Reasonably priced Shadow payroll

Shadow payroll pays nobody. Reasonably priced shadow payroll 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

First we read your documents, then you get the price in writing, and only then does the work begin.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE
  • Google rating 5.0 out of 5
  • 24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
The short answer

Shadow payroll pays nobody. The home payroll continues to pay the employee while the host payroll reports the same compensation and remits local tax.

Who has to deal with this

  • A home-country payroll is still running for someone who has moved
  • An employee works in a country your payroll does not cover
  • Someone is on assignment, secondment or a rotational schedule
  • Equity was granted in one country and vests in another
  • You cannot produce a day-count record for the year

Any two of those together and shadow payroll is almost certainly your situation. If nothing on the list applies, the helpline call still costs nothing and we will redirect you.

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

Transparent, fixed pricing for shadow payroll

What sets the fee on a shadow payroll is the number of assignees and the number of host countries reporting them, not the size of the home payroll. One assignee in a single host country running monthly is steady work; several people across different hosts, each with its own registration and cycle, is another matter.

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

Registrations, withholding and the employer obligations that follow staff working across a border, set up once and correctly.
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

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

A personal filing built from your own documents — employment, investment and rental income across borders, with the treaty position set out.
See the fee schedule

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

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

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Foreign holdings mapped once — accounts, real property, shareholdings — then reported to each authority in the form it requires.
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 — all of it on a single page, so the number you compare is the number you pay.

What the rule does, step by step

Shadow payroll pays nobody. It exists so the host country receives the withholding and reporting it is owed on compensation paid somewhere else.

The home payroll continues to pay the employee while the host payroll reports the same compensation and remits local tax. Reconciling the two — and the equalisation entries between them — is what keeps both filings defensible.

The practical reading of that is simple enough. Establish the position first, in writing; assemble the evidence that supports it; then prepare the filings in the order that lets the relief actually land. Doing those three in the other order is how the cost of shadow payroll multiplies.

Because a wrong number is worse than no number, every rate and threshold in your file is confirmed for your year at source. Where that confirmation is not available in time, the advice states how the rule works and what would need checking, rather than filling the gap with an estimate. See also tax for defence contractors and corporate emigration from Canada.

What we actually file

  • 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
  • Year-end reconciliations between the two payrolls

The arithmetic, worked through

Here is the rule doing its work on an actual set of amounts.

Splitting one salary between two countries

A salary of C$247,000 for a year with 213 working days, 93 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$247,000
Working days in the year213
Days worked in the other country93
Days worked at home120
Income sourced to the other countryC$107,845
Income sourced at homeC$139,155

C$107,845 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. The shape of that result holds; the size of it depends entirely on your own numbers and dates.

Example figures throughout, selected to make the rule visible, with rates and thresholds assumed for the demonstration. Your actual filing uses figures confirmed with the issuing authority for your tax year.

The four steps

  1. 1We start with the chronology: dates, countries, and what has already been filed
  2. 2You get the scope and the fee in writing before we touch anything
  3. 3The work is prepared and reviewed by a named person, not a queue
  4. 4Nothing is filed until you have read it

What it costs

You get a number before you commit, not an estimate that drifts. The scope is written down, the fee is fixed against it, and if the scope changes we re-quote rather than invoice the difference. Comparable engagements and their fixed fees are set out on the pricing pages.

  • 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.
  • Nothing is filed until you have read it.

How to get this moving

Ask before the move rather than after it, because most of the useful options expire on the date. The fastest start is a short call and three things: what happened, when it happened, and which countries are involved. Everything else we can ask for as it comes up.

Checked and signed off for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. General information, not advice for your circumstances — call our 24-hour helpline to discuss your own position.

Payroll mobility tax, in practice

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

Shadow payroll pays nobody.

From first contact to filed return

  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.

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

GloBE rules
The model rules implementing the global minimum tax, including the income inclusion and undertaxed payments mechanisms.
Credit method
A relief method under which the residence country taxes the foreign income and allows the foreign tax against its own, up to its own tax on that income.
Preparatory or auxiliary
The carve-out that keeps genuinely supporting activity from creating a permanent establishment. It is narrow, and it is tested on what is actually done.
Form 15CB
A chartered accountant's certificate on the taxability and withholding of an Indian outward remittance, delivered under a banking deadline.
shadow payroll: The practitioner's note

The home payroll continues to pay the employee while the host payroll reports the same compensation and remits local tax.

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.

The published fees closest to shadow payroll

The second band covers the reconciliation rather than the monthly cycle: home records and host records have to agree at year end, with the equalisation entries between them traced line by line. A host registration obtained late means the earlier periods are reported in arrears, which is scoped on the pay periods involved.

Corporate cross-border filing

$999fixed, before work starts

Covers: Returns for companies with foreign subsidiaries, foreign income or foreign shareholders, and the schedules each of those triggers.

See this fee page

Individual tax filing

$349fixed, before work starts

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

See this fee page

Why clients bring shadow payroll to us

Every figure on a page is traceable

Where a rate or a threshold appears in our writing it names the tax year it belongs to. Where it could not be confirmed, the page describes the mechanism and quotes no number.

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.

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 firm’s founder at his desk in the Delhi office

From first call to filed return

Step 1

Establishing the facts

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

Step 2

Agreeing the fee

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

Step 3

Drafting and review

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

Step 4

Filing and follow-up

Nothing is filed until you have read it

The team reviewing a file together at a desk

A fixed quote first, in writing

  • 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

Where to go next

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

The work we do for clients like this

Canadian selling US property — capital gains on the sale (FIRPTA) The full guide to capital gains on sale of US property, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Second opinion on a filed return Its own page: second opinion on a filed return — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Keeping a home in Canada while abroad Everything on keeping a home in Canada while abroad, at the same depth as this page.
Foreign company with an Indian subsidiary — filings Foreign company with an Indian subsidiary — filings — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Advance pricing arrangement — Canada The full guide to advance pricing arrangement — Canada, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Form A2 — LRS remittance (India) Its own page: form a2 India — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Form 3CEAE — CbCR designation (India) Everything on form 3ceae India, at the same depth as this page.
Form T1134 supplement — per affiliate T1134 supplement per affiliate — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Foreign tax credit in India (Form 67) The full guide to foreign tax credit in India (form 67), with the fee fixed before any work starts.

Who we bring this work to

Influencers & content creators — relief you're probably missing The full guide to influencers & content creators relief you're probably missing, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for travel nurses (us contracts) Its own page: travel nurses (US contracts) tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Civil & structural engineers — what you owe in each country Everything on civil & structural engineers what you owe in each country, at the same depth as this page.
Twitch & live streamers — relief you're probably missing Twitch & live streamers relief you're probably missing — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Airline pilots — your filing calendar The full guide to airline pilots your filing calendar, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Nurses working abroad — your filing calendar Its own page: nurses working abroad your filing calendar — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Media & production companies cross-border tax Everything on media & production companies cross border tax, at the same depth as this page.
Importers & exporters cross-border tax Importers & exporters cross border tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for freelance designers & writers The full guide to freelance designers & writers tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

Where our clients live and work

Canada–United Kingdom tax corridor The full guide to Canada United Kingdom tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Slovenia tax for expats — country guide Its own page: slovenia tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Luxembourg tax for expats — country guide Everything on Luxembourg tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Bahrain tax for expats — country guide Bahrain tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Panama tax for expats — country guide The full guide to panama tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
France tax for expats — country guide Its own page: France tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Philippines tax for expats — country guide Everything on Philippines tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Australia tax for expats — country guide Australia tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Czechia tax for expats — country guide The full guide to czechia 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

Cross-border tax case studies

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 Relief That Turned on Days Nobody Had Recorded

Treaty exemption, residence and social security are each decided by a count that has to be evidenced rather than recalled. The engagement builds the record from tickets, rosters and payroll before applying any article.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

One Employee Working From Another Country

A single remote employee can create payroll registration, withholding and social security obligations in their country, and sometimes a corporate presence too. The review sets out each obligation and the order they have to be registered in.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

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 5

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 6

Whether Documentation Was Required At All

The obligation turns on the transactions that actually happened rather than on the size of the group, and the penalty for contemporaneous documentation is charged by reference to the adjustment. The review establishes which side of the line the company sits.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

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
Case study 8

Branch or Subsidiary, Decided Before Incorporation

The choice changes where profits are taxed, what has to be filed, and whether losses in the early years are usable. It is difficult to reverse once trading has begun, so it is modelled first.

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

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

Working from anywhere doesn't mean taxed nowhere: residency defaults, employer payroll exposure and treaty relief decide where income actually lands.

Working from another country does not by itself end tax residence in the one you left, and it can start one where you are sitting. Day counts, ties, the employer's own exposure and the treaty tie-breaker all point at the same question, and the year you move is the year it has to be answered on paper.

  • 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

Shadow payroll — questions we are asked

Shadow payroll — how much of this can I do myself?

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: the home payroll continues to pay the employee while the host payroll reports the same compensation and remits local tax.

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.

What happens if I have not filed for several years?

Missed years are handled as one package, not one at a time, because the route chosen for the first year determines the relief available for the rest. Each country has a disclosure or relief programme with its own conditions, and entering the right one — before the authority contacts you — is usually what keeps penalties down. Filing quietly outside a programme forfeits that protection. See catching up on missed returns.

Is "fund transfer pricing" the same thing as transfer pricing?

No — and if you came here to calculate FTP, this is not it. Fund transfer pricing is a bank's internal allocation of funding costs and benefits between its own business units, a treasury and asset-liability management discipline used to measure branch or product profitability. Tax transfer pricing is about prices between legally separate related parties across borders, and about which country taxes the resulting profit. The words overlap; the fields do not. See our transfer pricing work.

Can an accountant in one country file my return in another?

Yes, where they are authorised to represent you with that tax authority and the filing is done electronically. What matters is not where the adviser sits but whether they can lawfully act for you and are competent in both systems — a return prepared with no knowledge of the other country is where the relief gets missed. We file on both sides, from offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE. See how we work.

What documents do you need to start?

The last two years of returns from each country involved, the slips or certificates for the income in question, and a note of dates — arrival, departure, or the transaction date.

How is the fee set?

It is agreed in writing before any work begins, based on the scope we establish on the first call. If the scope changes we re-quote before continuing — there is no hourly meter running in the background.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068

Ready to deal with shadow payroll?

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

  • Fixed fees agreed before work starts
  • A named reviewer signs off every filing
  • Re-quoted, never silently invoiced

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