Do I need to come to your office?
No, though you are welcome to: we have offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE. Documents move through a secure portal, and meetings can be in person or by video, arranged around your time zone. Clients in the Gulf, India, Europe and across North America all work with us the same way.
Does it matter which of your offices handles my file?
No. The same named reviewer signs off, the same authorisation is filed with the tax authorities, and the same fixed fee is agreed in writing before any work starts.
How do you match an April to March year with a calendar year return?
By splitting the underlying records rather than the totals. Income earned in India is recorded against a year running from April to March; a Canadian or American return is built on the calendar year. So payslips, interest statements and rental receipts are re-cut into calendar periods before anything is reported, and the same method is used every year so one year's figures reconcile to the next. That split also decides which foreign year's tax is available as relief against which domestic year, which is where most of the errors we are asked to correct began.
Can you file my Canadian return while I live in India?
Yes, and it is the most common engagement on this page. Living in India does not change what a Canadian return requires; it changes how the papers reach us and when we speak. Documents are uploaded, drafts come back for your approval, and signatures are electronic. What does need care is your residency status, because that determines whether you file as a resident reporting worldwide income or as a non-resident reporting only Canadian-source income. We settle that first, in writing, because everything else on the return follows from it.
Do I need to convert my Indian salary figures myself?
No. We convert, and we document the basis. Conversion is not a formality: the rate used, and whether it is an average for the year or the rate on the day of each receipt, changes the reported figure and therefore the relief claimed against it. We choose a method that fits the type of income, apply it consistently across the whole file, and keep the workings with the return so the figures can be explained if they are ever queried. Send the statements in the currency they were issued in.
Which country's tax do I claim relief for first?
It depends on which country has the primary right to tax that income, and that is a question about the type of income and the treaty, not about which return you happen to prepare first. Employment income, rental income, interest and pension income are not treated alike. We set the order of work so that the return determining the underlying tax is prepared before the one claiming relief for it, which avoids claiming a credit against an estimate and amending afterwards.
I moved back to India, do I still have to file in Canada?
Possibly, and for two separate reasons. The year you left is a filing year in its own right, with its own reporting on what you held when ties ended. After that, Canadian-source income can continue to create an obligation even though you live in India: rent, certain pensions and some investment income among them. Whether that obligation is met by withholding at source or by filing a return is sometimes a choice rather than a rule, and it is worth working out rather than defaulting to whatever happened last year.
Can you work with my accountant in India?
Yes, and it is usually the sensible arrangement. Your accountant in India keeps the Indian side and knows the records; we take the Canadian or American side and tell them precisely which figures we need and on what basis. The request goes in writing so nothing is assumed, and we send back whatever they need from our side. Splitting it this way keeps each filing with the person who knows that system, and it keeps the fee here to the part of the work that genuinely sits outside India.
Who is an NRI for tax purposes?
Residence in India is decided by days present in the tax year, with a second limb that also counts days over the preceding four years, and separate rules for Indian citizens leaving for employment. Fall outside the tests and you are non-resident, taxed in India only on Indian-source income. Between full residence and non-residence sits RNOR — resident but not ordinarily resident — which shelters foreign income for a limited window after returning. See RNOR status.
What are Form 15CA and Form 15CB?
They are the certification pair required before certain remittances leave India. Form 15CA is the remitter's declaration filed online; Form 15CB is the accountant's certificate supporting the tax treatment and the rate applied, including any treaty relief. Which combination you need depends on the nature and size of the payment, and banks will generally not process the remittance without them. See Form 15CA.
