Cost-effective Form 8288-A — FIRPTA statement

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Form 8288-A — who files it, when it is due, what late filing costs, and what we charge to prepare it. United States (IRS). Cost-effective Form 8288-A 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.

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Secure a fixed quote

Start by sending whatever paperwork exists — a written fixed quote comes back before any work begins.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • Fixed fee agreed before work starts
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In 60 words

Form 8288-A is a withholding return or recipient slip: The per-disposition statement that evidences the property withholding and lets the foreign seller claim credit for it. Foreign sellers of US real property, who need the stamped statement to support the refund claim on their US return.

Who has to deal with this

Foreign sellers of US real property, who need the stamped statement to support the refund claim on their US return.

The question below is the one that actually determines the outcome. Without the stamped copy the credit is hard to prove, so the seller's refund depends on a document produced by the buyer's side of the transaction. Getting it is a closing-checklist item, not a filing-season one.

The team reviewing a file together at a desk

Fixed fees for form 8288-a FIRPTA statement, agreed up front

What decides the fee here is whether the stamped FIRPTA statement already exists. Filing with the copy in hand is one job; chasing a statement the buyer side never furnished, and evidencing the withholding by other means so the credit survives on your return, is a different one.

1040-NR non-resident return — fixed-fee price

From $449

fixed, quoted before work starts

The non-resident US return, with income separated between the net-basis and gross-basis systems and any treaty position claimed and, where required, disclosed.
See the full fee page

Section 216 rental return — fixed-fee price

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The elective Canadian rental return on net income, with the deductions the gross withholding ignored, plus the pre-year undertaking where the timing still allows it.
See the full fee page

Non-resident & departure filings

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The filings that follow a move: the departure year, the arrival year, and the income that keeps arriving from the country behind you.
See the fee schedule

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

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

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

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

Catch-up & voluntary disclosure

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

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

Estate & trust filing

From $799

fixed, quoted before work starts

Trust and estate filings that reach across a border, including the reporting a foreign beneficiary or a foreign asset creates.
See the fee schedule

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

The corporate return and its cross-border schedules as one engagement, so the group files a consistent position everywhere.
See the fee schedule

All published fees on one page — the whole fee schedule in one place, with no from-to bands to decode.

What the reporting test actually looks at

Payment typeWhat determines the rate
The obligationThe per-disposition statement that evidences the property withholding and lets the foreign seller claim credit for it.
Who it bindsForeign sellers of US real property, who need the stamped statement to support the refund claim on their US return.
Jurisdiction and authorityUnited States — IRS
Category of filingWithholding return or recipient slip

When it is due

Withholding is remitted on a schedule tied to the payment, and the annual return and slips are due after the year end on their own date. The remittance timetable, not the return date, is what generates most of the exposure. We diarise it from your own year end rather than from a generic calendar, because the two rarely coincide in a cross-border group.

What late or missed filing costs

The payer is liable for tax it failed to withhold, not merely for a penalty on it. Late remittance and late or incorrect slips carry their own charges, and the recipient's ability to claim the credit depends on the slip being right. If that exposure has already accumulated, it is a disclosure question rather than a filing question, and the assessment comes first.

The arithmetic, worked through

The arithmetic is more persuasive than the description, so:

Gross withholding against a net-basis return

A non-resident receives C$51,000 in the year. Assume withholding at 22% on the gross amount, and assume deductible costs of C$29,070 against it.

ItemAmount
Gross amount receivedC$51,000
Withheld at source (assumed 22% of gross)C$11,220
Deductible costsC$29,070
Net amount actually earnedC$21,930
Tax on the net amount (assumed graduated result)C$5,263
Difference recoverable by filingC$5,957

Filing on a net basis recovers C$5,957 of the C$11,220 withheld. That difference is the entire reason the elective return exists, and it is lost by not filing. The interesting question is where your own figures fall relative to that, which is a computation rather than an opinion.

These amounts illustrate the mechanism only. The rates and thresholds are assumptions of the example, not your numbers: each is checked against the issuing authority for your specific tax year before any return is filed.

How we prepare and file it, and what it costs

You get the number for Form 8288-A up front, as part of one fee for the whole set rather than as a separate charge that appears at the end. See the CRA foreign income audit for comparable engagements.

How the engagement runs

  1. 1A call to the 24-hour helpline to find out whether this is a filing or a project
  2. 2A fixed fee for a written scope — re-quoted if the scope changes, never invoiced silently
  3. 3Preparation against the evidence, with the positions documented as we go
  4. 4Your approval, then the filing — in that order
  • A change of scope is re-quoted before the work, never added to the invoice after it.
  • Every statutory figure in your file is verified for your own year at source.
  • Authorisation with each authority, so we see the assessments and slips directly rather than asking you for them.

Whatever you have is enough to start the conversation, including nothing but the dates.

Checked and signed off for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. Published as general information. For a position on your own file, call the 24-hour helpline.

Where foreign account reporting comes into this file

People reach this page searching for foreign account reporting. It is covered here as it applies to Form 8288-A — who it applies to, what has to be filed, and what it costs, at a fixed fee agreed before the work starts.

Without the stamped copy the credit is hard to prove, so the seller's refund depends on a document produced by the buyer's side of the transaction.

From first contact to filed return

  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.

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

The vocabulary this page leans on

PFIC
A passive foreign investment company — most commonly a non-US mutual fund or pooled investment. The default US regime is punitive and elections are the planning.
Form 8858
The US information return for a foreign disregarded entity or foreign branch owned by a US person.
Pillar Two
The global minimum tax rules, which compute a group's effective tax rate jurisdiction by jurisdiction from adjusted accounting data no existing return produces.
Form 3CEB
The Indian accountant's report on international related-party transactions, mandatory regardless of transaction size.
form 8288-a FIRPTA statement: How we read this one

Without the stamped copy the credit is hard to prove, so the seller's refund depends on a document produced by the buyer's side of the transaction.

Whichever way the facts cut, you keep the same footing: a fee agreed in writing beforehand, a named practitioner reviewing the file, and nothing filed until the work is delivered and approved.

Fixed fees around form 8288-a FIRPTA statement

Beyond the statement itself, the price reflects how many properties were disposed of and how many foreign sellers shared in each disposition, because every interest carries its own statement and its own credit to be traced through to the refund claim. All of it is quoted in writing before work starts.

Section 216 rental return

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: The elective Canadian rental return on net income, with the deductions the gross withholding ignored, plus the pre-year undertaking where the timing still allows it.

What makes it bigger: The number of properties and whether the records separate repairs from improvements. One property with an agent's statement is quick; four properties with mixed receipts is not.

See this fee page

1040-NR non-resident return

$449fixed, before work starts

Covers: The non-resident US return, with income separated between the net-basis and gross-basis systems and any treaty position claimed and, where required, disclosed.

What makes it bigger: Whether there is US business activity as well as passive income. Two rate systems on one return is the work; a single withheld dividend stream is not.

See this fee page

US state nexus review

$999fixed, before work starts

Covers: A state-by-state review of sales, transactions, employees and inventory against each state's own tests, with the registration and collection start dates identified.

What makes it bigger: The number of states in scope. Each is tested on its own rules with its own thresholds, and a single remote employee can bring three taxes in one state.

See this fee page

What working with us on form 8288-a FIRPTA statement 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.

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.

Cross-border is the whole practice

International and cross-border tax is all we do — not a sideline next to domestic work. The edge cases on this page are our ordinary Tuesday.

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.

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

From first call to filed return

Step 1

Initial call

We start with the chronology: dates, countries, and what has already been filed

Step 2

Scope and fee

You get the scope and the fee in writing before we touch anything

Step 3

Preparation and review

The work is prepared and reviewed by a named person, not a queue

Step 4

Filing and payment

Nothing is filed until you have read it

Two of the firm’s advisers and the team in the open-plan office

The engagement, start to finish

  • 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

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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.

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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

Files that look like this one

Case study 1

Stamped statement recovered a year after the closing

A foreign seller had filed nothing, having never received the statement that evidences the withholding on their sale. We worked the transaction backwards from the closing file, identified who had remitted and under what details, and obtained the documentation held by the closing agent while the stamped copy was pursued. The engagement produced a complete evidence file for the withholding, a filed US return reporting the disposition, and a credit claim supported by documents rather than by assertion.

Case study 2

Withholding added to the closing checklist before completion

A seller instructed us before the sale rather than after it. We set out what had to happen on the buyer's side, who would produce the statement, and the exact seller details it had to carry, and had that written into the closing checklist. The copy arrived with the completion documents. The work produced a statement that matched the seller's identifier without correction, and a return filed in the following season without any part of the engagement spent chasing paperwork.

Case study 3

Seller identifier obtained alongside the sale not afterwards

The seller had no US taxpayer identification number and would need one to claim the withholding back on a return. Left to filing season, that sequence adds months. We started the identifier process while the sale was in progress, so the number and the statement arrived within the same period. The engagement produced an identifier that matched the withholding record, a return filed as soon as the year's figures were settled, and a credit claim that was not held up by administration.

Case study 4

Statement issued with the wrong seller details and corrected

The withholding statement named the seller in a form that did not match their US records, which meant the credit could not be tied to the disposition. We established what had been reported, assembled the closing documents showing who the seller actually was, and pursued a corrected statement through the buyer's representatives. The work produced a corrected document, a chronology of what had been filed under which details, and a return that could be supported if the credit were later questioned.

Case study 5

Property sold by several co-owners each needing their own statement

A US property was held by a family living abroad, and the withholding was reported as though the sale had a single seller. Each co-owner needed evidence of their own share to claim a credit on their own return. We established the ownership proportions from the title and the funds flow, worked with the buyer's side to have the statements issued per seller, and prepared the returns consistently. The engagement produced matching statements and returns for every owner.

Case study 6

Estate selling US real property with withholding to recover

An estate disposed of US property during administration, and the withholding was taken against the estate rather than the beneficiaries. The executor had no US filing history and did not know what evidence would be needed. We identified who had to hold the identifier, obtained the statement through the closing participants, and reported the disposition on the estate's return. The work produced a documented credit claim for the estate and a record the beneficiaries' advisers could follow.

Case study 7

Selling Into the US Without an Entity, and Filing in Several States

State obligations are set by each state, and a treaty does not reach them. The review measures activity against each state's own thresholds and separates the states where registration is required from the ones where it is not.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

Two Passports, Two Returns, One Income

Dual citizenship does not let you choose which country taxes you. The work is establishing residence, applying the treaty article that governs each income type, and preparing both returns from one set of figures so they agree line for line.

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

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

Form 8288-A — questions we are asked

Do I file Form 8288-A even if no tax is owed?

Withholding return or recipient slip obligations of this kind are generally required on the facts rather than on the tax result, so a nil position does not remove one. Foreign sellers of US real property, who need the stamped statement to support the refund claim on their US return.

What happens if I have missed Form 8288-A for several years?

Missed years are dealt with as a package rather than one at a time, because the route chosen for the first year affects the relief available for the rest. We map the years and the obligations before anything is filed.

Is Form 8288-A the same as the other reports I already file?

No. The per-disposition statement that evidences the property withholding and lets the foreign seller claim credit for it. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.

Where do I get the stamped copy of my FIRPTA withholding statement?

It comes back through the buyer's side of the transaction, because that is who reports and remits the withholding. The seller depends on someone else's filing for the evidence of their own credit, which is the uncomfortable structure of this form. The practical answer is to treat the stamped copy as a closing deliverable, named, assigned to a person and chased before the file is archived, rather than as something that arrives on its own during filing season.

The buyer's lawyer never sent me the statement, can I still claim?

The credit is hard to prove without the stamped copy, so the first move is to recover it rather than to file around it. That means going back to the closing: who acted for the buyer, who remitted, what was transmitted and when. Copies held by the escrow or closing agent are often enough to establish what happened while the stamped version is obtained. Building that evidence file is ordinary work. Assuming the credit will be accepted without it is not.

They withheld on the whole sale price, not my profit, why?

Because the withholding is applied to the disposition rather than to the gain, it routinely exceeds the tax finally due on the sale. That is the design. It secures collection from a seller who is about to leave the jurisdiction. The excess is not lost, but it is not returned automatically either. It comes back through the US return for the year, where the disposition is reported, the actual tax computed, and the withholding claimed as a credit against it, supported by the statement.

Do I need a US tax number to get the withholding back?

You will generally need a US taxpayer identification number, because the credit is claimed on a US return and that return has to be filed under an identifier matching the withholding record. Sellers often discover this after closing, when the number takes time to obtain and the refund claim cannot be lodged without it. Where possible the identifier is dealt with alongside the sale rather than afterwards, so the return can be filed as soon as the year's figures are known.

Who fills in Form 8288-A, me or the buyer?

The statement is produced on the buyer's side, per disposition, and the seller receives a copy to support the credit claim. Sellers sometimes try to prepare it themselves when it does not appear, which does not work and delays the recovery. What the seller can do is supply correct details early: the exact name, the identifier, the address the copy should reach. The commonest cause of an unusable statement is a detail taken down wrongly at closing.

I sold my US property last year and received nothing, what now?

Work the transaction backwards. Establish from the closing file who remitted the withholding and on what details, obtain whatever the closing agent holds, and request the stamped copy through that route. In parallel, prepare the return so the position is ready to file as soon as the evidence is in hand. Delay costs more than the missing document, because each year that passes makes the closing participants harder to reach and the records harder to obtain.

Which kind of investor income is most exposed to double taxation?

Dividends from a foreign corporation. They have already borne corporate tax, the source country withholds on payment, and your residence country taxes the receipt — three layers, only two of which a credit can reach. Interest and royalties carry the same source withholding without the corporate layer. This is why the withholding article and the paperwork that reduces it matter more for portfolio income than for salary. See dividends, interest and royalties articles.

What does "received a distribution from a foreign trust" mean on my return?

It is asking whether the trust conferred anything on you during the year — cash, property, or the use of trust property, including rent-free occupation of a house and, in some circumstances, a loan. Answering yes brings an information return, and where the distribution includes income accumulated in earlier years the tax computation can carry an interest charge for the delay. Trust accounts showing the composition of the distribution are what keep that computation from defaulting against you. See Form 3520.

Tax terms explained

NRIStreamlined domestic offshoreForm 8865GILTIFAPIPlace of effective managementMutual agreement procedureCost contribution arrangementJoint partner trustForm 926Tax treatyEstate tax treaty reliefMarital deductionCloser connection Browse the full A–Z glossary

Forms and situations related to Form 8288-A

Nearby pages

All US & FinCEN formsForm 706 — US estate returnForm W-8BEN — individualForm 8621 — PFICForm 14654 — resident certificationForm 8865 — foreign partnershipForm 5713 — international boycott report

Connected engagements

US–India treaty explainedIRS notice & CP letter responseCRA net worth auditReasonable cause statements — penalty reliefNon-resident receiving a Canadian pensionIRS appeals & the Taxpayer Advocate

Answered questions

Who files Form 8288-A?What is the late filing penalty for Form 8288-A?
A named reviewer on every filing

Let us take Form 8288-A off your desk

One short call, one fixed quote in writing, and your approval before anything is filed.

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