What does a fixed fee actually include?
Whatever the written scope says, which is why the scope is the part worth reading closely. A useful quote names the filings it covers, the years, the people or entities each filing belongs to, and the things it does not cover. On a cross-border file that list is longer than clients expect, because one person can carry several returns and several information filings across two countries. The value of the arrangement is not that the figure is small but that it is known and agreed in writing before the work starts, and that you can see what would take you outside it.
What happens if my file turns out to be more complicated?
New scope is quoted as new scope. If the records show a year nobody had mentioned, or an entity, or a holding that brings its own filing with it, the right response is a separate written quote for that item rather than a larger figure for the original one. That is the mechanism that keeps the agreed number meaningful: it holds for the work described, and work that was not described is priced when it is identified. You should expect to be told what has been found, what it adds and why, and to decide before that part begins.
Why are cross-border returns quoted per filing?
Because the work divides that way. One household can involve two countries, several returns, and a set of information filings that are each their own exercise with their own deadline, and pricing them as a single lump hides which of them you are actually buying. Quoting per filing lets you see the shape of your own obligation, decline something you do not need, and add a year without renegotiating everything else. It also makes next year comparable, because the list either matches the previous one or it has changed for a reason you can point to.
Is a fixed fee the same as an estimate?
No, and the difference is the whole point of the term. An estimate is a prediction about how long something will take, and it moves when the prediction turns out to be wrong. A fixed fee is an agreed figure for described work, settled in writing before the work begins, and it does not move because the work proved slower than expected. What can move it is a change in what is being done, which is re-quoted as its own item. If a document calls itself a quote but reserves the right to charge the time actually taken, it is an estimate.
Can the fee change once work has started?
Only if the scope changes, and then by written agreement rather than by adjustment at the end. The distinction that matters is between a file that is harder than expected and a file that is bigger than described. Harder is our problem, and the agreed figure stands. Bigger, meaning an extra year, another entity, or a holding whose reporting nobody knew about, is a new item, quoted separately, and yours to accept or decline. Anything found is raised at the point it is found rather than carried quietly to the end of the engagement.
What should a written quote for tax work state?
Five things, and if any of them is missing it is worth asking why. What is being prepared, listed by filing and by year. Who each filing belongs to. What is excluded, since charges imposed by a tax authority and advice outside the listed work are commonly outside a preparation fee. What would cause a re-quote. And what you have to supply, because an unclear document list is the usual reason a file drifts. A quote you can read quickly and check against last year's is doing its job.
I have not filed for several years while living abroad — what are my options?
Both countries have routes back, and using one before they contact you is what preserves the relief. On the US side there are procedures aimed at taxpayers whose failure was not wilful, including one designed for people living outside the country, and separate procedures for late account reports and information returns alone. Canada has its voluntary disclosures programme and taxpayer relief for penalties and interest. Filing quietly and hoping is the one approach with no protection attached to it. See catch-up filing.
Which countries have a tax treaty with the United States?
Around sixty, including Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Australia and most of western Europe — but the list matters less than the terms, because each treaty caps rates and allocates income differently. Two countries with treaties can produce opposite answers on the same pension or the same royalty. What decides your position is the specific article covering your income type. See our country guides.
