Low-cost IT contractors: your filing calendar

We prepare and file the cross-border returns it contractors need — both countries handled together, on a fixed fee agreed in writing up front. Ask us about low-cost IT contractors: your filing calendar: call the 24-hour helpline on +1 (416) 619-0068, or request a written fixed 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

Whatever documents you hold are enough to begin: we read them and put a fixed price in writing first.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • 18,000+ clients served
  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE
  • Google rating 5.0 out of 5
In short

An independent IT contractor abroad is running a business, which raises the permanent-establishment question about the contractor's own company and, in some systems, the personal-services-business rules that deny it ordinary treatment.

On this page: the rule that applies here, the questions we are asked first, two finished files with their numbers, how an engagement runs, and the fee it starts from.

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

An independent IT contractor abroad is running a business, which raises the permanent-establishment question about the contractor's own company and, in some systems, the personal-services-business rules that deny it ordinary treatment.

Read this first; the rest is procedure. Two people with identical incomes and identical passports can owe completely different amounts because one of them falls inside a provision the other does not. That is the whole reason this page exists as its own page rather than as a paragraph on a general one.

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

Fixed fees for it contractors your filing calendar, agreed up front

An IT contractor's filing calendar is priced on how many obligations run through the year rather than on one return: a personal filing in the country of residence, a corporate year end on its own cycle, instalments, and payroll or sales-tax registrations where the contracting arrangement created them.

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

One engagement for a personal return that touches more than one country: the income, the assets held abroad and the relief claimed against them.
See the fee schedule

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Corporate compliance for a group that trades or holds assets in more than one country, prepared on both sides together.
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

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Payroll set up for a workforce split across countries, including the relief that stops the same salary being withheld on twice.
See the fee schedule

Transfer pricing documentation

From $2,500

fixed, quoted before work starts

Benchmarking and documentation for related-party dealings, prepared to the standard the reviewing authority applies.
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

Voluntary disclosure handled as one piece of work, from the review of what is outstanding to the returns that close 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 clients are in one country, I live in another, and I invoice through a company in a third.
  • One client insists on withholding tax I should not be paying.
  • My own corporation may be a personal services business, which nobody warned me about.

We hear versions of all three most weeks. The confusion is structural rather than personal: nothing in either system is designed to explain the other. See also cpp/ei vs fica for cross-border staff.

The arithmetic, worked through

The same point, with figures rather than adjectives.

Equity that vests after the move

A grant worth C$99,000 at vest, over a 45-month vesting period, 19 months of which were worked in the first country and 26 in the second.

Equity that vests after the move
ItemAmount
Value at vestC$99,000
Vesting period (months)45
Months worked in the first country19
Months worked in the second country26
Apportioned to the first countryC$41,800
Apportioned to the second countryC$57,200

Two countries tax slices of one gain: C$41,800 and C$57,200 on this apportionment. Where their taxing points differ — grant, vest, exercise or sale — the credit can arrive in a year the other country is no longer taxing, which is the mismatch to plan around. We run this on your actual numbers before advising anything, because the conclusion can invert with a modest change in inputs.

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.

Worked through with figures

The arithmetic is more persuasive than the description, so:

Credit relief on one stream of income

Take C$63,000 of income taxed in both countries. Assume the other country charged 20% on it and the home country would charge 27% on the same amount.

Credit relief on one stream of income
ItemAmount
Income taxed in both countriesC$63,000
Tax paid abroad (assumed 20%)C$12,600
Home tax on the same income (assumed 27%)C$17,010
Credit available (lesser of the two)C$12,600
Home tax still payableC$4,410

The credit absorbs C$12,600 and leaves C$4,410 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.

Treat these numbers as a worked example rather than advice — they exist to make the mechanics visible, and the rates and thresholds are assumed for the illustration. For a real filing, we verify each figure with the authority that publishes it, for your year.

From first call to filed

  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
  • Documents move through one secure portal, and you can meet us in person at any of our offices.
  • A named reviewer signs off every statutory filing.
  • Fixed fees agreed before any work starts, so the number in the quote is the number on the invoice.

What to do next

The quote comes before the work, in writing.

Read and approved for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. General guidance only. Your own facts decide the answer, so bring them to a call before relying on this.

Where international tax accountant comes into this file

The subject here is IT contractors: your filing calendar, which is what people mean when they search for international tax accountant. This page covers who it applies to, the filings it produces, and the fixed fee agreed before work begins.

The four phases of the work

  1. Hand over the paperwork in any state

    Sorting it is our job. Send what exists and we identify what is missing from it.

  2. Priced before a single form is opened

    The fee comes from the documents, agreed in writing, and stays where it was agreed.

  3. One position across every return

    The same facts, filed consistently on each side, so nothing contradicts anything else.

  4. Filed after you have read it

    The completed work reaches you before it reaches an authority.

What you are actually buying with it contractors your filing calendar

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

Unilateral relief
Relief for foreign tax given by domestic law where no treaty applies. It is usually narrower than treaty relief and is the fallback in a non-treaty corridor.
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.
OIDAR
India's regime for online information and database access services, taxing a foreign supplier on sales to Indian consumers.
NR4
The Canadian slip reporting amounts paid to non-residents and the tax withheld. Its codes decide whether the recipient can claim a treaty rate or a credit.

Fixed fees around it contractors your filing calendar

Whether the calendar is current matters more than its length. Keeping a contractor on schedule from here is one kind of engagement; picking up a year already missed, with a late return and a disclosure to prepare alongside it, is another, and both are quoted in writing before work begins.

Corporate cross-border filing

$999fixed, before work starts

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

See this fee page

Non-resident & departure filings

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: The filings that follow a move: the departure year, the arrival year, and the income that keeps arriving from the country behind you.

See this fee page

What working with us on it contractors your filing calendar looks like

Residence is tested, not assumed

Where you are resident for treaty purposes is a question with a method. We work through it and write down the answer, with the facts it rests on.

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 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.

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.

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

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

Step 1

First conversation

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

Step 2

Written quote

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

Step 3

Preparation and sign-off

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

Step 4

Submission

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

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

A fixed quote first, in writing

  • Step 1: Tell us the dates and we will tell you the position – Arrival, departure, the years in between — the residence question turns on those before anything else.
  • Step 2: Fixed fee, defined scope, in writing – Both agreed before work starts, so the engagement cannot grow into a larger bill.
  • Step 3: Prepared together, not passed between firms – You are not the go-between for two sets of advisers working from two sets of assumptions.
  • Step 4: Reviewed, approved, filed – A named practitioner checks it, you approve it, and then it goes.

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

Reporting crypto on T1135 The full guide to reporting crypto on T1135, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Lower or nil TDS certificate under section 197 Its own page: lower nil TDS certificate section 197 — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Post-mortem planning & pipeline Everything on post-mortem planning & pipeline, at the same depth as this page.
Canada–UK, UAE and Australia treaties Canada UK UAE Australia tax treaties — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Canada–US treaty explained The full guide to Canada US tax treaty explained, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Canadian working in the US — taxes on a TN, H-1B or L-1 Its own page: Canadian working in US taxes — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Exit strategy for founders Everything on exit strategy for founders, at the same depth as this page.
CRA Voluntary Disclosures Program — offshore and unreported income IRS offshore voluntary disclosure program — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Indian scrutiny assessment (s.143(2)) The full guide to Indian scrutiny assessment 143(2), with the fee fixed before any work starts.

Clients who arrive with this exact page

Tax for construction workers abroad The full guide to construction workers abroad tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Influencers & content creators — your filing calendar Its own page: influencers & content creators your filing calendar — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Oil & gas rotational workers — relief you're probably missing Everything on oil & gas rotational workers relief you're probably missing, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for nurses working abroad Nurses working abroad tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for mining engineers & geologists The full guide to mining engineers & geologists tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for diplomatic & consular staff Its own page: diplomatic & consular staff tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for seasonal agricultural workers Everything on seasonal agricultural workers tax, at the same depth as this page.
Agriculture & agri-tech cross-border tax Agriculture & agri-tech cross border tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Crypto traders — relief you're probably missing The full guide to crypto traders relief you're probably missing, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

The corridors we work every week

US–UAE tax corridor The full guide to US UAE tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Canada–Hong Kong tax corridor Its own page: Canada Hong Kong tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Vietnam tax for expats — country guide Everything on Vietnam tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Panama tax for expats — country guide Panama tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Slovenia tax for expats — country guide The full guide to slovenia tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Austria tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Austria tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Greece tax for expats — country guide Everything on Greece tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Armenia tax for expats — country guide Armenia tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Canada–United Kingdom tax corridor The full guide to Canada United Kingdom tax, 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

Files that look like this one

Case study 1

Leaving Canada — the Bill You Get for Assets You Still Own

Emigrating triggers a deemed disposition of most holdings, which produces tax on gains never realised in cash. The file values the property, identifies what is excluded, and looks at whether security can be posted rather than the tax paid outright.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

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 3

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 4

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
Case study 5

A Student or Researcher Covered by a Treaty Article

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

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

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 7

A Second Opinion on a Return Already Filed

A cross-border return prepared on one side only is usually right in isolation and wrong in combination. The review checks residence, source and relief in that order, and says plainly whether an amendment is worth making.

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

IT contractors — your filing calendar — questions we are asked

What makes it contractors different from an ordinary filing?

An independent IT contractor abroad is running a business, which raises the permanent-establishment question about the contractor's own company and, in some systems, the personal-services-business rules that deny it ordinary treatment. 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 do families with assets in two countries handle inheritance?

With paperwork built for both systems rather than one. In practice that means wills that work where each asset actually sits, an executor with authority a foreign bank or land registry will accept, clearance certificates before the estate distributes so the executor is not left personally exposed, and an estate tax exposure calculation done while the person is alive and can still act on it. Doing it afterwards costs more and forecloses most of the options. See cross-border wills and trusts.

What is a double tax treaty and what does it actually do?

It is an agreement between two countries that divides up the right to tax. Article by article it decides which country taxes employment income, dividends, interest, royalties, pensions, property and business profits — and where both may tax, it caps what the source country can withhold and tells the other to give credit. It also breaks residence ties and opens a government-to-government channel for disputes. What it never does is apply itself: a treaty position is claimed. See our treaty work.

Can you review something another adviser prepared?

Yes, and that is a common engagement. A second opinion on a filed cross-border return most often finds an unclaimed credit, a missed information return, and a treaty position taken without the required disclosure.

Can you work alongside my existing accountant?

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

A named reviewer on every filing

Talk to us about it contractors filing

Send us the facts. You will get a scope and a fixed fee in writing, and nothing starts until you agree to both.

  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE
  • 24-hour helpline, +1 (416) 619-0068
  • 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