysis before moving
  • Employer payroll exposure
  • Totalization & social security
  • Foreign tax credits
Explore Remote Workers

Investment Funds & Holding Companies

  • Treaty access & PPT reviews
  • FAPI & surplus computations
  • Withholding-efficient routing
  • Governance & substance
Explore Funds & Holdcos

Our practitioners are alumni of leading accounting and tax institutions

Where our partners studied — CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), AICPA, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Request a Quote +1 (416) 619-0068