Reasonably priced Form 8802 — US residency certification

Form 8802 — who files it, when it is due, what late filing costs, and what we charge to prepare it. United States (IRS). Reasonably priced Form 8802 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.

  • 15+Years of cross-border experience
  • 18,000+Clients served
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  • 4Global offices — India, USA, Canada & UAE

Secure a fixed quote

Send what you have. We price the engagement from your own documents, in writing, before any work starts.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • 24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • Fixed fee agreed before work starts
  • 18,000+ clients served
In 60 words

Form 8802 is a certificate or waiver: Applies for the IRS certification of US residency that a foreign payer or tax authority needs before it will apply a treaty rate. US persons and entities who need to prove US residency to another country to obtain reduced withholding or a refund.

Who this applies to

US persons and entities who need to prove US residency to another country to obtain reduced withholding or a refund.

Everything else on this page follows from this. It is a lead-time problem, not a technical one: the certification is requested before the foreign payment or refund claim, the year requested must match the income year, and the foreign authority may want its own form as well.

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

Fixed fees for form 8802 US residency certification, agreed up front

A US residency certification is priced on how many years and how many countries you need certified, and on what sits behind the applicant. An individual with a filed return is straightforward; a partnership or trust means documenting the people behind it before the request can go in. The fee is agreed in writing first.

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Individual returns where salary, investments or property sit outside the country of residence, prepared so relief is claimed once and in the right place.
See the fee schedule

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The reporting obligations that attach to owning something abroad, worked out from your holdings rather than from the tax return alone.
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

Non-resident & departure filings

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

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

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Payroll set up for a workforce split across countries, including the relief that stops the same salary being withheld on twice.
See the fee schedule

Transfer pricing documentation

From $2,500

fixed, quoted before work starts

Intercompany pricing documented before it is questioned — the functional analysis, the benchmarking and the files that support 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

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

What decides whether Form 8802 applies
What the application establishesLead-time constraint
The obligationApplies for the IRS certification of US residency that a foreign payer or tax authority needs before it will apply a treaty rate.
Who it bindsUS persons and entities who need to prove US residency to another country to obtain reduced withholding or a refund.
Jurisdiction and authorityUnited States — IRS
Category of filingCertificate or waiver — obtained before the money moves

When it is due

This is a before, not an after: the certificate or waiver has to be in hand before the payment, the closing or the remittance. Applied for afterwards, it usually cannot fix the withholding that has already happened — that becomes a refund claim instead. We work back from that date to the documents, so the pack is requested early enough to be assembled rather than reconstructed.

What late or missed filing costs

There is often no penalty for not applying. The cost is cash: withholding computed on a gross amount rather than a net one, held by a tax authority for a year or more until a return recovers it. On a property sale or a large fee that difference is the whole point of the exercise. Where years are already missed, the route chosen for the earliest year affects the relief available for the rest — so the sequence is decided before anything is filed.

The numbers, end to end

The same point, with figures rather than adjectives.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return

A non-resident receives C$32,000 in the year. Assume withholding at 21% on the gross amount, and assume deductible costs of C$25,920 against it.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return
ItemAmount
Gross amount receivedC$32,000
Withheld at source (assumed 21% of gross)C$6,720
Deductible costsC$25,920
Net amount actually earnedC$6,080
Tax on the net amount (assumed graduated result)C$2,006
Difference recoverable by filingC$4,714

Filing on a net basis recovers C$4,714 of the C$6,720 withheld. That difference is the entire reason the elective return exists, and it is lost by not filing. We run this on your actual numbers before advising anything, because the conclusion can invert with a modest change in inputs.

The figures here are an illustration, not an engagement: amounts are picked so the mechanism is easy to follow, and every rate or threshold is an assumption of the example. Before anything is filed for you, each one is confirmed with the issuing authority for your own tax year.

How we prepare and file it, and what it costs

You get the number for Form 8802 up front, as part of one fee for the whole set rather than as a separate charge that appears at the end. See the IRS streamlined domestic offshore for comparable engagements.

From first call to filed

  1. 1A first call to map the obligations across every country involved
  2. 2A single fixed fee covering the whole set, agreed before we begin
  3. 3Preparation in the order that makes the relief usable, with a reviewer's sign-off
  4. 4You approve the finished work, and we file it
  • Documents move through an access-controlled portal rather than email.
  • Documents move through one secure portal, and you can meet us in person at any of our offices.
  • A named reviewer signs off every statutory filing.

We would rather scope it properly than quote it quickly.

Read and approved for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. Written as general guidance, not as a recommendation for your situation. Talk it through with us before acting on it.

US tax forms for expats — what this page covers

The search that brings most people to this page is US tax forms for expats. It is answered here for Form 8802: what creates the obligation, which filings discharge it, and the fee agreed before the work starts.

It is a lead-time problem, not a technical one: the certification is requested before the foreign payment or refund claim, the year requested must match the income year, and the foreign authority may want its own form as well.

From first contact to filed return

  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

Key terms behind this page, defined

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.
Fixed place of business
The classic form of permanent establishment: premises, equipment or a facility at the enterprise's disposal through which business is carried on.
Zero-rated supply
A taxable supply charged at nil, which preserves input tax recovery — unlike an exempt supply, which does not.
Form 3520
The US return reporting transactions with foreign trusts and the receipt of large foreign gifts and bequests — an obligation missed precisely because the receipt is not income.
form 8802 US residency certification: Our analysis

It is a lead-time problem, not a technical one: the certification is requested before the foreign payment or refund claim, the year requested must match the income year, and the foreign authority may want its own form as well.

Complexity changes the work, not the deal: the written fee and scope come first, a named practitioner signs off, and the filing follows your approval of the delivered file.

Form 8802 US residency certification — what the published fees look like

Timing changes the work more than the form does. A certification requested ahead of the foreign payment is a clean application. One requested after the payer has already withheld at the domestic rate usually brings a refund claim in that country as well, often on its own local paperwork, and that second limb is quoted separately.

Foreign asset & information reporting

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Accounts, property and company interests held outside the country of residence, reported on the schedules that carry penalties whether or not tax is owed.

See this fee page

Corporate cross-border filing

$999fixed, before work starts

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

See this fee page

Why clients bring form 8802 US residency certification to us

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.

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.

The quote comes from your documents

Nothing is priced from a phone call. We read what you have first, then the fee is set — so the scope and the number are agreed on the same evidence.

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.

The team at work in the open-plan office

From first call to filed return

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 the glass 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

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

The work we do for clients like this

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Form 926 — transfers to a foreign corporation Everything on form 926 transfer foreign corporation, at the same depth as this page.
TNMM in practice TNMM in practice — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Form T4A-NR summary The full guide to t4a-nr summary, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Form 8938 vs FBAR — filing both Its own page: form 8938 vs FBAR filing both — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Crypto for corporations Everything on crypto for corporations, at the same depth as this page.
Alter ego & joint partner trusts Alter ego & joint partner trusts — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Intangibles & DEMPE analysis The full guide to intangibles & dempe analysis, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

Who we bring this work to

Media & production companies cross-border tax The full guide to media & production companies cross border tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Franchise owners — your filing calendar Its own page: franchise owners your filing calendar — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Day traders — what you owe in each country Everything on day traders what you owe in each country, at the same depth as this page.
Non-resident landlords — your filing calendar Non-resident landlords your filing calendar — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for djs & electronic artists The full guide to djs & electronic artists tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for youtubers Its own page: youtubers tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Hospitality & franchise groups cross-border tax Everything on hospitality & franchise groups cross border tax, at the same depth as this page.
Non-resident landlords — relief you're probably missing Non-resident landlords relief you're probably missing — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for it contractors The full guide to it contractors tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

Countries and corridors this work reaches

US–Mexico tax corridor The full guide to US Mexico tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Bulgaria tax for expats — country guide Its own page: bulgaria tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Zimbabwe tax for expats — country guide Everything on zimbabwe tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Slovakia tax for expats — country guide Slovakia tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Lebanon tax for expats — country guide The full guide to lebanon tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Turkey tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Turkey tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Poland tax for expats — country guide Everything on Poland tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Morocco tax for expats — country guide Morocco tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Georgia tax for expats — country guide The full guide to georgia tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

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

What these engagements turn on

Case study 1

Wintering in the US Long Enough to Become a US Filer

Days in the United States accumulate across three years, and enough of them make you a US resident for tax regardless of immigration status. The file counts the days properly and files the statement that keeps the position closer connection rather than residence.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

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
Case study 3

A Canadian Employer With Staff in the United States

Employing someone in the US creates federal and state obligations that begin with registration, not with the first return. Which states are engaged is decided by where the work happens rather than where the company is.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

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 5

Documentation Built to the US Standard

The US requirements differ from the OECD-aligned ones in what has to exist at the time of filing, and a file prepared for one regime can leave the other unprotected. The engagement builds to whichever governs.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

A Trust Abroad With a Canadian Connection

Contributions or beneficiaries in Canada can bring a foreign trust inside the Canadian net entirely. The analysis is who contributed what and when, because the answer decides whether the trust files here at all.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

One Employee in a State Nobody Had Registered In

A single person working from home can create payroll registration, withholding and sometimes an income tax filing for the company in that state. The review measures activity against each state's own threshold.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

A Non-Resident Estate Holding US Assets

US situs assets sit inside the US estate tax net regardless of where the owner lived, and the exemption available to a non-resident is not the resident one. The file establishes situs asset by asset before any relief is claimed.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Core International & Cross-Border Tax Services

International Tax Planning & Advisory

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

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

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

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

Default withholding is 25% of gross: elective returns routinely turn over-withheld rent and pensions into refunds.

Transfer Pricing & BEPS

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

Wills drafted for one country routinely misfire in the other — deemed disposition here, estate tax there, credits in between.

Cross-Border Corporate Tax

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

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

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

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

Professional Services Firms

Firms and partners working across borders meet Regulation 105 withholding, PE risk on long engagements and per-country payroll for travelling staff.

A partnership is taxed in the hands of its partners, so one engagement abroad can reach every partner's personal return. The order matters: the waiver is applied for before the invoice, the presence is tracked before it becomes an establishment, and the payroll is registered before the first day worked in the other country.

  • Reg 105 / 102 waivers
  • Permanent establishment risk
  • Partner mobility planning
  • Cross-border withholding recovery
Explore Professional Services

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 8802 — questions we are asked

Do I file Form 8802 even if no tax is owed?

Certificate or waiver obligations of this kind are generally required on the facts rather than on the tax result, so a nil position does not remove one. US persons and entities who need to prove US residency to another country to obtain reduced withholding or a refund.

What happens if I have missed Form 8802 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 8802 the same as the other reports I already file?

No. Applies for the IRS certification of US residency that a foreign payer or tax authority needs before it will apply a treaty rate. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.

How do I file US taxes when I am married to a foreign spouse?

Three routes. File separately, listing your spouse as a non-resident alien — which needs either an identification number for them or the accepted notation where none exists. Elect to treat them as a resident and file jointly, gaining the joint brackets and accepting their worldwide income. Or file as head of household if you have a qualifying dependant, which some Americans abroad can do while married. The right answer turns on their income and their assets. See a US person with a non-resident spouse.

What is a dual-status alien?

Someone who is a US tax resident for part of a year and a non-resident for the rest of it — almost always the year of arrival or the year of departure. You file one return covering both periods, with worldwide income and ordinary deductions for the resident part and US-source income under the non-resident rules for the other. Several ordinary reliefs, including joint filing, are restricted for the year. See dual-status alien.

What is the US exit tax?

A charge that applies when a US citizen renounces or a long-term permanent resident gives up their status and meets one of the covered-expatriate tests — an income test, a net-worth test, or a failure to certify five years of compliance. A covered expatriate is treated as having sold worldwide assets on the day before expatriation, and Form 8854 is what reports the position. The tests turn on figures that are indexed, so they are read for the year of expatriation. See Form 8854.

No hourly billing, ever

A fixed fee for Form 8802

Send us the facts. You will get a scope and a fixed fee in writing, and nothing starts until you agree to both.

  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE
  • 18,000+ clients served
  • 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