Case study 1
Getting a certificate to a payer before the first payment
An individual was about to begin providing services to a US payer and the contract was signed. We settled the treaty position first — which article applied to the payments and what facts it depended on — and only then completed the certificate, so that what was signed matched the analysis rather than the payer's assumption. The certificate went to the payer's accounts team with a note of what it covered and when it would need replacing. The engagement produced the reduced rate applied from the first payment, and no return needed in order to recover anything.
Case study 2
Recovering withholding that a missing certificate had caused
A client had been paid for a year before anyone mentioned a certificate, and the payer had withheld at the statutory rate throughout, correctly. We established the treaty position, prepared the US return for the year to claim the amount withheld against the liability actually due, and lodged a valid certificate with the payer for the payments still to come. The engagement produced recovered over-withholding and a corrected rate going forward. The avoidable part was the gap between the two, which is what happens when the certificate follows the first statement.
Case study 3
A certificate that had gone stale after a move
Payments were still arriving at the reduced treaty rate although the recipient had moved to a third country a year earlier. The certificate on the payer's file was no longer a true statement, and the treaty that had supported the claim was not the one now governing the payments. We established residence on the new facts, worked out which treaty applied and on what terms, and replaced the certificate. The engagement produced a corrected rate, a written residence position supporting it, and a renewal diary that the payer and the client now both hold.
Case study 4
The wrong certificate in a payer's file for years
A payer's file held an individual certificate of foreign status for income that was effectively connected with a US trade or business, so the wrong rule had been applied from the beginning: gross withholding on income belonging on a net-basis return. We reclassified the income on the facts, gave the payer the certificate for effectively connected income in place of what it held, and prepared the returns for the affected years on the correct basis. The engagement produced consistent treatment between what the payer withholds and what the returns report, which had not previously been the case.
Case study 5
A custodian that held no documentation for an account
A custodian was withholding at the statutory rate on an investment account because it held no documentation for the holder, and the statements gave no reason for the deduction. We traced which distributions were affected, established the treaty position for that category of income, and completed the certification the custodian required, including the identifying details its own process demanded before it would apply a reduced rate. The engagement produced the reduced rate on later distributions and a claim for the periods already withheld, filed with evidence of what the account had actually paid.
Case study 6
A director who signed the individual form for a company
A director had signed the individual certificate on behalf of a company, which is not what it is for, and the payer had accepted it. By the time the error surfaced the payments were already being questioned. We identified the entity certificate the payer should have held, gathered the broader information an entity has to give, and had the claim re-lodged on the correct footing. The engagement produced a valid certificate in the payer's file, a note of the period in which no valid documentation existed, and the return position for that period set out in writing.
Case study 7
Paid for Work Done in Canada While Living Elsewhere
Employment carried out in Canada is taxable here even where the employer and the bank account are not. The engagement establishes how many of the days were worked in Canada, applies the treaty employment article, and deals with the withholding the payer has already taken.
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Case study 8
Residency Changed Mid-Year and Both Returns Assumed a Full One
A move part-way through a year produces two part-year positions, not two full ones. The engagement establishes the date residence actually changed, allocates income either side of it, and amends whichever return was filed on the wrong footing.
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