Franchise owners: what we charge

We prepare and file the cross-border returns franchise owners need — both countries handled together, on a fixed fee agreed in writing up front.

  • 15+Years of cross-border experience
  • 18,000+Clients served
  • 5.0Google rating
  • 4Global offices — India, USA, Canada & UAE

Secure a fixed quote

Send what you have. We price the engagement from your own documents, in writing, before any work starts.

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

Franchise fees and royalties paid across a border are withheld at source under the royalty article, and the deductibility of the fee depends on transfer-pricing support where franchisor and franchisee are related.

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

Franchise fees and royalties paid across a border are withheld at source under the royalty article, and the deductibility of the fee depends on transfer-pricing support where franchisor and franchisee are related.

The rule underneath it looks like this. 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.

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

What franchise owners what we charge costs here

A franchise owner's quote is settled from three documents rather than a guess: the franchise agreement, the list of units, and the chart showing which company holds each. Those tell us how many filings the year contains and whether the royalty arrangement needs supporting work built for it. The figure is put in writing before anything is prepared.

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

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

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

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Employer registration and withholding for staff on assignment, arranged before the first pay run rather than corrected after it.
See the fee schedule

Non-resident & departure filings

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Non-resident filings and the two part-year returns a move produces, sequenced so neither country taxes the same income twice.
See the fee schedule

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Disclosure of assets and interests held abroad, built once from a single asset list and filed on every side that asks for it.
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

Estate & trust filing

From $799

fixed, quoted before work starts

Trust and estate filings that reach across a border, including the reporting a foreign beneficiary or a foreign asset creates.
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

  • My franchisor is abroad and the royalty withholding was never considered.
  • I own units in two countries under one holding company.
  • The franchise agreement was drafted for a domestic operator and I am not one.

That list is the reason this desk exists. Individually each question has an answer; together they need someone who holds both systems at once. See also cpp/ei vs fica for cross-border staff.

Worked through with figures

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

Credit relief on one stream of income

Take C$126,000 of income taxed in both countries. Assume the other country charged 18% on it and the home country would charge 34% on the same amount.

Credit relief on one stream of income
ItemAmount
Income taxed in both countriesC$126,000
Tax paid abroad (assumed 18%)C$22,680
Home tax on the same income (assumed 34%)C$42,840
Credit available (lesser of the two)C$22,680
Home tax still payableC$20,160

The credit absorbs C$22,680 and leaves C$20,160 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. Your version of this table is the useful one, and it takes a short call and a document pack to produce.

The figures here are an illustration, not an engagement: amounts are picked so the mechanism is easy to follow, and every rate or threshold is an assumption of the example. Before anything is filed for you, each one is confirmed with the issuing authority for your own tax year.

The arithmetic, worked through

This is what the rule produces when you put figures through it.

Credit relief on one stream of income

Take C$158,000 of income taxed in both countries. Assume the other country charged 22% on it and the home country would charge 34% on the same amount.

Credit relief on one stream of income
ItemAmount
Income taxed in both countriesC$158,000
Tax paid abroad (assumed 22%)C$34,760
Home tax on the same income (assumed 34%)C$53,720
Credit available (lesser of the two)C$34,760
Home tax still payableC$18,960

The credit absorbs C$34,760 and leaves C$18,960 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 interesting question is where your own figures fall relative to that, which is a computation rather than an opinion.

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.

From first call to filed

  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
  • 18,000+ clients served across 4 global offices: India, the USA, Canada and the UAE.
  • We will tell you when you do not need us, and that call is free.
  • Authorisation with each authority, so we see the assessments and slips directly rather than asking you for them.

Where to go from here

If a letter prompted this, bring the letter — it usually contains the answer to half the questions.

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

The search that brings most people to this page is international tax accountant. It is answered here for franchise owners: what we charge: what creates the obligation, which filings discharge it, and the fee agreed before the work starts.

The four phases of the work

  1. Send what you already have

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

  2. A fee agreed in writing

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

  3. Each side drafted against the other

    The returns are built together rather than in sequence, so relief is claimed once and in the right country.

  4. You approve before it is filed

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

What you are actually buying with franchise owners 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

The vocabulary this page leans on

Withholding agent
The person required to withhold and remit. The agent is liable for tax it failed to withhold, which is why the obligation belongs to the payer, not the recipient.
Net worth assessment
An assessment that reconstructs income from the change in a taxpayer's assets, so every unexplained deposit is income until it is explained.
Distance selling
Cross-border sales to consumers, which trigger registration in the destination country once its own test is crossed.
Day-count record
A contemporaneous record of presence by country. Almost every cross-border employment position depends on one, and almost nobody can produce one after the year has ended.

Fixed fees around franchise owners what we charge

The second band is for work that stands on its own rather than forming part of a return: reading an agreement before a unit is added in another country, or computing the disposition when a unit is sold. Each is priced per agreement or per transaction, because no two franchisor relationships carry the same terms.

Transfer pricing documentation

$2,500fixed, before work starts

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

See this fee page

Individual tax filing

$349fixed, before work starts

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

See this fee page

What working with us on franchise owners what we charge looks like

The order of filing is planned, not improvised

Which return goes first decides whether relief can be claimed at all. That sequence is worked out before anything is submitted.

You deal with the person who did the work

The practitioner who prepared and reviewed your file is the one who answers the question about it.

Cross-border is the whole practice

International and cross-border tax is all we do — not a sideline next to domestic work. The edge cases on this page are our ordinary Tuesday.

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 team at work in the open-plan office

Franchise owners what we charge — the four phases

Step 1

Initial call

A call to our 24-hour helpline to establish the facts and the dates that matter

Step 2

Scope and fee

A written scope and a fixed fee before any work starts

Step 3

Preparation and review

Preparation, then a named reviewer's sign-off before anything is filed

Step 4

Filing and payment

Filing, then payment — after you have seen and approved the result

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

The engagement, start to finish

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

Quoted up front, in writing.

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

Where to go next

Browse sideways: the pages below answer the neighbouring questions.

Core services for this situation

Form W-8ECI — effectively connected income Form w-8eci effectively connected income — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Moving crypto to a low-tax country The full guide to moving crypto to a low-tax country, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Canada–India DTAA explained Its own page: Canada India DTAA explained — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Foreign seller: capital gains and the clearance certificate Everything on foreign capital gains clearance certificate, at the same depth as this page.
Indian withholding on software payments Indian withholding on software payments — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Form 4868 — automatic extension The full guide to form 4868 extension, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
GST/HST registration for foreign businesses Its own page: GST/HST registration for foreign businesses — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
India ↔ Singapore — DTAA Everything on India ↔ Singapore — DTAA, at the same depth as this page.
Form 1065 — partnership return with foreign partners Form 1065 partnership return foreign — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

Clients who arrive with this exact page

Technology & SaaS cross-border tax Technology & saas cross border tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Seafarers & mariners — what we charge The full guide to seafarers & mariners what we charge, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for individual athletes — tennis, golf Its own page: individual athletes — tennis, golf tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for day traders Everything on day traders tax, at the same depth as this page.
Non-resident landlords — what you owe in each country Non-resident landlords what you owe in each country — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Cross-border truck drivers — your filing calendar The full guide to cross-border truck drivers your filing calendar, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for options & futures traders Its own page: options & futures traders tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for cross-border truck drivers Everything on cross-border truck drivers tax, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for aid & ngo workers Aid & ngo workers tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

The corridors we work every week

Pakistan tax for expats — country guide Pakistan tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Chile tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Chile tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Portugal tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Portugal tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Costa Rica tax for expats — country guide Everything on Costa Rica 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.
Ecuador tax for expats — country guide The full guide to ecuador tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Jamaica tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Jamaica tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Canada–Mexico tax corridor Everything on Canada Mexico tax, at the same depth as this page.
Zimbabwe tax for expats — country guide Zimbabwe 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

US Estate Tax on Assets a Canadian Did Not Know Were Exposed

US shares and US real estate sit inside the US estate tax net regardless of where the owner lives. The treaty provides relief that is proportionate rather than automatic, and the calculation depends on the worldwide estate.

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

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 4

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 5

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 6

Unreported Foreign Income Disclosed Before the CRA Asked

A voluntary disclosure has to be genuinely voluntary — once a letter arrives, the route usually closes. The engagement establishes whether the programme is still available, prepares the years, and puts the relief request in with the filing rather than after it.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

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 8

Three Countries in One File and Two Treaties That Disagree

Income sourced in one country, paid to a resident of a second, held through an entity in a third: three bilateral treaties, no three-way rule. The analysis works out which pair governs each flow, and whether the middle entity is entitled to anything at all.

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

Franchise owners — what we charge — questions we are asked

What makes franchise owners different from an ordinary filing?

Franchise fees and royalties paid across a border are withheld at source under the royalty article, and the deductibility of the fee depends on transfer-pricing support where franchisor and franchisee are related. 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 many days can I spend in a country before I become tax resident?

It depends on the country, and a day count is only ever the start. Many use a threshold in a tax year, some also look at averages across several years, and some have no day test at all and decide on where your home and life are. Two countries can both conclude you are resident, which is what the treaty tie-breaker exists to settle. Counting days without checking the tie-breaker is how people end up filing as resident nowhere. See the residency tie-breaker.

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.

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.

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.

15+ years of cross-border experience

Let us take franchise owners filing off your desk

One call to the 24-hour helpline is enough to tell you what has to be filed, what it costs, and whether you need us at all.

  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file
  • Re-quoted, never silently invoiced
  • Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars on Google

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