Value-priced Cross-border tax for law firms

We prepare and file the cross-border returns law firms need — both countries handled together, on a fixed fee agreed in writing up front. Ask us about value-priced cross-border tax for law firms: 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

Start by sending whatever paperwork exists — a written fixed quote comes back before any work begins.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • 18,000+ clients served
  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE
  • Fixed fee agreed before work starts
In short

Legal work is performed where the lawyer is, so an office or a seconded lawyer abroad can create a taxable presence, while trust and client-account signing authority creates personal reporting for the individuals.

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

Legal work is performed where the lawyer is, so an office or a seconded lawyer abroad can create a taxable presence, while trust and client-account signing authority creates personal reporting for the individuals.

The question below is the one that actually determines the outcome. An ordinary preparer will get the general position right and miss the specific one, because the specific one is not on the form. It has to be known about, claimed, and supported.

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

Fixed fees for law firms cross border tax, agreed up front

The fee on a law firm file is set by how many fee earners worked on matters abroad and how many trust and client accounts partners hold signing authority over, because each signatory carries reporting of their own. Day records that already exist shorten the work; reconstructing them from matter files lengthens it. Quoted in writing first.

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

The corporate return and its cross-border schedules as one engagement, so the group files a consistent position everywhere.
See the fee schedule

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

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

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

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

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The reporting obligations that attach to owning something abroad, worked out from your holdings rather than from the tax return alone.
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

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

All published fees on one page — one page, every published fee, nothing quoted as a vague bracket.

Three things we hear on the first call

  • Our lawyers travel to matters abroad and nobody counts the days.
  • Client trust accounts abroad may be reportable by the individuals who sign on them.
  • Our partnership income allocation does not match where the work was done.

These are not edge cases. They are what happens when two systems each apply their own logic to one person, and the person is expected to reconcile the result. See also intercompany management fees and transfer pricing.

The arithmetic, worked through

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

Splitting one salary between two countries

A salary of C$221,000 for a year with 214 working days, 138 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$221,000
Working days in the year214
Days worked in the other country138
Days worked at home76
Income sourced to the other countryC$142,514
Income sourced at homeC$78,486

C$142,514 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

The same point, with figures rather than adjectives.

Credit relief on one stream of income

Take C$74,000 of income taxed in both countries. Assume the other country charged 32% on it and the home country would charge 35% on the same amount.

Credit relief on one stream of income
ItemAmount
Income taxed in both countriesC$74,000
Tax paid abroad (assumed 32%)C$23,680
Home tax on the same income (assumed 35%)C$25,900
Credit available (lesser of the two)C$23,680
Home tax still payableC$2,220

The credit absorbs C$23,680 and leaves C$2,220 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. We run this on your actual numbers before advising anything, because the conclusion can invert with a modest change in inputs.

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
  • Documents move through an access-controlled portal rather than email.
  • Nothing is filed until you have read it.
  • 18,000+ clients served across 4 global offices: India, the USA, Canada and the UAE.

What to do next

If you already have an adviser, we will tell you what they should be asking rather than replacing them.

Reviewed 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 tax and law comes into this file

If you came here for tax and law, this is where it is dealt with. The subject is cross-border tax for law firms, and the page covers who it reaches, what then has to be filed, and what we charge to do the work.

People also search for: what is tax law · tax&law · what is the tax law · what is tax laws · what is a tax law.

The four phases of the work

  1. Start with a conversation about the facts

    Dates, residence, where the income arose. Fifteen minutes is usually enough to know what applies.

  2. Scope and price, both written down

    You get the scope and the fixed fee together, so there is no question later about what was included.

  3. Prepared by one team, reviewed by a named practitioner

    The same people see both sides of the file, and the reviewer signs their name to it.

  4. Filed, then followed through

    Submission is not the end of the engagement — the queries that arrive afterwards are part of it.

The difference a dedicated cross-border team makes

Factor Legal Quotient Hourly billing model
Pricing A fixed fee, agreed in writing before work starts Hourly, billed as incurred
Experience 15+ years of cross-border work, 18,000+ clients Varies by file
Both sides of the border Prepared together by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once One country at a time, reconciled later
Who reviews it A named practitioner, published on the page Whoever the queue reaches
Where the work happens Our offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE Whichever single office you can travel to

Four terms worth pinning down

Specified foreign property
The class of property reportable on Canada's foreign property statement. Property held inside Canadian registered plans and some other holdings are treated differently.
Advance pricing arrangement
An agreement with one or both tax authorities fixing the transfer-pricing method for future years, and in some countries for past ones by rollback.
Fixed fee
A fee agreed in writing before the work begins. A change of scope is re-quoted rather than invoiced, which is what makes the number in the quote the number on the bill.
Repatriable funds
Money that may lawfully be sent out of India, determined by the account it sits in and how it got there — a separate question from whether tax is owed.

The published fees closest to law firms cross border tax

A separate driver is the partnership allocation: reworking it against where the legal work was actually performed, and reopening the past years filed on the old basis, is its own piece of work. A firm with a single office abroad is a smaller engagement than one running seconded lawyers in several countries.

Payroll & mobility setup

$999fixed, before work starts

Covers: The employer side of mobility — where to register, what to withhold, and what to report once someone works across a border.

See this fee page

Individual tax filing

$349fixed, before work starts

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

See this fee page

Why clients bring law firms cross border tax to us

Both sides prepared together

Two returns built against each other by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once and nothing falls between the two systems.

The fee is fixed before we start

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

We say early if it is not our work

If a file needs something this practice does not do, you hear that at the start rather than after a bill.

The quote comes from your documents

Nothing is priced from a phone call. We read what you have first, then the fee is set — so the scope and the number are agreed on the same evidence.

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

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

Step 1

The opening call

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

Step 2

Scope in writing

A written scope and a fixed fee before any work starts

Step 3

Prepared and checked

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

Step 4

Filed, then supported

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

The team at work in the open-plan office

The engagement, start to finish

  • Step 1: Send what you already have – Slips, statements, prior returns — in any order. We list what is still needed after reading them.
  • Step 2: A fee agreed in writing – Quoted from those documents, before the work starts, and it does not move once you accept it.
  • Step 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.
  • Step 4: You approve before it is filed – The finished return comes to you first. Nothing is submitted on your behalf unseen.

Quoted up front, in writing.

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

The rest of this practice

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

Core services for this situation

Repatriation planning Repatriation planning — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
India ↔ UAE — DTAA The full guide to India ↔ UAE — DTAA, 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.
Form T1145 / T1146 — transfer pricing agreements Everything on t1145 t1146 transfer pricing agreements, at the same depth as this page.
Economic nexus thresholds by state Economic nexus thresholds by state — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Cost-sharing between group companies The full guide to cost sharing between group companies, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Form ITR-3 — business or professional income (India) Its own page: ITR-3 India — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Form T1134 supplement — per affiliate Everything on T1134 supplement per affiliate, at the same depth as this page.
Guarantee fee pricing Guarantee fee pricing — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

Who we help

Shopify & DTC brands cross-border tax Shopify & dtc brands cross border tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for postdocs & researchers The full guide to postdocs & researchers tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for djs & electronic artists Its own page: djs & electronic artists tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Non-resident landlords — your filing calendar Everything on non-resident landlords your filing calendar, at the same depth as this page.
IT contractors — your filing calendar It contractors your filing calendar — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Influencers & content creators — relief you're probably missing The full guide to influencers & content creators relief you're probably missing, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Media & production companies cross-border tax Its own page: media & production companies cross border tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for it contractors Everything on it contractors tax, at the same depth as this page.
Civil & structural engineers — your filing calendar Civil & structural engineers your filing calendar — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.

Where our clients live and work

Georgia tax for expats — country guide Georgia tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
United States tax for expats — country guide The full guide to United States tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Czechia tax for expats — country guide Its own page: czechia tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
China tax for expats — country guide Everything on China tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Germany tax for expats — country guide Germany tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Cayman Islands tax for expats — country guide The full guide to cayman islands tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Romania tax for expats — country guide Its own page: romania tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Belgium tax for expats — country guide Everything on Belgium tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Nepal tax for expats — country guide Nepal 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

Files that look like this one

Case study 1

Fifteen Per Cent Held Back From a Fee for Services in Canada

A payer must withhold from fees paid to a non-resident for services rendered in Canada, whether or not any tax is ultimately owed. A waiver applied for before the work is invoiced avoids the withholding; after it, the money comes back through a return.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

A Shareholder Loan Across a Border at No Interest

An interest-free loan between related companies is priced as if it carried interest, and in some cases a deemed benefit follows as well. The file sets a rate against the borrower's own credit profile and documents the terms that support it.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

Expanding Abroad — Branch or Subsidiary, Decided on the Numbers

The choice sets the tax on profits, the treatment of early losses, and what it costs to take money home later. The file models all three across the first years rather than deciding on the incorporation cost alone.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

Paying a Dividend Up to a Foreign Parent

The withholding rate depends on the treaty, on the size of the holding, and on whether the parent is the beneficial owner rather than a conduit. Establishing all three before the payment is what secures the lower rate at source.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

A US LLC Owned by a Canadian, Taxed Twice by Design

The two countries classify an LLC differently, so the credit relief that ought to apply frequently does not. The engagement looks at whether the structure can be changed, and where it cannot, at how to make the credit work.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

A Family Trust Abroad With Reporting on Both Sides

A trust settled in one country and a beneficiary living in another produces reporting for the trust, the settlor and the beneficiary, on different forms and different dates. The engagement maps who files what before anything is prepared.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

Canadian Dividends and Interest Paid to a Non-Resident

Flat withholding applies at source whether or not a return would produce the same figure. The engagement establishes treaty entitlement, files what is needed to claim the reduced rate, and recovers what went out at the domestic rate.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

Ten Years of Missed Returns Filed as One Engagement

Filing many years at once is a sequencing problem: carry-forwards, instalments and credits from the earliest year feed the latest. Filing them out of order is what turns a recoverable position into an assessed one.

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

Law firms cross-border tax — questions we are asked

What makes law firms different from an ordinary filing?

Legal work is performed where the lawyer is, so an office or a seconded lawyer abroad can create a taxable presence, while trust and client-account signing authority creates personal reporting for the individuals. 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 I actually stop being taxed twice?

In this order. Fix your residence under each country's own rules, and if both claim you, apply the treaty tie-breaker. Identify where each type of income is sourced. Read the article that covers that income type, because it decides who taxes and at what maximum rate. Then claim the relief on the residence-country return, with proof of the foreign tax. Most of the tax people lose to double taxation is lost at the last step, not the first. See how double taxation is relieved.

I work remotely from another country for a company back home — who taxes me?

Usually the country you are physically in, because employment income is generally sourced where the work is done, with your residence country taxing it as well if you are resident there and giving credit. Three things follow: your employer may acquire withholding and social security obligations where you sit, a treaty tie-breaker may be needed if both countries call you resident, and a short trip that becomes a long stay can cross a residence threshold nobody was watching. See remote workers and digital nomads.

Why do you not publish more numbers on the site?

Because thresholds and rates move, and a stale figure on a page is the one that gets copied into a filing. Where we can verify a figure for the year we publish it with its source; where we cannot, we explain the mechanism instead.

Do you sign the return as preparer?

Where the filing requires a preparer identification, yes. The named reviewer appears on the advice either way, so you always know who stands behind the position.

Fixed fee agreed before we start

Ready to deal with law firms filing?

Describe what happened and which countries are involved; the fee comes back in writing before anything begins.

  • 18,000+ clients served
  • Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars on Google
  • 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