Form 8840 — closer connection (snowbirds) · budget-friendly, fixed fee

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Form 8840 — who files it, when it is due, what late filing costs, and what we charge to prepare it. United States (IRS). Budget-friendly Form 8840 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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Send what you have. We price the engagement from your own documents, in writing, before any work starts.

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In 60 words

Form 8840 is a residency or status filing: The closer-connection statement, which keeps a person who spent substantial time in the US from being treated as a US resident for tax. Individuals who meet the substantial presence day-count test but maintain a tax home and closer connection to another country — the classic Canadian snowbird position.

Who has to deal with this

Individuals who meet the substantial presence day-count test but maintain a tax home and closer connection to another country — the classic Canadian snowbird position.

Read this first; the rest is procedure. The day-count test does not care about immigration status, and it looks back over more than one year. Winter visitors are frequently residents on arithmetic alone, and this statement — or the treaty tie-breaker — is what unwinds it.

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

Transparent, fixed pricing for Form 8840 closer connection

A closer-connection statement for a snowbird is priced on the years, not the winter. Counting presence back over the earlier years, for each member of the household who travels, is most of the job, and a season that ran longer than usual can push the position onto the treaty tie-breaker instead.

1040-NR non-resident return — fixed-fee price
From $449

in US dollars, fixed and 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
US state nexus review — fixed-fee price
From $999

in US dollars, fixed and quoted before work starts

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.
See the full fee page
Non-resident & departure filings
From $349

in US dollars, fixed and quoted before work starts

For anyone taxed by a country they do not live in — rent, pensions and investment income reaching across a border after the move.
See the fee schedule
Individual tax filing
From $349

in US dollars, fixed and quoted before work starts

Personal returns for individuals, expats and non-residents — foreign income, foreign property and treaty relief handled in one engagement.
See the fee schedule
Foreign asset & information reporting
From $349

in US dollars, fixed and 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
Payroll & mobility setup
From $999

in US dollars, fixed and quoted before work starts

The employer side of mobility — where to register, what to withhold, and what to report once someone works across a border.
See the fee schedule
Corporate cross-border filing
From $999

in US dollars, fixed and quoted before work starts

Company filings where income, ownership or operations cross a border, with the related-party disclosures that come with them.
See the fee schedule
Catch-up & voluntary disclosure
From $349

in US dollars, fixed and 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

All published fees on one page — all of it on a single page, so the number you compare is the number you pay.

What the reporting test actually looks at

Test appliedEvidence that decides it
The obligationThe closer-connection statement, which keeps a person who spent substantial time in the US from being treated as a US resident for tax.
Who it bindsIndividuals who meet the substantial presence day-count test but maintain a tax home and closer connection to another country — the classic Canadian snowbird position.
Jurisdiction and authorityUnited States — IRS
Category of filingResidency or status filing

When it is due

Status filings are generally made with the return for the year of the arrival, departure or presence in question. Some are optional and can be made at any time; the ones that accompany a return follow the return's date. The date is confirmed for your year at the start of the engagement, not assumed from last year's.

What late or missed filing costs

The exposure is not usually a penalty. It is the default status: days that should have been excluded are counted, a residency position that should have been documented is not, and a whole year of worldwide income comes into a tax base it should never have entered. None of that is unusual, and none of it is unfixable. It is, however, cheaper to address before an authority raises it.

How we prepare and file it, and what it costs

Form 8840 is quoted with the rest of the year's filings so you see one number rather than a list of add-ons. If the scope changes we come back to you before doing the work. See the US citizen in Canada — filing US taxes from abroad for comparable engagements.

The four steps

  1. 1Reconstruct the presence record and the ties on both sides
  2. 2Determine the status under domestic rules and, where relevant, the treaty
  3. 3File the statement or schedule that documents it
  4. 4Keep the evidence pack, because this is the position most often reviewed later
  • A named reviewer signs off every statutory filing.
  • Authorisation with each authority, so we see the assessments and slips directly rather than asking you for them.
  • Fixed fees agreed before any work starts, so the number in the quote is the number on the invoice.

If that describes your position, the next step is a short call — not a form.

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

The day-count test does not care about immigration status, and it looks back over more than one year.

The four phases of the work

  1. Send what you already have

    Slips, statements, prior returns — in any order. We list what is still needed after reading them.

  2. A fee agreed in writing

    Quoted from those documents, before the work starts, and it does not move once you accept it.

  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.

  4. You approve before it is filed

    The finished return comes to you first. Nothing is submitted on your behalf unseen.

How Form 8840 closer connection is handled here

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

Place of supply
The rules deciding which jurisdiction taxes a supply and at what rate. For digital services they generally follow the customer.
Form 8938 threshold
The FATCA reporting threshold, which varies with filing status and with whether the filer lives in the United States or abroad — and is tested on two measures, not one.
Part XIII tax
Canada's flat withholding on passive payments to non-residents — rent, dividends, interest, pensions, royalties — which a treaty may reduce if the eligibility declaration is on file.
Delinquent FBAR
A late account report filed with a reasonable-cause statement where the income was reported and no examination is under way.
Form 8840 closer connection: How we read this one

The day-count test does not care about immigration status, and it looks back over more than one year.

The engagement terms hold no matter what the analysis finds — fee and scope agreed in writing up front, a named reviewer on the output, your approval before the finished work is filed.

Fixed fees around Form 8840 closer connection

What remains is evidence. The closer connection has to be shown to somewhere: the home you keep, and where your licence, bank and doctors are. Gathering that for a single year is different from doing it for several winters already gone by without a statement, and those late years are quoted as their own work.

Individual tax filing
$349in US dollars, fixed before work starts

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

See this fee page
Non-resident & departure filings
$349in US dollars, fixed before work starts

Covers: Returns for the year you leave, the year you arrive, and the years you earn rental or pension income from a country you no longer live in.

See this fee page
Foreign asset & information reporting
$349in US dollars, fixed before work starts

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

See this fee page

What working with us on Form 8840 closer connection looks like

A named reviewer on every file

Every page on this site and every file we deliver says which practitioner reviewed it — a person, not a team inbox.

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 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.

One team, not two firms billing separately

You are not the go-between for two sets of advisers with two sets of assumptions. One engagement covers each country the file touches.

The firm’s founder at his desk in the Delhi office
The team reviewing a file together at a desk

The engagement, start to finish

  • Step 1: Share your documents – A secure upload link arrives after the first call — send files in any state.
  • Step 2: A written fixed fee – The quote is fixed from what you send; it does not move once accepted.
  • Step 3: Preparation, both sides at once – The returns are drafted together, reconciled line against line.
  • Step 4: Approve, then file – Nothing is filed until you have seen it and approved it.

Quoted up front, in writing.

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

Keep reading, sideways

Browse sideways: the pages below answer the neighbouring questions.

Core services for this situation

Tax when citizenship is granted Tax when citizenship is granted — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Inheriting property abroad The full guide to inheriting property abroad, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Form W-9 — US persons Its own page: form w-9 US persons — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Why a Canadian should rarely own an LLC Everything on why Canadian should not own LLC, at the same depth as this page.
Cross-border charity and donation relief Cross-border charity and donation relief — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Canada–India DTAA explained The full guide to Canada India DTAA explained, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Paying interest on a shareholder loan abroad Its own page: paying interest shareholder loan abroad — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
US person with a foreign business Everything on US person with a foreign business, at the same depth as this page.
Filing 10 years of missed returns Filing 10 years of missed returns — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

Clients who arrive with this exact page

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Tax for nurses working abroad The full guide to nurses working abroad tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
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Tax for data scientists & AI engineers Everything on data scientists & ai engineers tax, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for oil & gas rotational workers Oil & gas rotational workers tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Mining & energy cross-border tax The full guide to mining & energy cross border tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Technology & SaaS — what we charge Its own page: technology & saas what we charge — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for auditors & accountants abroad Everything on auditors & accountants abroad tax, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for architects Architects tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

Countries and corridors this work reaches

Iceland tax for expats — country guide Iceland tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Canada–Hong Kong tax corridor The full guide to Canada Hong Kong tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Ireland tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Ireland tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Indonesia tax for expats — country guide Everything on Indonesia tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Tanzania tax for expats — country guide Tanzania tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
United States tax for expats — country guide The full guide to United States tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Peru tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Peru tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Cayman Islands tax for expats — country guide Everything on cayman islands tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Japan tax for expats — country guide Japan tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

The people on your file

Named practitioners, each with the countries and the part of a cross-border file they carry, across India, the USA, Canada and the UAE. Every page on this site says who reviewed it, and the reviewer is one of these people rather than an unnamed team.

Udit Gupta, International tax, cross-border tax and transfer pricing: USA, Canada, India and UAE, Legal Quotient Consultants
Udit Gupta
Director, International tax, cross-border tax and transfer pricing: USA, Canada, India and UAE

CA (India), CA (Malaysia)

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

Udit Gupta on LinkedIn

Anmol Mittal, USA and Canada international tax, cross-border tax and transfer pricing, Legal Quotient Consultants
Anmol Mittal
Director, USA and Canada international tax, cross-border tax and transfer pricing

CPA (Canada), CPA (USA), CA (India)

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

Anmol Mittal on LinkedIn

Vinayak Indolia, CFO services for Canada and India, Legal Quotient Consultants
Vinayak Indolia
Director, CFO services for Canada and India

CPA (Canada), CA (India)

CFO services for businesses in Canada and India: the tax position and the finance function made to agree, structure reviews, intercompany policy, and the reporting a board can act on.

Vinayak Indolia on LinkedIn

Meet the whole team

Files that look like this one

Case study 1

A winter routine that crossed the line on arithmetic

A retired couple had wintered in the same place for years without anyone raising tax residency, and the pattern had slowly lengthened. Running the day count across the relevant years showed they had been over the line in more than one of them. We documented the entry and exit dates, established where their life was genuinely centred, and prepared the statements for the years still available. The engagement produced filed positions for those years and a simple annual count the couple now runs before booking the next winter.

Case study 2

Rebuilding travel history from passports and border records

A client's recollection of when he had crossed the border did not match his wife's, and neither matched the card statements. Because the count looks back over more than the current year, an approximate history was not usable. We assembled the dates from passport stamps, the border agency's own record and travel bookings, reconciled the differences, and documented what remained uncertain. The engagement produced a dated schedule of presence that supports the filed position and can be updated each spring instead of reconstructed.

Case study 3

Two spouses with different counts in the same household

A couple assumed their position was identical because they travelled together, but one had stayed on after the other returned in several years and had also made separate trips. Their counts diverged and so did their answers. We ran each of them separately, filed the statement for the spouse who needed it, and confirmed in writing that the other did not. The engagement produced two correctly differentiated positions and ended a household habit of assuming that one answer covers both people.

Case study 4

Statement prepared alongside the Canadian return for the year

A client's Canadian and US filings had always been handled by different people at different times of year, and the facts asserted in one were not always those shown in the other. We agreed the residency facts once, prepared the closer-connection statement from the same set of dates used for the Canadian return, and had both filings reviewed together before either went in. The engagement produced consistent positions in both countries for the same year and a sequence the client now follows each spring.

Case study 5

Choosing the treaty tie-breaker instead of the statement

A client's day count was over the line, but the facts meant the closer-connection route was not open for the year in question. The position had to be taken under the treaty instead, which carries different filing consequences. We set out both routes, explained what the tie-breaker commits a filer to, and prepared the return on that basis with the supporting facts documented. The engagement produced a filed treaty position for the year and a clear note of which route is likely to apply in future years.

Case study 6

Reviewing a heavy season before the next winter was booked

A client who had spent an unusually long season in the United States asked, before booking the following winter, what the consequence would be. Because the count carries earlier years forward, the answer depended on the season just finished as well as the one planned. We ran the arithmetic on several booking patterns and showed where each one landed. The engagement produced a written position for the year just ended and a planning note the client used to shorten the next stay deliberately rather than by accident.

Case study 7

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 8

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

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.

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Cross-Border Real Estate

Foreign property income and sales are taxed in both countries by default; Section 216, FIRPTA and treaty credits are the standing toolkit.

Property is taxed where it sits, which is the one rule no treaty overrides. What the treaty does decide is the credit, the rate on the rent and what happens on the sale — and the clearance certificate on a disposition is applied for before closing, not after the buyer has already held the money back.

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  • Treaty credit optimization
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Form 8840 — questions we are asked

Do I file Form 8840 even if no tax is owed?

Residency or status filing obligations of this kind are generally required on the facts rather than on the tax result, so a nil position does not remove one. Individuals who meet the substantial presence day-count test but maintain a tax home and closer connection to another country — the classic Canadian snowbird position.

What happens if I have missed Form 8840 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 8840 the same as the other reports I already file?

No. The closer-connection statement, which keeps a person who spent substantial time in the US from being treated as a US resident for tax. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.

Do my earlier winters in the US still count against me?

Yes. The day-count test is not one season's arithmetic; it looks back over more than the current year, and days from earlier visits carry into the calculation with less weight but real effect. That is why a pattern of winters that felt unremarkable taken one at a time can cross the line. It is also why the answer to whether you are safe next winter depends on the last few, which is a calculation rather than a rule of thumb. Send us your entry and exit dates and we will run it.

I am only a visitor. Can I really be a US tax resident?

Immigration status and tax residency are decided separately, and the day-count test does not ask what visa you hold or what you told the border officer. It counts presence. People who are plainly visitors for immigration purposes are frequently residents for tax on arithmetic alone, which is the situation the closer-connection statement and the treaty tie-breaker exist to unwind. Being surprised by it is normal. Leaving it unaddressed is what turns a filing matter into correspondence with a revenue authority.

Do I have to file the closer connection statement every year?

The position is decided year by year, because the day count changes every year and so can where your life is centred. A statement filed for one winter does nothing for the next one. In practice we run the count each spring, decide whether the statement is needed and whether it is still available to you, and file it where it is. Treating it as an annual step rather than a one-off is the difference between a routine filing and an argument about a year that has already closed.

What evidence shows a closer connection to Canada?

The ordinary facts of where a life is lived: the permanent home, where the family is, which country holds the driving licence and the health cover, where the bank and the professional advisers are, where personal belongings are kept, and where you vote. None of these is decisive on its own, and no single missing item sinks the position. What matters is that the picture is consistent and that you can evidence it, which is far easier while the year is current than three winters afterwards.

I forgot to file for last winter. What should I do now?

Deal with it in the current year rather than waiting to see whether anyone notices. We first establish whether you were over the line at all for that year, because a good number of people who worry about this were not. If you were, the question becomes whether the statement is still available for that year or whether the position has to be taken another way, through the treaty tie-breaker. Both routes need the day counts documented, so that is where we start regardless of which one you end up on.

Is the treaty tie-breaker better than the closer connection statement?

They are different instruments and they are not interchangeable. The statement asserts that despite the day count your tax home and closer connection lie elsewhere; the tie-breaker resolves a residency conflict between two countries under the treaty. Which one is open to you depends on your facts and on the year, and one can be available when the other is not. What else you then have to file also differs between them. We work out which applies before filing, and say plainly what each one commits you to.

How long do I have to be out of the country to stop being resident?

There is no single period that settles it. Canada looks at whether your ties were actually severed, not at a day count; the United States taxes citizens regardless of where they live; India applies day-count thresholds with a second limb reaching back over earlier years. Time abroad is evidence, not a rule — what decides it is where your home, family and economic life sit. See tax residency.

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
Treaty overrideMaster fileThin capitalizationSplit-year treatmentForm 1040-NRReverse chargeDomicileBlack Money ActForm 8938 thresholdStaking rewardOIDARPaid-up capitalEffective tax rateScope boundary Browse the full A–Z glossary

Forms and situations related to Form 8840

Nearby pages

All US & FinCEN formsForm 8802 — US residency certificationForm W-8IMY — intermediariesForm 3520-A — foreign trust annual returnState residency & domicile formsForm W-9 — US personsForm 8288-B — withholding certificate

Related work

Keeping a home in Canada while abroadRepatriating money out of IndiaIndian scrutiny assessment (s.143(2))Limitation on benefits — the treaty testAppeal to CIT(A) — Form 35How to avoid double taxation

Short answers

Who files Form 8840?What is the late filing penalty for Form 8840?
Fixed fee agreed before we start

Form 8840, quoted before we start

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
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Where our partners studied — CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), AICPA, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

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