Reasonably priced Cross-border tax for defence contractors

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For defence contractors: the cross-border filings, the treaty relief and the disclosures, handled end to end on a written fixed fee. Ask us about reasonably priced cross-border tax for defence contractors: call the 24-hour helpline on +1 (416) 619-0068, or request a written fixed quote today.

+1 (416) 619-0068 See fixed fees
  • 15+Years of cross-border experience
  • 18,000+Clients served
  • 5.0Google rating
  • 4Global offices — India, USA, Canada & UAE
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Secure a fixed quote

Your own file sets the fee. Send it over, and a written quote arrives before anything is prepared.

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

Contractors supporting government or defence operations abroad often work in jurisdictions where local tax is not collected in practice, which does not remove the home-country obligation or the foreign-account reporting.

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

Contractors supporting government or defence operations abroad often work in jurisdictions where local tax is not collected in practice, which does not remove the home-country obligation or the foreign-account reporting.

Here is the part that decides your answer. The difference between the two outcomes is a provision most people in this position have never heard of — and once it is identified, the rest of the file is straightforward.

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

Defence contractors tax — priced before we start

The first question on a defence contractor's file is usually residence: whether a long posting has ended it, and on what evidence. That has to be settled before a return can be prepared, and a contract paid through a third country adds accounts and an employer position to establish alongside it. Agreed in writing first.

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

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

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, 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

Non-resident & departure filings

From $349

fixed, 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

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

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

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

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

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 — the complete list of what each engagement costs, stated as figures rather than ranges.

Three things we hear on the first call

  • I worked in a country with no income tax and still owe at home, apparently.
  • My contract is with a company in a third country and my pay never touches my home banking.
  • I have been abroad long enough that I do not know whether I am still resident.

If any of that sounds familiar, it is because it is the standard experience of anyone in this position. The rules were not written to be read together, and nobody is given a map. See also Nigeria tax for expats — country guide.

The arithmetic, worked through

It is easier to see with numbers attached.

Splitting one salary between two countries

A salary of C$202,000 for a year with 223 working days, 121 of them performed in the other country. Employment income is generally sourced to where the work was physically done.

ItemAmount
Annual salaryC$202,000
Working days in the year223
Days worked in the other country121
Days worked at home102
Income sourced to the other countryC$109,605
Income sourced at homeC$92,395

C$109,605 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. Your version of this table is the useful one, and it takes a short call and a document pack to produce.

An illustration, not a client file. The sums are chosen for legibility and the thresholds are stated for the example alone — nothing reaches a filing until it has been confirmed at source for your own year.

The numbers, end to end

The same point, with figures rather than adjectives.

Credit relief on one stream of income

Take C$163,000 of income taxed in both countries. Assume the other country charged 29% on it and the home country would charge 35% on the same amount.

ItemAmount
Income taxed in both countriesC$163,000
Tax paid abroad (assumed 29%)C$47,270
Home tax on the same income (assumed 35%)C$57,050
Credit available (lesser of the two)C$47,270
Home tax still payableC$9,780

The credit absorbs C$47,270 and leaves C$9,780 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. That is an illustration of the mechanism, not a prediction about your file — the same computation on your figures is the first thing we do.

An illustration, not a client file. The sums are chosen for legibility and the thresholds are stated for the example alone — nothing reaches a filing until it has been confirmed at source for your own year.

How we handle it

  1. 1We establish what happened and when, because every position here is anchored to a date
  2. 2A written scope and a fixed price, so you know the cost before committing
  3. 3The filings are prepared, cross-checked against each other, and reviewed by name
  4. 4You see the result, approve it, and we file it
  • Authorisation with each authority, so we see the assessments and slips directly rather than asking you for them.
  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file; we take the cross-border piece, with the boundary in writing.
  • 18,000+ clients served across 4 global offices: India, the USA, Canada and the UAE.

How to get this moving

Ask before the move rather than after it, because most of the useful options expire on the date.

Reviewed 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, in practice

The search that brings most people to this page is international tax accountant. It is answered here for cross-border tax for defence contractors: what creates the obligation, which filings discharge it, and the fee agreed before the work starts.

From first contact to filed return

  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.

How defence contractors tax 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

Four terms worth pinning down

Qualified domestic minimum top-up tax
A local top-up charge that keeps the global minimum tax revenue in the jurisdiction where the low-taxed profit arose.
Controlled foreign affiliate
A foreign affiliate controlled by the Canadian taxpayer, alone or with related parties, whose passive income can be attributed to the shareholder currently.
Effective tax rate
Tax as a proportion of a defined measure of profit. Under the minimum tax rules it is computed per jurisdiction from adjusted accounting figures.
LRS
India's liberalised remittance scheme, permitting resident individuals to remit funds abroad within an annual limit for declared purposes.

Defence contractors tax — what the published fees look like

The fees below cover the separate filings rather than the whole file. Where a contractor's pay never entered home banking, the account and asset disclosures are counted item by item, and a year where local tax was never collected is priced on the treaty position that has to be argued, not on the size of the salary.

Foreign asset & information reporting

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Foreign holdings mapped once — accounts, real property, shareholdings — then reported to each authority in the form it requires.

See this fee page

Individual tax filing

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Personal returns for individuals, expats and non-residents — foreign income, foreign property and treaty relief handled in one engagement.

See this fee page

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

Why choose Legal Quotient for defence contractors tax

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 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.

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.

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.

The team reviewing a file together at a desk

Defence contractors tax — the four phases

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

The team at work in the open-plan 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

Keep reading, sideways

Every link below is a full page of its own — the same depth as this one, for its own subject.

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Indian company paying a foreign consultant Everything on Indian company paying a foreign consultant, at the same depth as this page.
Selling into the US without a US entity Selling into the US without a US entity — 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.
Canada–India DTAA explained Its own page: Canada India DTAA explained — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Crypto on emigration from Canada Everything on crypto on emigration from Canada, at the same depth as this page.
Form 14653 — non-resident certification Form 14653 non resident certification — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

Who we help

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Tax for cabin crew Everything on cabin crew tax, at the same depth as this page.
Property developers cross-border tax Property developers cross border tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for airline pilots The full guide to airline pilots tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
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Seafarers & mariners — your filing calendar Everything on seafarers & mariners your filing calendar, at the same depth as this page.
Media & production companies cross-border tax Media & production companies cross border tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

Countries and corridors this work reaches

US–Mexico tax corridor US Mexico tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
US–Germany tax corridor The full guide to US Germany tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Zimbabwe tax for expats — country guide Its own page: zimbabwe tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Argentina tax for expats — country guide Everything on Argentina tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Canada–Philippines tax corridor Canada Philippines tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Greece tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Greece tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
US–United Kingdom tax corridor Its own page: US United Kingdom tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Saudi Arabia tax for expats — country guide Everything on Saudi Arabia tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Namibia tax for expats — country guide Namibia tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

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

A Residency Determination Review After Leaving the Country

Residence is decided on ties, not on a form, and the review asks for evidence of every one of them. The file assembles the ties that were severed and the ones that remained, and answers the questionnaire against the treaty rather than around it.

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

Paid for Work Done in Canada While Living Elsewhere

Employment carried out in Canada is taxable here even where the employer and the bank account are not. The engagement establishes how many of the days were worked in Canada, applies the treaty employment article, and deals with the withholding the payer has already taken.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

Trips That Added Up to a Filing Obligation

Short visits are tracked against a treaty threshold that is measured over a moving window rather than a calendar year. Where the threshold is passed, the obligation reaches back over the whole period.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

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 6

Social Security Contributions Owed in Two Countries at Once

A totalization agreement assigns contributions to one system and exempts the other, but only against a certificate obtained in advance. Without it both sets come out of the same salary and neither is straightforward to recover.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

Canadian Pension Paid Abroad and Taxed at the Flat Rate

Pension and annuity payments to a non-resident carry a flat withholding that often exceeds what a return would produce. The alternative filing is elective, and whether it helps depends on the total income for the year rather than on the payment alone.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

The Year of Leaving India

The departure year carries a transition status with its own treatment of foreign income, and the position for the following years follows from how it is set. Getting the first year right saves arguing about the rest.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Delivery, coverage and how we work

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.

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

Related-party purchasing, customs value versus transfer price, and foreign-affiliate structures put trading businesses inside the s.247 documentation rules.

Goods crossing a border move the tax question from income to indirect: registration thresholds, place of supply, the customs value and the transfer price between related entities all have to agree with each other. When they do not, the adjustment arrives from two authorities at once and each one uses the other's number.

  • 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

Tax for defence contractors — questions we are asked

What makes defence contractors different from an ordinary filing?

Contractors supporting government or defence operations abroad often work in jurisdictions where local tax is not collected in practice, which does not remove the home-country obligation or the foreign-account reporting. 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.

Branch or subsidiary — which should we use to expand?

A branch keeps one taxpayer: results consolidate at home, losses are usable sooner, and the exposure is that the branch is a permanent establishment whose profit the host country taxes, sometimes with a branch tax on repatriation. A subsidiary is a separate taxpayer with limited liability and local rates, at the cost of withholding on dividends home and transfer pricing on everything between them. The deciding facts are usually expected losses, liability and exit plans. See branch against subsidiary.

I have not filed for several years while living abroad — what are my options?

Both countries have routes back, and using one before they contact you is what preserves the relief. On the US side there are procedures aimed at taxpayers whose failure was not wilful, including one designed for people living outside the country, and separate procedures for late account reports and information returns alone. Canada has its voluntary disclosures programme and taxpayer relief for penalties and interest. Filing quietly and hoping is the one approach with no protection attached to it. See catch-up filing.

Will you tell me what I could have done differently?

Yes, including where the window has closed. Knowing that a step was available last year is the reason next year is cheaper.

What is the most common thing you find on a review?

An unclaimed foreign tax credit, a missed information return, and a treaty position taken without the disclosure the rules required. Usually all three.

Tax terms explained

FIRPTAGloBE rulesMarital deductionCustoms valuationGILTITotalization agreementWash saleFinCEN 114Thin capitalizationDEMPETax equalisationPlace of supplyStreamlined filingFC-TRS Browse the full A–Z glossary

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Related work

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Common questions here

How are defence contractors taxed across borders?
A named reviewer on every filing

Ready to deal with defence contractors filing?

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

Contact Us 24-hour helpline +1 (416) 619-0068 See fixed fees
  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE
  • Re-quoted, never silently invoiced
  • A named reviewer signs off every filing

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