Low-cost US return from abroad (1040 + 2555/1116) — fixed-fee price

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Quoted in writing before the work starts. Reviewed with you before it is filed. From $449, quoted before work starts. Agreed in writing before the work starts. Low-cost US return from abroad with a fixed fee agreed in writing before any work starts. Call the 24-hour helpline on +1 (416) 619-0068, or request a written quote today.

+1 (416) 619-0068 See fixed fees
  • 15+Years of cross-border experience
  • 18,000+Clients served
  • 5.0Google rating
  • 4Global offices — India, USA, Canada & UAE
  • Fixed fee agreed before work starts
  • 24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • 15+ years of cross-border experience
The promise

US return from abroad (1040 + 2555/1116) is quoted as a fixed fee before any work begins, from $449 for a standard engagement. You review the finished work before it is filed, and if the scope changes we re-quote before continuing.

What the engagement actually covers

The US individual return prepared from abroad, with the exclusion and the foreign tax credit computed together rather than one or the other, plus the account and asset reports that travel with it.

The team reviewing a file together at a desk

Three tiers

TierFixed feeWhat it covers
Standardfrom $449A clean single-year engagement with nothing to reconstruct. Our published fee for US return preparation applies.
Complexfrom $449Additional filings travelling with the return, an advance application, or a second jurisdiction in the same set.
Multi-year or projectquoted on scopeWhere the engagement spans years or entities, the fee is built from the scope and quoted in writing first.

These are the fees on our own published schedule. The exact number for your engagement is confirmed in writing after the first call, and it is the number on the invoice.

What moves you up a tier

On this job specifically: The number of foreign accounts and foreign funds. A salary and one bank account is a straightforward return; six accounts and a portfolio of local mutual funds brings election work and additional reporting.

  • The number of countries in the filing set — each one adds a return, a calendar and a credit computation
  • Whether an information return or a certificate application travels with the filing
  • Whether an entity is involved as well as an individual
  • The number of tax years in scope, because a catch-up package is priced per year

What adds cost

Two things, mostly: reconstruction and waiting. Reconstruction is rebuilding a year from bank statements because the records are gone; waiting is a certificate or a slip that has to come from a tax authority or a foreign institution before we can file. We tell you which of the two is in play at the quote stage rather than at the invoice stage.

The assumption we correct most often

That the exclusion makes the return simple. It usually does the opposite: qualifying has to be evidenced, and anything the exclusion does not reach still needs the credit computed by category.

What is never charged

  • The first call to the 24-hour helpline, where the scope is set
  • Answering a question about the scope we already quoted
  • Re-sending a copy of a filing we prepared for you

Get the quote

The fastest start is a short call and three things: what happened, when it happened, and which countries are involved. Everything else we can ask for as it comes up. The first call establishes whether there is work to do. Everything after that is quoted.

Request a fixed-fee quote

Read and approved 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.

Where form 2555 comes into this file

The search that brings most people to this page is form 2555. It is answered here for US return from abroad: what creates the obligation, which filings discharge it, and the fee agreed before the work starts.

People also search for: us income tax · foreign employment income · does foreign earned income exclusion apply to self-employment tax · foreign capital gains · what is price transfer.

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

  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.

  2. The number is settled up front

    Priced from your own documents and confirmed in writing before any preparation begins.

  3. Both returns on one desk

    One engagement covers every country the file touches, reconciled line against line.

  4. Your approval, then the filing

    The return is yours to check first. We file once you say so.

What you are actually buying with US return from abroad (1040 + 2555/1116) price

Factor Legal Quotient Hourly billing model
Pricing A fixed fee, agreed in writing before work starts Hourly, billed as incurred
Experience 15+ years of cross-border work, 18,000+ clients Varies by file
Both sides of the border Prepared together by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once One country at a time, reconciled later
Who reviews it A named practitioner, published on the page Whoever the queue reaches
Where the work happens Our offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE Whichever single office you can travel to

Key terms behind this page, defined

CFC
Controlled foreign corporation — the US concept whose earnings in defined categories are taxed to US shareholders before distribution.
Substantial presence test
The US day-count test for residence. It weights the current year most heavily and includes fractions of the two preceding years, so a pattern of visits can create residence without any single long stay.
NR7-R
The Canadian application to refund non-resident withholding tax collected above the treaty or statutory rate.
Limitation on benefits
A treaty eligibility test written to deny benefits to conduit entities, applied through ownership, listing, active-business and base-erosion conditions.

Fixed fees around US return from abroad (1040 + 2555/1116) price

All three are published fee pages, each with its scope stated. Your documents set the quote before work begins, and the quote is the invoice.

Foreign asset & information reporting

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Foreign holdings mapped once — accounts, real property, shareholdings — then reported to each authority in the form it requires.

See this fee page

Individual tax filing

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: One engagement for a personal return that touches more than one country: the income, the assets held abroad and the relief claimed against them.

See this fee page

Catch-up & voluntary disclosure

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Voluntary disclosure handled as one piece of work, from the review of what is outstanding to the returns that close it.

See this fee page

The difference a dedicated cross-border team makes

4 global offices

Meet us in person in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE, or send everything through the secure portal — the same process either way.

Both sides prepared together

Two returns built against each other by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once and nothing falls between the two systems.

Late and missed years are ordinary work

An unfiled history is not a reason to wait longer. We assess what is still open and what relief the delay attracts before the first return goes in.

Residence is tested, not assumed

Where you are resident for treaty purposes is a question with a method. We work through it and write down the answer, with the facts it rests on.

Two of the firm’s advisers at a desk in the Delhi office

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

Step 1

The opening call

A short call to work out what actually applies to you and what does not

Step 2

Scope in writing

A written quote against a defined scope, with nothing billed by the hour

Step 3

Prepared and checked

We prepare, a named reviewer checks it, and you see it before it goes

Step 4

Filed, then supported

You approve, we file, and only then do you pay

The firm’s founder at his desk in the Delhi office

A fixed quote first, in writing

  • Step 1: Documents first, questions second – We read the file before asking anything, so the questions we do ask are the ones that matter.
  • Step 2: A quote you can hold us to – Fixed in writing against a defined scope. No hourly meter, and no revision after the fact.
  • Step 3: The order of filing decided deliberately – Which return goes first can decide whether relief is available at all. That is planned, not discovered.
  • Step 4: Nothing filed without your sign-off – You see the completed work, ask what you need to, and approve it before submission.

Quoted up front, in writing.

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

More of the same work, from other angles

Browse sideways: the pages below answer the neighbouring questions.

The work we do for clients like this

Foreign seller: capital gains and the clearance certificate Foreign capital gains clearance certificate — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Form 15G / 15H — no-deduction declarations (India) The full guide to form 15g / 15h India, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
NRI Indian return — do you need to declare foreign assets? Its own page: do NRI need to declare foreign assets in India — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
IRS voluntary disclosure practice Everything on IRS voluntary disclosure practice, at the same depth as this page.
Customs valuation vs transfer price Customs valuation vs transfer price — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Business restructuring & exit charges The full guide to business restructuring & exit charges, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Section 85 — rollover on incorporation Its own page: section 85 rollover on incorporation — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Non-resident rental income from Canadian property Everything on non resident rental income tax Canada, at the same depth as this page.
Advance tax and self-assessment for NRIs Advance tax and self-assessment for NRIs — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

Who we bring this work to

Architecture practices cross-border tax Architecture practices cross border tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Investment funds cross-border tax The full guide to investment funds cross border tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for mechanical & electrical engineers Its own page: mechanical & electrical engineers tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Physicians & surgeons — your filing calendar Everything on physicians & surgeons your filing calendar, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for models Models tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Technology & SaaS — your filing calendar The full guide to technology & saas your filing calendar, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Influencers & content creators — your filing calendar Its own page: influencers & content creators your filing calendar — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
AI & deep-tech startups cross-border tax Everything on ai & deep-tech startups cross border tax, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for djs & electronic artists Djs & electronic artists tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

The corridors we work every week

France tax for expats — country guide France tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Canada–Netherlands tax corridor The full guide to Canada Netherlands tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
South Korea tax for expats — country guide Its own page: South Korea tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Uruguay tax for expats — country guide Everything on uruguay tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Thailand tax for expats — country guide Thailand tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Poland tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Poland tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
US–UAE tax corridor Its own page: US UAE tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
India tax for expats — country guide Everything on India tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
United States tax for expats — country guide United States tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

The people on your file

Five named practitioners, each with the part of a cross-border file they carry. Every page on this site says who reviewed it, and the reviewer is one of these people rather than an unnamed team.

Udit Gupta

Udit Gupta

Cross-Border Tax Expert

CA (ICAI), In-Depth Tax Trained

Reviews and signs off the practice's cross-border positions, and carries final responsibility for the treaty analysis on every file that leaves the office.

Abhinav Gupta

Abhinav Gupta

Canada Tax / International Tax

Canada Tax, International Tax, Cross-Border Tax, Transfer Pricing

Canadian returns with foreign income, non-resident filings, and the transfer-pricing documentation that runs alongside intercompany work.

Raghav Gupta

Raghav Gupta

International Tax

International Tax, Transfer Pricing Specialist

Benchmarking, method selection and the local-file and master-file sets that support a group's pricing policy under examination.

Anmol Mittal

Anmol Mittal

Canada and US tax

CPA Canada, CPA USA, CA (ICAI)

Files that have to be right on both sides of the border at once — dual filings, streamlined catch-ups, and the foreign tax credit reconciliation between them.

Vinayak Indolia

Vinayak Indolia

CFO advisory

CPA, CA. Fractional CFO and Senior Advisory Specialist

Groups that need the tax position and the finance function to agree: structure reviews, intercompany policy, and the reporting a board can act on.

Meet the whole team

Cross-border tax case studies

Case study 1

A US Citizen Settled in India, Filing on Both Sides

Residence in India and citizenship in the United States produce two annual returns for one income. The order decides the credit, and the Indian financial year and the US calendar year have to be reconciled before either is prepared.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

Whether the Year Made Someone an NRI

Indian residence is decided by presence tests applied to the financial year, and a single trip can change the answer for the whole of it. The status is established before any return or exemption is considered.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

Moving Money Out of India and the Certificates It Needs

A remittance out of India needs its tax position certified before the bank will process it. The file establishes the character of the funds, produces the certification, and keeps the position consistent with the returns already filed.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

A Retirement Plan That Grows Tax-Deferred in Only One Country

Cross-border retirement accounts are recognised by treaty, but the deferral usually has to be elected rather than assumed. The engagement checks whether the election was made, makes it where it was missed, and reports the account on whichever side requires it.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

Catching Up From Inside the United States

The domestic route suits a filer who was resident in the US through the missed years, and it differs from the offshore one in what it asks for and what it costs. Choosing between them before anything is filed is the whole engagement.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

Information Returns Missed Behind a Correct Return

The heaviest exposure on a cross-border file is often a disclosure form rather than the tax. Where the return itself was right, the procedures for late information returns turn on a reasonable-cause narrative with dates and documents behind it.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

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.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

Ten Years of Missed Returns Filed as One Engagement

Filing many years at once is a sequencing problem: carry-forwards, instalments and credits from the earliest year feed the latest. Filing them out of order is what turns a recoverable position into an assessed one.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Where we deliver this work

Browse sideways: the pages below answer the neighbouring questions.

Where the work is delivered

More coverage detail

Core International & Cross-Border Tax Services

International Tax Planning & Advisory

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

Treaty residency & tie-breaker
FATCA reporting (Form 8938)
Foreign tax credit (Form 1116)
Multi-country filing calendar
Real estate holding structures
International tax planning
Pre-immigration tax planning
Family office structures
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

Form 1040 from abroad
US state non-resident returns
FBAR (FinCEN 114) filing
Form 5472 — foreign-owned US corp
FIRPTA withholding (Form 8288)
US estate tax exposure
IRS streamlined foreign offshore
PFIC reporting (Form 8621)
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

Departure tax leaving Canada
T1161 properties on emigration
Residency planning
Step-up in cost base on arrival
Split-year residency
Employment income under a treaty
Social security totalization
Returning to Canada after years abroad
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

Section 216 rental return
NR4 & NR6 withholding
Section 217 pension return
Section 116 clearance certificate
Regulation 105 waiver
Non-resident employment income
Taxable Canadian property
Part XIII withholding review
Default withholding is 25% of gross: elective returns routinely turn over-withheld rent and pensions into refunds.

Transfer Pricing & BEPS

s.247 contemporaneous documentation
Functional & risk analysis
Benchmarking study
Intercompany agreements
Country-by-country report
BEPS & Pillar Two
Permanent establishment risk
TP audit defence file
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

Cross-border wills
US estate tax for non-resident aliens
Terminal return & clearance certificate
Non-resident trusts (s.94)
T1141 & T1142 trust reporting
Inheriting property abroad
Graduated rate estates
Post-mortem planning & pipeline
Wills drafted for one country routinely misfire in the other — deemed disposition here, estate tax there, credits in between.

Cross-Border Corporate Tax

Entity selection across borders
Business profits & PE
Intercompany loans & thin cap
Paying dividends to a foreign parent
Global mobility & day tracking
Debt vs equity funding
Branch or subsidiary
Cross-border M&A due diligence
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

NRI residency day tests
NRE, NRO & FCNR accounts
TDS on property (s.195)
Lower or nil TDS certificate
Repatriating sale proceeds
Capital gains on Indian shares
India–Canada DTAA
ITR-2 for NRIs
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

T1135 foreign property
T1134 foreign affiliates
Departure tax
Newcomer's first return
Returning to Canada
Split-year residency
US citizens in Canada
Canada–US corridor
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

Expat tax in the UAE
Moving to the UAE
Moving back from the UAE
UAE property purchases
Retiring in the UAE
Canada–UAE corridor
India–UAE DTAA
US–UAE corridor
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

  • 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

Holding structures live or die on treaty access, beneficial ownership and substance — the MLI's principal-purpose test now sits over every arrangement.

A holding structure is only as good as its reporting. Foreign affiliates, accrued passive income and distributions each carry their own return, and the penalties on those attach to the form rather than to any tax being owed — so a structure that saves tax can still cost money if the information returns are late.

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

US return from abroad (1040 + 2555/1116) pricing — questions we are asked

What is included in the fee for US return from abroad (1040 + 2555/1116)?

The US individual return prepared from abroad, with the exclusion and the foreign tax credit computed together rather than one or the other, plus the account and asset reports that travel with it.

What would make US return from abroad (1040 + 2555/1116) cost more than the standard tier?

The number of foreign accounts and foreign funds. A salary and one bank account is a straightforward return; six accounts and a portfolio of local mutual funds brings election work and additional reporting.

Is the fee really fixed?

Yes, for the scope quoted. If the scope changes — another year appears, an entity turns up, a certificate becomes necessary — we re-quote before doing the work, so there is never an invoice you have not already agreed to.

What is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion?

It lets a US person working abroad exclude a capped amount of foreign *earned* income — wages and self-employment profit, not investment income — from US income tax, claimed on Form 2555. You qualify through either the physical presence test or the bona fide residence test, and you must have a tax home abroad. The cap is indexed annually, so it is read off the form for the year you are filing. See Form 2555.

How do I report foreign employment income with no W-2?

A foreign employer does not issue one, and none is required. You report the wages from your own records — payslips, the employment contract, and the foreign tax assessment or return, which is the document a reviewer finds most persuasive — converted to your own currency. Keep the foreign filing with the return, because it is also the proof of foreign tax paid that supports the credit or the exclusion you are claiming. See a US return from abroad.

Does the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion apply to self-employment tax?

No — it does not reduce self-employment tax at all. The exclusion removes income from income tax only, so a US self-employed person abroad can exclude the profit for income-tax purposes and still owe self-employment tax on it. What can relieve that is a totalization agreement with the country where you actually work, which assigns you to one social-security system instead of both. See totalization agreements.

Tax terms explained

Section 195 TDSForeign affiliatePersonal services businessAlter ego trustMATGrantor trustWorldwide incomeNon-residentMaster fileAngel taxBona fide residence testDeemed dividendAdvance pricing arrangementExchange of information Browse the full A–Z glossary

Related fixed fees and services

Elsewhere in this section

All pricing1040-NR non-resident return — fixed-fee priceDeparture (emigration) return — fixed-fee priceCanadian return with foreign income — fixed-fee priceT1135 foreign property filing — fixed-fee priceEstate & trust returns — fixed-fee priceNewcomer first return — fixed-fee price

Adjacent services

Foreign seller: capital gains and the clearance certificateForm 8991 — BEATForm 1120 — US corporation return and treaty claimsForm 8288-B — withholding certificateForm 8975 — country-by-country reportForm 1042 — annual withholding return

Pricing for this work

Estate & trust returns — fixed-fee priceTransfer pricing — local file — fixed-fee price1120-F / 5472 filing — fixed-fee priceT106 information return — fixed-fee price
No hourly billing, ever

Talk to us about US return from abroad (1040 + 2555/1116)

One call to the 24-hour helpline is enough to tell you what has to be filed, what it costs, and whether you need us at all.

Contact Us 24-hour helpline +1 (416) 619-0068 See fixed fees
  • Re-quoted, never silently invoiced
  • A named reviewer signs off every filing
  • 18,000+ clients served

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