Why we quote fixed fees, not hourly rates

Google Rating 5.0Clutch Rating 5.0

The number is agreed before the work starts, which means it is a decision you make rather than a bill you receive.

+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
  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE
  • Fixed fee agreed before work starts
  • Google rating 5.0 out of 5
In short

Every engagement here is quoted as a fixed fee in writing before any work begins, and you review the work before anything is filed. An hourly engagement reverses that: you learn the number at the end, and you pay for the time rather than for the result.

What an hourly bill actually prices

It prices our time, which is the one input you cannot verify and cannot control. Two things follow from that, and both of them work against you. The risk that a file is messier than it looked sits with you rather than with us, because every extra hour of untangling is an extra hour on the invoice. And the moment the clock is running, asking a question costs money — so the questions that would have changed the answer do not get asked.

Cross-border work makes this worse than it is elsewhere. A file with two tax systems in it has genuinely unpredictable stretches: a treaty position that turns on one document, a prior year that has to be reconstructed before the current one can be filed. Those are exactly the hours an hourly engagement passes on.

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

What changes when the fee is fixed

The scoping moves to the front. Before a number can be quoted, somebody has to establish which returns are due, for which years, in which countries, and what is missing — so that work happens on the first call rather than at your expense. The number then covers the scope, and the risk of the file being harder than described is ours.

  • You can compare two firms on one figure instead of on two hourly rates and two guesses at the hours.
  • Questions during the engagement cost nothing, so you ask them.
  • The invoice is the number you already agreed to.

Where a fixed fee is genuinely harder to give

When nobody yet knows the size of the problem. Several unfiled years, a set of foreign accounts of unknown number, an estate whose assets have not been listed — none of those can be priced accurately from a description. In those cases the scope itself is the first piece of work: a defined review that establishes what is actually outstanding, quoted as its own fixed fee, after which the filing work is quoted properly. What we do not do is start on an open meter and tell you the total afterwards.

What happens if the scope changes

We re-quote before continuing, and you decide. A year that nobody knew about, an entity that turns up in the documents, a certificate that has to be applied for first — each of those is a change to what was priced, and each of them stops the work until you have agreed the new number. There is no version of this where an invoice arrives containing something you have not already approved.

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

If you want to arrive prepared: the prior-year returns, the dates that matter, and any letter or slip that prompted the question. If you would rather just talk it through first, that works too. Ask before the move rather than after it, because most of the useful options expire on the date.

Contact us — 24-hour helpline

Reviewed for accuracy 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.

Personal tax preparation cost — what this page covers

Read this page for personal tax preparation cost. It works through why we quote fixed fees, not hourly rates from the beginning — whether it applies to you at all, what has to be filed if it does, and what the engagement costs, priced up front.

The four phases of the work

  1. Documents first, questions second

    We read the file before asking anything, so the questions we do ask are the ones that matter.

  2. A quote you can hold us to

    Fixed in writing against a defined scope. No hourly meter, and no revision after the fact.

  3. The order of filing decided deliberately

    Which return goes first can decide whether relief is available at all. That is planned, not discovered.

  4. Nothing filed without your sign-off

    You see the completed work, ask what you need to, and approve it before submission.

The difference a dedicated cross-border team makes

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

Form 5471
The US information return for an interest in a foreign corporation, requiring foreign accounts restated to US principles.
Customs valuation
The rules determining the value on which duty is assessed, related to but distinct from transfer-pricing rules on the same price.
Dual consolidated loss
A loss usable in two countries by the same economic group, restricted by rules designed to prevent it being deducted twice.
Equalisation levy
An Indian charge on specified digital transactions that sits outside the income tax act, so treaty relief and foreign credit arguments do not work on it in the usual way.

The published fees closest to fixed fees not hourly rates

Three real fee pages, three stated scopes. The price is fixed from your own paperwork first, and the invoice repeats the quote exactly.

Non-resident & departure filings

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Arrival and departure years priced as one engagement, with the part-year residence position and the assets deemed disposed of on exit.

See this fee page

Individual tax filing

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Personal returns for individuals, expats and non-residents — foreign income, foreign property and treaty relief handled in one engagement.

See this fee page

Foreign asset & information reporting

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Disclosure of assets and interests held abroad, built once from a single asset list and filed on every side that asks for it.

See this fee page

What working with us on fixed fees not hourly rates looks like

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.

You deal with the person who did the work

The practitioner who prepared and reviewed your file is the one who answers the question about it.

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.

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.

The team at work in the open-plan office

Fixed fees not hourly rates — the four phases

Step 1

First conversation

A call to our 24-hour helpline to establish the facts and the dates that matter

Step 2

Written quote

A written scope and a fixed fee before any work starts

Step 3

Preparation and sign-off

Preparation, then a named reviewer's sign-off before anything is filed

Step 4

Submission

Filing, then payment — after you have seen and approved the result

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

How the work runs — quote first, then the work

  • Step 1: Start with a conversation about the facts – Dates, residence, where the income arose. Fifteen minutes is usually enough to know what applies.
  • Step 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.
  • Step 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.
  • Step 4: Filed, then followed through – Submission is not the end of the engagement — the queries that arrive afterwards are part of it.

Quoted up front, in writing.

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

Keep reading, sideways

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

Amending a filed return — all three countries Everything on amending a filed return three countries, at the same depth as this page.
Late T1135 — penalty relief Late T1135 penalty relief — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Section 85 — rollover on incorporation The full guide to section 85 rollover on incorporation, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Form 8288-C — section 1446(f) withholding Its own page: form 8288-c section 1446f withholding — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
TDS when buying property from an NRI (s.195) Everything on TDS when buying property from an NRI (s.195), at the same depth as this page.
Form 8832 — entity classification election Form 8832 entity classification election — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Paying dividends to a foreign parent The full guide to paying dividends to a foreign parent, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Resale price & cost plus methods Its own page: resale price & cost plus methods — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
International tax planning Everything on international tax planning, at the same depth as this page.

Who we help

Tax for architects Everything on architects tax, at the same depth as this page.
Management consultants — your filing calendar Management consultants your filing calendar — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Twitch & live streamers — what we charge The full guide to twitch & live streamers what we charge, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
AI & deep-tech startups cross-border tax Its own page: ai & deep-tech startups cross border tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for management consultants Everything on management consultants tax, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for gig-economy drivers & couriers Gig-economy drivers & couriers tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Influencers & content creators — what we charge The full guide to influencers & content creators what we charge, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Crypto traders — your filing calendar Its own page: crypto traders your filing calendar — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for missionaries & clergy Everything on missionaries & clergy tax, at the same depth as this page.

The corridors we work every week

China tax for expats — country guide Everything on China tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
France tax for expats — country guide France tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Spain tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Spain tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Estonia tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Estonia tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Netherlands tax for expats — country guide Everything on Netherlands tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
US–Mexico tax corridor US Mexico tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
US–UAE tax corridor The full guide to US UAE tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Ukraine tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Ukraine 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.

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

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 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

The Two-Year Window After Returning to India

Returning residents pass through a transitional status in which foreign income is largely outside the Indian net. The engagement establishes when the window opens and closes, and puts the transactions that benefit inside it.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

US Estate Tax on Assets a Canadian Did Not Know Were Exposed

US shares and US real estate sit inside the US estate tax net regardless of where the owner lives. The treaty provides relief that is proportionate rather than automatic, and the calculation depends on the worldwide estate.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

First Canadian Return After Arriving Mid-Year

The arrival date splits the year and sets the cost base of what you brought with you. Getting that date and those values right is what determines whether a later sale is taxed on the whole gain or only on the part that accrued after landing.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

Canadian Pension Paid Abroad and Taxed at the Flat Rate

Pension and annuity payments to a non-resident carry a flat withholding that often exceeds what a return would produce. The alternative filing is elective, and whether it helps depends on the total income for the year rather than on the payment alone.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

One Salary, Two Countries Claiming It

A US citizen resident in Canada, taxed in full on both sides because each return was prepared without the other in view. Deciding which country has the first right to the income, then claiming relief on the second return in the right order, is what stops the same dollar being taxed twice.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

The Deemed Sale That Happens on Death

Canada treats most capital property as sold at fair market value on death, so a terminal return can carry tax on gains nobody realised. Valuations and the order of the returns are what decide the figure.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Delivery, coverage and how we 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

Software revenue crosses borders by default — sourcing rules, withholding on licence-like payments and IP location decide the effective rate.

Software revenue is rarely taxed where the team sits. Licence, subscription and service income are characterised differently by each side, and the answer decides withholding at source, treaty relief and whether a foreign customer creates a taxable presence at all — questions that are cheap to settle before the contract and expensive afterwards.

  • 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

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

Why we quote fixed fees, not hourly rates — questions we are asked

Is a fixed fee more expensive than paying by the hour?

For a file that runs exactly as described, an hourly engagement can come out lower — that is the honest answer. A fixed fee carries the risk of the file being harder than it looked, and that risk has a price. What you get for it is certainty before you commit, and an adviser whose incentive is to finish the work rather than to spend time on it.

What if my file turns out to be simpler than you expected?

The quoted fee stands, in the same way it stands when the file turns out to be harder. That symmetry is the whole point of quoting up front. Where a scope shrinks materially — a year turns out to have been filed already, a form is not required after all — we say so and re-quote downwards, because a fee for work that is not needed is not a fee we want.

Do you charge for the first conversation?

No. The first call is free, the helpline is open 24 hours a day, and its purpose is to establish scope so the fee can be quoted properly. Nothing starts before you have a written number in front of you and have agreed to it.

Does a fixed price mean you do less work on a complicated file?

It means the price is set from what the work is worth to you rather than from how long it takes us, and that scoping happens before the engagement rather than during it. A file that turns out to be more complicated than described is re-scoped and re-quoted openly; it is never quietly billed up at the end.

Can I avoid capital gains tax on a foreign property?

Not by virtue of it being foreign — there is no exemption for that, and the "keep it offshore" advice you may have read is how people acquire penalties rather than savings. What genuinely reduces the gain is ordinary and legitimate: principal residence relief where the property qualifies and the designation is made correctly, a properly built cost base including acquisition costs and capital improvements, the timing of the disposition, the treaty rules for real property, and credit for the foreign tax paid. See principal residence and foreign property.

Is double taxation illegal?

It is legal. Two countries can each have a valid claim on the same income — one because the income arose there, the other because you live there — and nothing prohibits both from exercising it. What exists instead is relief: tax treaties allocate the claim, and domestic law gives a credit for foreign tax paid. The relief is not automatic, though. It is claimed on a return, and unclaimed relief is simply lost. See how double taxation is relieved.

Tax terms explained

Certificate of residencyDual consolidated lossSafe harbourExchange of informationTaxpayer reliefDeparture taxCredit methodSection 247 penaltyService PESubstantial presence testTreaty shoppingLimitation on benefitsForm 15CAPortability Browse the full A–Z glossary

Pricing, terms and the work itself

Related in this section

All pricingWhat moves an engagement up a fee tierFixed fee against hourly, stage by stageFixed fee in writing first — how it worksWhat is in a written quoteAll pricing — fixed-fee pricePaying from abroad — currency and method

Adjacent services

Security & your data15CA/15CB remittance certification — fixed-fee priceTP benchmarking study — fixed-fee priceNewcomer first return — fixed-fee priceT1134 foreign affiliate reporting — fixed-fee priceFBAR & Form 8938 disclosure — fixed-fee price

Pricing for this work

Section 216 rental return — fixed-fee priceUS state nexus review — fixed-fee priceStreamlined catch-up — 3 years + 6 FBARs — fixed-fee priceAnnual compliance retainer — fixed-fee price
A named reviewer on every filing

Your engagement, quoted before we start

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
  • A named reviewer signs off every filing
  • Re-quoted, never silently invoiced
  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE

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