Affordable Employee vs contractor — both countries

A worker can be a contractor in one country and an employee in the other on the same facts, because the two systems weigh control, integration and risk differently. Affordable employee vs contractor 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
  • 5.0Google rating
  • 4Global offices — India, USA, Canada & UAE

Secure a fixed quote

Begin with the papers you already have. The engagement is priced from them, in writing, before the work.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • Google rating 5.0 out of 5
  • Fixed fee agreed before work starts
  • 15+ years of cross-border experience
The short answer

A worker can be a contractor in one country and an employee in the other on the same facts, because the two systems weigh control, integration and risk differently. Misclassification exposes the payer to withholding, contributions, interest and penalties, and it can create a taxable presence for a foreign engager.

Who has to deal with this

  • Staff travel to work at customer sites abroad
  • A local authority has queried why no payroll is registered
  • Social security is being paid to two systems for the same person
  • A relocation package was agreed without modelling it after tax
  • An employer-of-record provider handles payroll and nobody has tested the presence risk

Most people who need help with employee vs contractor — both countries tick at least two of those. If you tick none, we would rather tell you that on a call than take an engagement you do not need.

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

Transparent, fixed pricing for employee vs contractor — both countries

The fee for an employee versus contractor review turns on how many workers are in scope and whether the position is being tested before engagement or defended after an authority has queried it. One role weighed under both countries’ control and integration tests is contained work; a group already engaged, with contracts and invoices to read, is not.

Cross-border payroll setup — fixed-fee price

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Registrations, source deductions and reporting in the country of work, plus the social security certificate and the day-count discipline that supports the position.
See the full fee page

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

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, 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

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

Transfer pricing documentation

From $2,500

fixed, quoted before work starts

The transfer pricing file a group needs when goods, services or finance move between its own companies across a border.
See the fee schedule

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

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 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

Bringing an unfiled history current: which years are still open, which programme applies, and what the exposure is before you commit.
See the fee schedule

All published fees on one page — one page, every published fee, nothing quoted as a vague bracket.

What is really being tested

A worker can be a contractor in one country and an employee in the other on the same facts, because the two systems weigh control, integration and risk differently.

Misclassification exposes the payer to withholding, contributions, interest and penalties, and it can create a taxable presence for a foreign engager. Testing the position under both systems before engagement is materially cheaper than reclassification.

This is why we start with a chronology rather than a form. Almost every position in this area is anchored to a date — of arrival, of departure, of a payment, of a transaction — and the evidence that supports it is either created around that date or reconstructed years later at several times the cost.

Thresholds and rates move, and summaries written for last year are not evidence about this one. So each figure in your file is sourced to the issuing authority for the specific year; anything we cannot source, we describe as a mechanism and leave unquantified until it can be confirmed. See also tax for cross-border truck drivers and tax for postdocs & researchers.

What we actually file

  • Certificates of coverage for social security
  • Equity apportionment computations and the reporting on both sides
  • Shadow payroll and the equalisation entries that reconcile it
  • Assignment documentation that settles who the employer actually is
  • Day-count records assembled from travel data

A worked example

Worked through with figures, the mechanism looks like this.

Splitting one salary between two countries

A salary of C$159,000 for a year with 241 working days, 71 of them performed in the other country. Employment income is generally sourced to where the work was physically done.

Splitting one salary between two countries
ItemAmount
Annual salaryC$159,000
Working days in the year241
Days worked in the other country71
Days worked at home170
Income sourced to the other countryC$46,842
Income sourced at homeC$112,158

C$46,842 is sourced abroad on this split, which is the figure the host country taxes and the figure the home credit is computed on. Reproduce this from a travel record, not from memory — it is the first thing an auditor asks for. We run this on your actual numbers before advising anything, because the conclusion can invert with a modest change in inputs.

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.

What working with us looks like

  1. 1A call to our 24-hour helpline to establish the facts and the dates that matter
  2. 2A written scope and a fixed fee before any work starts
  3. 3Preparation, then a named reviewer's sign-off before anything is filed
  4. 4Filing, then payment — after you have seen and approved the result

What it costs

What it costs is settled at the start. We establish the scope on a short call, quote a fixed fee against it in writing, and that is the number on the invoice. Comparable engagements and their fixed fees are set out on the pricing pages.

  • We will tell you when you do not need us, and that call is free.
  • Documents move through one secure portal, and you can meet us in person at any of our offices.
  • Documents move through an access-controlled portal rather than email.

What to do next

One call is usually enough to know whether this is a filing or a project. Start with the dates. Arrival, departure, transaction, notice — whichever applies. Once those are fixed, the filing set and the fee follow quickly, and you will know both before committing to anything.

Reviewed for accuracy 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.

Where payroll mobility tax comes into this file

If you came here for payroll mobility tax, this is where it is dealt with. The subject is employee vs contractor, and the page covers who it reaches, what then has to be filed, and what we charge to do the work.

A worker can be a contractor in one country and an employee in the other on the same facts, because the two systems weigh control, integration and risk differently.

The four phases of the work

  1. Share your documents

    A secure upload link arrives after the first call — send files in any state.

  2. A written fixed fee

    The quote is fixed from what you send; it does not move once accepted.

  3. Preparation, both sides at once

    The returns are drafted together, reconciled line against line.

  4. Approve, then file

    Nothing is filed until you have seen it and approved it.

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

Joint partner trust
A trust deferring the deemed disposition until the death of the surviving spouse, with the same cross-border caution as an alter ego trust.
ODI
Overseas direct investment from India, which brings annual performance reporting for the life of the investment.
Non-resident alien
A US tax classification for someone who is neither a citizen nor a resident under the green-card or presence tests. Non-resident aliens are taxed on US-source income and on income connected with a US business.
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.
employee vs contractor — both countries: How we read this one

Misclassification exposes the payer to withholding, contributions, interest and penalties, and it can create a taxable presence for a foreign engager.

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.

The published fees closest to employee vs contractor — both countries

What widens it is the payer’s own exposure: withholding and contributions that should have been remitted, and whether the worker’s activity creates a taxable presence for a foreign engager. Reading the contracts alone is narrower than reading them against what actually happens day to day. Fixed fee agreed in writing beforehand.

Corporate cross-border filing

$999fixed, before work starts

Covers: Company filings where income, ownership or operations cross a border, with the related-party disclosures that come with them.

See this fee page

Individual tax filing

$349fixed, 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

Why clients bring employee vs contractor — both countries to us

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.

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 fee is fixed before we start

Quoted from your documents and agreed in writing. The number you accept is the number you pay.

We say early if it is not our work

If a file needs something this practice does not do, you hear that at the start rather than after a bill.

The team at work in the open-plan office

Employee vs contractor — both countries — the four phases

Step 1

The opening call

A short call to work out what actually applies to you and what does not

Step 2

Scope in writing

A written quote against a defined scope, with nothing billed by the hour

Step 3

Prepared and checked

We prepare, a named reviewer checks it, and you see it before it goes

Step 4

Filed, then supported

You approve, we file, and only then do you pay

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

From first document to filed return

  • Step 1: Send the documents as they are – No tidying required — forward what you have and we tell you what is missing.
  • Step 2: Get a fixed quote in writing – Priced from your actual documents before any work begins, not estimated after.
  • Step 3: Both countries prepared together – One team builds the filings against each other so the relief lands exactly once.
  • Step 4: Review, then file – You approve the finished work before we file it.

Quoted up front, in writing.

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

Where to go next

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

The work we do for clients like this

IRS appeals & the Taxpayer Advocate Its own page: IRS appeals taxpayer advocate — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Repatriating profits to Canada Everything on repatriating profits to Canada, at the same depth as this page.
Form ITR-7 — trusts & institutions (India) ITR-7 India — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
GST/HST registration — for non-residents, indirect tax The full guide to indirect tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Indian mutual fund TDS for NRIs Its own page: Indian mutual fund TDS for NRIs — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Foreign beneficiary of a Canadian trust Everything on foreign beneficiary of a Canadian trust, at the same depth as this page.
Residency planning Residency planning — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Form T1161 — list of properties on emigration The full guide to T1161 list of properties emigration, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Departure planning timelines Its own page: departure planning timelines — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.

Who we help

Seafarers & mariners — your filing calendar Its own page: seafarers & mariners your filing calendar — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Amazon FBA sellers — relief you're probably missing Everything on amazon fba sellers relief you're probably missing, at the same depth as this page.
Investors & property owners cross-border tax Investors & property owners cross border tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Non-resident landlords — what we charge The full guide to non-resident landlords what we charge, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Dropshipping businesses cross-border tax Its own page: dropshipping businesses cross border tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Architecture practices cross-border tax Everything on architecture practices cross border tax, at the same depth as this page.
Physicians & surgeons — what we charge Physicians & surgeons what we charge — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for actors & film crew The full guide to actors & film crew tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Amazon FBA sellers — what you owe in each country Its own page: amazon fba sellers what you owe in each country — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.

The corridors we work every week

Costa Rica tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Costa Rica tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Canada–Philippines tax corridor Everything on Canada Philippines tax, at the same depth as this page.
Iceland tax for expats — country guide Iceland tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Belgium tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Belgium tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Kazakhstan tax for expats — country guide Its own page: kazakhstan tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Jamaica tax for expats — country guide Everything on Jamaica tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Germany tax for expats — country guide Germany tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Nepal tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Nepal tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
UAE tax for expats — country guide Its own page: UAE tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.

The people on your file

Five named practitioners, each with the part of a cross-border file they carry. Every page on this site says who reviewed it, and the reviewer is one of these people rather than an unnamed team.

Udit Gupta

Udit Gupta

Cross-Border Tax Expert

CA (ICAI), In-Depth Tax Trained

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

Abhinav Gupta

Abhinav Gupta

Canada Tax / International Tax

Canada Tax, International Tax, Cross-Border Tax, Transfer Pricing

Canadian returns with foreign income, non-resident filings, and the transfer-pricing documentation that runs alongside intercompany work.

Raghav Gupta

Raghav Gupta

International Tax

International Tax, Transfer Pricing Specialist

Benchmarking, method selection and the local-file and master-file sets that support a group's pricing policy under examination.

Anmol Mittal

Anmol Mittal

Canada and US tax

CPA Canada, CPA USA, CA (ICAI)

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

Vinayak Indolia

Vinayak Indolia

CFO advisory

CPA, CA. Fractional CFO and Senior Advisory Specialist

Groups that need the tax position and the finance function to agree: structure reviews, intercompany policy, and the reporting a board can act on.

Meet the whole team

What these engagements turn on

Case study 1

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 2

A Canadian Working in the US on a Work Visa

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

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

Social Security Paid Twice Until a Certificate Arrived

Income tax relief does not reach a social security charge; only an agreement does, and only against a certificate from the system actually being paid into. Obtaining it is the work, and it is often retrospective.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

Which Country Taxes the Salary

The employment article turns on where the work is done, who pays, and who bears the cost — three tests that can point in different directions. The file establishes all three before either return is drafted.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

A Student or Researcher Covered by a Treaty Article

Several treaties carry a dedicated article for students, trainees and visiting researchers that displaces the ordinary employment rules. Whether it applies turns on the purpose of the stay and the source of the funds, both of which are evidenced rather than asserted.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

A Disclosure Where the Facts Were Not Innocent

Where non-compliance was not inadvertent, the certification-based routes are unavailable and a different practice applies, with its own protections and its own price. Establishing which side of that line the facts fall on is done before contact is made.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

A Foreign Affiliate Return Filed Years Late

The reporting obligation on a company held abroad runs separately from the corporate return and carries its own exposure. The work is reconstructing the surplus position across the open years before any filing goes in.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

Documentation Requested, and the Deadline Is Not Extendable

Contemporaneous documentation has to exist by the filing deadline, not be assembled when it is asked for, and the penalty protection turns on that timing. The engagement produces the analysis for the year in question and puts a repeatable process behind the next one.

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

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

Employee vs contractor — both countries — questions we are asked

Employee vs contractor — both countries: where does doing it myself start to cost money?

Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: misclassification exposes the payer to withholding, contributions, interest and penalties, and it can create a taxable presence for a foreign engager.

What if I have already filed and got it wrong?

That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.

How long will it take?

It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.

How do I actually stop being taxed twice?

In this order. Fix your residence under each country's own rules, and if both claim you, apply the treaty tie-breaker. Identify where each type of income is sourced. Read the article that covers that income type, because it decides who taxes and at what maximum rate. Then claim the relief on the residence-country return, with proof of the foreign tax. Most of the tax people lose to double taxation is lost at the last step, not the first. See how double taxation is relieved.

Do I get credit for all of the foreign tax I paid?

Only up to your own country's tax on that same income, and only for tax you were legally obliged to pay. Two consequences follow. Living somewhere that taxes you more heavily than your residence country does leaves an excess that becomes a carryover rather than a refund. And withholding suffered above the treaty rate is not creditable — the route back to that money is a refund claim in the country that took it. See claiming the credit.

Is the sale of foreign property taxable where I live?

For a resident, yes — worldwide gains are taxable, and the gain is computed in your own currency, so the exchange rate at purchase and at sale changes the number even when the local-currency price did not move. The country where the property sits usually taxes it too, often with a withholding or clearance step before closing, and that tax becomes a credit. A principal residence relief may apply to a home abroad on the same terms as one at home. See principal residence and foreign property.

When do I pay?

After the work is finished and you have approved it. You see the completed return or filing before any payment is made.

Can you handle a fourth country?

We coordinate with a local adviser there and keep ownership of the interaction between the systems, which is where the value and the risk both sit.

A named reviewer on every filing

Ready to deal with employee vs contractor — both countries?

We scope it on a call, quote it in writing, and you see the result before anything is filed.

  • 24-hour helpline, +1 (416) 619-0068
  • A named reviewer signs off every filing
  • 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