What we never charge for

Google Rating 5.0Clutch Rating 5.0

Four things are always free, and one of them is being told that you do not need us.

+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
  • Google rating 5.0 out of 5
  • 18,000+ clients served
  • 15+ years of cross-border experience
In short

The first conversation, questions about a scope we have already quoted, copies of the filings we prepared for you, and an honest answer that you do not need to hire anybody — none of those is ever billed. They are either part of the engagement or they are not work, and in both cases charging for them would be indefensible.

The list

  • The first call. Free, on a helpline open 24 hours a day, and its job is to establish scope so a fee can be quoted honestly.
  • Questions inside a scope we already quoted. If you do not understand why a position was taken on your own return, asking is not an extra service.
  • Your own file. Copies of the returns, forms and working papers we prepared for you, in a form you can hand to anybody, including another adviser.
  • Being told you do not need us. A meaningful number of first calls end with "you have no filing obligation here" or "your own software will handle that". That answer is worth having, and it is free.
The team reviewing a file together at a desk

Why this list exists at all

Because each item on it is something clients have been charged for elsewhere, and each one damages the thing the engagement depends on. A meter running during the first call pushes people into hiring somebody before anyone knows what is needed. A charge for questions guarantees the questions stop. A charge for your own file makes leaving expensive, which is a reason to stay that has nothing to do with the quality of the work.

What is charged

Preparation, review, filing and representation — the work itself, quoted as a fixed fee before it starts. Where something genuinely falls outside the agreed scope, you are told what it costs before it is done, and you decide. The distinction is not subtle: work that produces a filing or an outcome is chargeable, and everything that exists so you can make an informed decision about that work is not.

The jobs this applies to

Every priced engagement on the site works this way. These are five of them; the full schedule is on the pricing index.

Your next step

Send whatever you have — even an incomplete set. Most of the first hour of a your own filing engagement is working out which documents actually matter, and that is quicker with a partial pack than with none. If a letter prompted this, bring the letter — it usually contains the answer to half the questions.

Contact us — 24-hour helpline

Checked and signed off for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. This is general information rather than advice about your file — a short call is the way to get the second.

How much is income tax in US, in practice

Readers arrive here searching for how much is income tax in US, and what we never charge for is what the page is about. Below: who it catches, what has to be filed, and what it costs — quoted in writing, before anything is done.

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

  1. Start with a conversation about the facts

    Dates, residence, where the income arose. Fifteen minutes is usually enough to know what applies.

  2. Scope and price, both written down

    You get the scope and the fixed fee together, so there is no question later about what was included.

  3. Prepared by one team, reviewed by a named practitioner

    The same people see both sides of the file, and the reviewer signs their name to it.

  4. Filed, then followed through

    Submission is not the end of the engagement — the queries that arrive afterwards are part of it.

What you are actually buying with what we never charge for

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

Four terms worth pinning down

BEPS
Base erosion and profit shifting — the international project whose outputs (country-by-country reporting, the multilateral instrument, the principal-purpose test) now condition treaty access and documentation for multinational groups.
Totalization agreement
A social security agreement assigning coverage to one country and allowing contribution periods to be aggregated for benefits.
Place of supply
The rules deciding which jurisdiction taxes a supply and at what rate. For digital services they generally follow the customer.
Treaty shopping
Routing income through a third country to access a treaty rate. Anti-abuse tests are written specifically to identify and deny it.

The published fees closest to what we never charge for

Each of these is a published fee page with its own scope. The fee is quoted in writing against your documents before any work starts.

Non-resident & departure filings

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: For anyone taxed by a country they do not live in — rent, pensions and investment income reaching across a border after the move.

See this fee page

Individual tax filing

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Returns for people whose tax position did not stay in one country, including the years residence itself is in question.

See this fee page

Foreign asset & information reporting

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: The information returns that carry the heaviest penalties — foreign accounts, foreign property, foreign affiliates — prepared from one asset list.

See this fee page

Why clients bring what we never charge for to us

Filed with the authority, not just prepared

The engagement runs to submission and to the correspondence that follows it, including the queries that arrive months later.

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.

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.

The reporting penalties get named early

The heaviest exposure on a cross-border file is usually a disclosure form, not the tax. We identify which ones apply before a deadline turns into a penalty.

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

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

Step 1

Establishing the facts

A first call to map the obligations across every country involved

Step 2

Agreeing the fee

A single fixed fee covering the whole set, agreed before we begin

Step 3

Drafting and review

Preparation in the order that makes the relief usable, with a reviewer's sign-off

Step 4

Filing and follow-up

You approve the finished work, and we file it

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

How the work runs — quote first, then the work

  • Step 1: Send what you already have – Slips, statements, prior returns — in any order. We list what is still needed after reading them.
  • Step 2: A fee agreed in writing – Quoted from those documents, before the work starts, and it does not move once you accept it.
  • Step 3: Each side drafted against the other – The returns are built together rather than in sequence, so relief is claimed once and in the right country.
  • Step 4: You approve before it is filed – The finished return comes to you first. Nothing is submitted on your behalf unseen.

Quoted up front, in writing.

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

More of the same work, from other angles

Every link below is a full page of its own — the same depth as this one, for its own subject.

Core services for this situation

Form T2036 — provincial foreign tax credit Its own page: t2036 provincial foreign tax credit — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
ODI forms — outbound investment (India) Everything on odi forms India, at the same depth as this page.
Graduated rate estates Graduated rate estates — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Gifting money to family in India The full guide to gifting money to family in India, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
US sales tax nexus for foreign sellers Its own page: US sales tax nexus for foreign sellers — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Advance tax and self-assessment for NRIs Everything on advance tax and self-assessment for NRIs, at the same depth as this page.
Indian resident with foreign assets (Schedule FA) Indian resident with foreign assets schedule fa — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Short-term business visitors The full guide to short-term business visitors, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Safe harbour rules for Indian TP Its own page: safe harbour rules for Indian tp — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.

Who we help

Tax for civil & structural engineers Its own page: civil & structural engineers tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for professors & lecturers Everything on professors & lecturers tax, at the same depth as this page.
Individuals & families abroad cross-border tax Individuals & families abroad cross border tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for offshore vessel crew The full guide to offshore vessel crew tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for oil & gas rotational workers Its own page: oil & gas rotational workers tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Seafarers & mariners — relief you're probably missing Everything on seafarers & mariners relief you're probably missing, at the same depth as this page.
Technology & SaaS — relief you're probably missing Technology & saas relief you're probably missing — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Construction & contracting — your filing calendar The full guide to construction & contracting your filing calendar, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Crypto traders — what we charge Its own page: crypto traders what we charge — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.

Where our clients live and work

Kazakhstan tax for expats — country guide Its own page: kazakhstan tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Costa Rica tax for expats — country guide Everything on Costa Rica tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Trinidad & Tobago tax for expats — country guide Trinidad & tobago tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
US–Germany tax corridor The full guide to US Germany tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
India tax for expats — country guide Its own page: India tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Seychelles tax for expats — country guide Everything on seychelles tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Bermuda tax for expats — country guide Bermuda tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Turkey tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Turkey tax for expats, 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.

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 situations we are engaged for

Case study 1

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 2

A Canadian Working in the US on a Work Visa

Immigration status and tax residence are different tests, and a visa says nothing about which country taxes the salary. The file fixes residence, applies the employment article, and sequences the two returns so the credit lands where it is usable.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

A TFSA That Costs More Than It Saves

Canadian tax-free accounts are not tax-free to a US person, and some of them carry a reporting form of their own. The file is a review of what is held, what each account triggers on the US side, and whether the account is worth keeping once the reporting is priced in.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

A Residency Determination Review After Leaving the Country

Residence is decided on ties, not on a form, and the review asks for evidence of every one of them. The file assembles the ties that were severed and the ones that remained, and answers the questionnaire against the treaty rather than around it.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

Unreported Foreign Income Disclosed Before the CRA Asked

A voluntary disclosure has to be genuinely voluntary — once a letter arrives, the route usually closes. The engagement establishes whether the programme is still available, prepares the years, and puts the relief request in with the filing rather than after it.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

Leaving Canada — the Bill You Get for Assets You Still Own

Emigrating triggers a deemed disposition of most holdings, which produces tax on gains never realised in cash. The file values the property, identifies what is excluded, and looks at whether security can be posted rather than the tax paid outright.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

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 8

Whether Documentation Was Required At All

The obligation turns on the transactions that actually happened rather than on the size of the group, and the penalty for contemporaneous documentation is charged by reference to the adjustment. The review establishes which side of the line the company sits.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

How and where the work is delivered

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

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

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

What we never charge for — questions we are asked

Is the first call a sales call?

It is a scoping call. Its output is a description of what is actually due and a fixed fee for doing it — and when nothing is due, that is what it says. We would rather spend a call telling you there is no filing obligation than have you pay to find that out.

If I leave, do I have to buy my own working papers?

No. Copies of anything we prepared for you are yours, free, in a portable form. A file you cannot take with you is a lock-in device, not a service.

Are there any disbursements on top of the fee?

Where a filing carries a government charge — a certificate application fee, a courier that a paper filing genuinely requires — it is identified in the written scope before the work starts, with the amount, so the total in front of you is the total. We do not add administrative percentages to an invoice.

Are any of these items priced separately later?

No. Everything listed on this page is inside the price that was agreed before the work started — a first conversation, the questions that follow, and the copy of your own file. Where something genuinely falls outside the agreed scope, you are told the price of it before it is done, not after.

How much foreign income is tax-free in Canada?

None of it is tax-free for being foreign. A Canadian resident is taxed on worldwide income, so foreign salary, interest, dividends, rent and gains all go on the return, converted to Canadian dollars. What genuinely reduces the bill is the basic personal amount, the credit for foreign tax already paid, and any treaty article that exempts a specific type of income. The reporting thresholds people have in mind — the foreign property statement, for one — govern reporting, not exemption. See the foreign tax credit.

How does the treaty tie-breaker work when both countries say I am resident?

As a sequence, stopping at the first test that gives an answer: where you have a permanent home available; if in both or neither, where your centre of vital interests is; then habitual abode; then nationality; and if all of those tie, the two tax authorities decide by agreement. It is evidential rather than elective — you do not choose your treaty residence, you demonstrate it, which makes the record of homes, family and time the substance of the claim. See tie-breaking dual residency.

Tax terms explained

Tax homeSojourner ruleFAPIDomicileBEATRepatriationStreamlined domestic offshoreSubsidiaryGAAREngagement letterPublished feeConstruction PEForeign housing exclusionAdvance pricing arrangement Browse the full A–Z glossary

Pricing, terms and the work itself

The rest of this section

All pricingWhy fixed fees, not hourly ratesPaying from abroad — currency and methodWhat moves an engagement up a fee tierWhat is in a written quoteRush work and late filings — how we price themFee terms: scope, re-quotes and corrections

Adjacent services

Annual compliance retainer — fixed-fee priceTP benchmarking study — fixed-fee priceUS return from abroad (1040 + 2555/1116) — fixed-fee priceOur review process & who signs offForm 3CEB certification (India) — fixed-fee priceT1134 foreign affiliate reporting — fixed-fee price

Fixed fees

T1134 foreign affiliate reporting — fixed-fee priceSection 217 pension return — fixed-fee priceTP benchmarking study — fixed-fee priceMaster file & CbCR — fixed-fee price
A named reviewer on every filing

Ready to deal with your engagement?

Describe what happened and which countries are involved; the fee comes back in writing before anything begins.

Contact Us 24-hour helpline +1 (416) 619-0068 See fixed fees
  • Re-quoted, never silently invoiced
  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file
  • 24-hour helpline, +1 (416) 619-0068

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