Airline pilots: what we charge

Cross-border tax filing for airline pilots, planned and filed from one desk, at a fixed fee agreed in writing before any work starts.

  • 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
  • 15+ years of cross-border experience
In short

Most treaties have a dedicated rule for crew of aircraft in international traffic, which can hand taxing rights to the country of the employer or of the enterprise's management rather than to the country you flew over.

Further down: the governing rule, the first-call questions, two completed files with figures, the way the work runs, and where the fee is published.

The rule that applies to this group and not the one next to it

Most treaties have a dedicated rule for crew of aircraft in international traffic, which can hand taxing rights to the country of the employer or of the enterprise's management rather than to the country you flew over. That single article is why a pilot's return does not follow the ordinary employment rules.

Read this first; the rest is procedure. The general rules are the same for everyone; the provision that changes the answer is not. That is why a general adviser applies the default and stops, and why the relief written for this group goes unclaimed year after year.

The team reviewing a file together at a desk

Airline pilots what we charge — priced before we start

The published fees below assume one employer, one base and one country of residence for the year. What moves a pilot's quote above them is a base change mid-year, a second country taxing part of the roster, or unfiled years to bring current. Each is read off your documents and priced in writing before work begins.

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

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 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

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

Catch-up & voluntary disclosure

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

For a filing history that stopped — the penalty position assessed first, then the years filed in the order that protects it.
See the fee schedule

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, 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

Transfer pricing documentation

From $2,500

fixed, quoted before work starts

Documentation for transactions between related companies: the method, the comparables and the file an authority asks to see.
See the fee schedule

Estate & trust filing

From $799

fixed, quoted before work starts

For an estate holding property in more than one country, or a trust with beneficiaries who are taxed somewhere else.
See the fee schedule

All published fees on one page — each engagement priced as one number on one list, with nothing left as a range.

Three things we hear on the first call

  • I am paid from one country, based in another, and I sleep in a third — nobody can tell me which one taxes my roster.
  • My airline withholds tax I do not think I owe, and the payroll department will not discuss a treaty.
  • I have layover days in six countries and no idea whether any of them count towards residency.

Every one of those is a question we answer weekly. They arise because two tax systems were written independently and neither was designed with the other in mind. See also tax for offshore vessel crew.

The numbers, end to end

Put numbers against it and the shape of the answer is obvious.

Splitting one salary between two countries

A salary of C$103,000 for a year with 244 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$103,000
Working days in the year244
Days worked in the other country71
Days worked at home173
Income sourced to the other countryC$29,971
Income sourced at homeC$73,029

C$29,971 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. Change any one of those inputs and the answer moves, which is why we run it on your own figures rather than on an illustration.

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 arithmetic, worked through

Put numbers against it and the shape of the answer is obvious.

Credit relief on one stream of income

Take C$97,000 of income taxed in both countries. Assume the other country charged 19% on it and the home country would charge 38% on the same amount.

Credit relief on one stream of income
ItemAmount
Income taxed in both countriesC$97,000
Tax paid abroad (assumed 19%)C$18,430
Home tax on the same income (assumed 38%)C$36,860
Credit available (lesser of the two)C$18,430
Home tax still payableC$18,430

The credit absorbs C$18,430 and leaves C$18,430 payable at home, because the home rate on this income is the higher of the two. The balance is real cash and it is due on the home timetable, which is why instalments get raised in the first meeting. The shape of that result holds; the size of it depends entirely on your own numbers and dates.

Illustrative figures, not a client engagement: the amounts are chosen to make the mechanism legible, and the rates and thresholds are assumptions stated for the example only. We confirm every one of them against the issuing authority for your own tax year before anything is filed.

What working with us looks like

  1. 1A short call to work out what actually applies to you and what does not
  2. 2A written quote against a defined scope, with nothing billed by the hour
  3. 3We prepare, a named reviewer checks it, and you see it before it goes
  4. 4You approve, we file, and only then do you pay
  • 18,000+ clients served across 4 global offices: India, the USA, Canada and the UAE.
  • Nothing is filed until you have read it.
  • A change of scope is re-quoted before the work, never added to the invoice after it.

Your next step

Bring last year's returns and we will tell you what is missing.

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

International tax accountant — what this page covers

This is the page to read on international tax accountant. It takes airline pilots: what we charge in order — the test that decides who is affected, the returns and forms that follow from it, and a fee quoted in writing before anything starts.

The four phases of the work

  1. Send the documents as they are

    No tidying required — forward what you have and we tell you what is missing.

  2. Get a fixed quote in writing

    Priced from your actual documents before any work begins, not estimated after.

  3. Both countries prepared together

    One team builds the filings against each other so the relief lands exactly once.

  4. Review, then file

    You approve the finished work before we file it.

What you are actually buying with airline pilots what we charge

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

Tie-breaker rule
The ordered treaty tests that resolve dual residence: permanent home, then centre of vital interests, then habitual abode, then nationality, with agreement between the authorities as the last step.
Tax equalisation
A policy under which the employer bears the actual host and home tax and deducts a hypothetical home tax from the employee.
Importer of record
The party legally responsible for an import, and therefore the party that can recover the import tax. Naming the wrong one strands the recovery.
Principal purpose test
An anti-abuse rule denying a treaty benefit where obtaining it was a principal purpose of an arrangement, unless granting it accords with the treaty's object.

The published fees closest to airline pilots what we charge

What the fee covers is both returns and the treaty position between them, not one country in isolation: the crew article applied, the withholding your airline took reconciled against it, and the disclosures that follow. Work we cannot see in the papers you send is quoted separately rather than absorbed.

Non-resident & departure filings

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: For anyone taxed by a country they do not live in — rent, pensions and investment income reaching across a border after the move.

See this fee page

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

What working with us on airline pilots what we charge looks like

The reporting penalties get named early

The heaviest exposure on a cross-border file is usually a disclosure form, not the tax. We identify which ones apply before a deadline turns into a penalty.

18,000+ clients served

Individuals, expats and corporations across India, the USA, Canada and the UAE have filed with us — 15+ years of cross-border work.

The fee is fixed before we start

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

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 team at work in the open-plan office

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

Step 1

Initial call

A call to the 24-hour helpline to find out whether this is a filing or a project

Step 2

Scope and fee

A fixed fee for a written scope — re-quoted if the scope changes, never invoiced silently

Step 3

Preparation and review

Preparation against the evidence, with the positions documented as we go

Step 4

Filing and payment

Your approval, then the filing — in that order

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

A fixed quote first, in writing

  • Step 1: Hand over the paperwork in any state – Sorting it is our job. Send what exists and we identify what is missing from it.
  • Step 2: Priced before a single form is opened – The fee comes from the documents, agreed in writing, and stays where it was agreed.
  • Step 3: One position across every return – The same facts, filed consistently on each side, so nothing contradicts anything else.
  • Step 4: Filed after you have read it – The completed work reaches you before it reaches an authority.

Quoted up front, in writing.

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

Where to go next

Browse sideways: the pages below answer the neighbouring questions.

The work we do for clients like this

Form T1255 — principal residence (deceased) The full guide to t1255 principal residence deceased, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Canadian selling US property — capital gains on the sale (FIRPTA) Its own page: capital gains on sale of US property — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Liberalised Remittance Scheme and TCS on remittances Everything on liberalised remittance scheme and TCS on remittances, at the same depth as this page.
Indian company paying a foreign consultant Indian company paying a foreign consultant — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Form 10FA / 10FB — TRC for Indian residents (India) The full guide to form 10fa / 10fb India, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
FDI routes, FC-GPR and FC-TRS compliance Its own page: fdi routes, fc-gpr and fc-trs compliance — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Form 3CEB — TP accountant's report (India) Everything on form 3ceb India, at the same depth as this page.
Form 8832 — entity classification election Form 8832 entity classification election — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Economic substance in the Gulf The full guide to economic substance in the gulf, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

Who we help

Management consultants — what we charge The full guide to management consultants what we charge, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for influencers & content creators Its own page: influencers & content creators tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Team-sport athletes — what you owe in each country Everything on team-sport athletes what you owe in each country, at the same depth as this page.
Transport & logistics cross-border tax Transport & logistics cross border tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for team-sport athletes The full guide to team-sport athletes tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Amazon FBA sellers — relief you're probably missing Its own page: amazon fba sellers relief you're probably missing — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for forex traders Everything on forex traders tax, at the same depth as this page.
Physicians & surgeons — relief you're probably missing Physicians & surgeons relief you're probably missing — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Technology & SaaS — what you owe in each country The full guide to technology & saas what you owe in each country, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

The corridors we work every week

Latvia tax for expats — country guide The full guide to latvia tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Australia tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Australia tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
US–Australia tax corridor Everything on US Australia tax, at the same depth as this page.
Taiwan tax for expats — country guide Taiwan tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Armenia tax for expats — country guide The full guide to armenia tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Trinidad & Tobago tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Trinidad & tobago tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
US–Mexico tax corridor Everything on US Mexico tax, at the same depth as this page.
Argentina tax for expats — country guide Argentina tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Zambia tax for expats — country guide The full guide to zambia 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 situations we are engaged for

Case study 1

Coming Back to Canada After Years Abroad

Returning restarts Canadian residence and re-values what you own on the day you arrive. Foreign pensions, employer plans and accounts opened abroad each land differently, and the reporting thresholds are tested against the whole portfolio rather than each account.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

An NRI Selling Indian Property With Tax Withheld on the Price

Withholding on a sale by a non-resident is applied to the sale value rather than to the gain, so it routinely exceeds the tax due. A lower-deduction certificate obtained before completion avoids locking the difference up until a return is assessed.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

A US Citizen Settled in India, Filing on Both Sides

Residence in India and citizenship in the United States produce two annual returns for one income. The order decides the credit, and the Indian financial year and the US calendar year have to be reconciled before either is prepared.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

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 5

An IRS Notice for a Year the Client Believed Was Settled

Most notices are proposals rather than assessments, and they carry a response window that is shorter than it looks. The engagement reads what is actually being proposed, gathers the support, and replies inside the window with the position rather than a request for time.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

A US Filer Married to Someone Outside the System

Electing to treat a non-resident spouse as a US filer buys joint rates and brings that spouse's worldwide income and foreign accounts into the return. The election is easy to make and hard to revoke, so both positions are modelled first.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

A TFSA That Costs More Than It Saves

Canadian tax-free accounts are not tax-free to a US person, and some of them carry a reporting form of their own. The file is a review of what is held, what each account triggers on the US side, and whether the account is worth keeping once the reporting is priced in.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

Deduction at Source on Deposit Interest, Recovered

Where the treaty rate is lower than what was deducted, the difference comes back through a return rather than at source. The file establishes entitlement and files for the years still open.

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

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.

  • Section 216 rental returns
  • FIRPTA withholding recovery
  • Section 116 clearance
  • Treaty credit optimization
Explore Real Estate

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

Airline pilots — what we charge — questions we are asked

What makes airline pilots different from an ordinary filing?

Most treaties have a dedicated rule for crew of aircraft in international traffic, which can hand taxing rights to the country of the employer or of the enterprise's management rather than to the country you flew over. That single article is why a pilot's return does not follow the ordinary employment rules. An ordinary preparer applies the general rule and stops there, which is how the relief in the specific provision goes unclaimed.

Can you work with my existing accountant?

That is how most of these engagements run. They keep the domestic file, we take the cross-border piece, and the boundary is agreed in writing so nothing is done twice or missed.

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.

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.

Why is cross-border work more expensive than a domestic return?

Because two systems have to be reconciled rather than one applied, and the reconciliation is where the money is saved. The fee is still fixed and agreed before we start.

Do you work with trusts and estates as well as returns?

Yes, and they are frequently the same file: a personal position, an entity position and an estate exposure that all move together.

No hourly billing, ever

Let us take airline pilots filing off your desk

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

  • Fixed fees agreed before work starts
  • A named reviewer signs off every filing
  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file

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