Competitively priced Cross-border tax for software developers

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

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  • 15+Years of cross-border experience
  • 18,000+Clients served
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  • 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
  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE
  • 24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • 18,000+ clients served
In short

A developer working remotely for a foreign employer can create a taxable presence for that employer in the country where the code is written — which turns a personal arrangement into the employer's problem.

Below: the rule, what clients ask first, two worked files with their numbers, the process end to end, and the published fee.

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

A developer working remotely for a foreign employer can create a taxable presence for that employer in the country where the code is written — which turns a personal arrangement into the employer's problem.

Here is the part that decides your answer. What separates a good outcome here from an ordinary one is rarely the arithmetic. It is knowing that a specific rule exists for software developers and being able to evidence that it applies.

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

What software developers tax costs here

What sets the fee for a software developer's cross-border file is how many countries the employment arrangement touches and whether share options crossed a border between grant and vesting. Salary from one foreign employer into one account is a short piece of work; options, a second country and unfiled years are each another layer. The fee is 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

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Returns for companies with foreign subsidiaries, foreign income or foreign shareholders, and the schedules each of those triggers.
See the fee schedule

Transfer pricing documentation

From $2,500

fixed, quoted before work starts

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

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

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

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

What an employer owes when an employee works in another country: the registrations, the withholding and the reporting that follow.
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 — each engagement priced as one number on one list, with nothing left as a range.

Three things we hear on the first call

  • My employer has no entity where I live and does not want one.
  • I am paid in a foreign currency into a foreign account and report neither properly.
  • My share options were granted in one country and vested after I moved.

Every one of those is a question we answer weekly. They arise because two tax systems were written independently and neither was designed with the other in mind. See also foreign seller: capital gains and the clearance certificate.

Worked through with figures

It is easier to see with numbers attached.

Equity that vests after the move

A grant worth C$219,000 at vest, over a 45-month vesting period, 9 months of which were worked in the first country and 36 in the second.

ItemAmount
Value at vestC$219,000
Vesting period (months)45
Months worked in the first country9
Months worked in the second country36
Apportioned to the first countryC$43,800
Apportioned to the second countryC$175,200

Two countries tax slices of one gain: C$43,800 and C$175,200 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. 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.

Worked through with figures

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

Credit relief on one stream of income

Take C$155,000 of income taxed in both countries. Assume the other country charged 20% on it and the home country would charge 41% on the same amount.

ItemAmount
Income taxed in both countriesC$155,000
Tax paid abroad (assumed 20%)C$31,000
Home tax on the same income (assumed 41%)C$63,550
Credit available (lesser of the two)C$31,000
Home tax still payableC$32,550

The credit absorbs C$31,000 and leaves C$32,550 payable at home, because the home rate on this income is the higher of the two. The balance is real cash and it is due on the home timetable, which is why instalments get raised in the first meeting. The shape of that result holds; the size of it depends entirely on your own numbers and dates.

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.

What working with us looks like

  1. 1A first call to map the obligations across every country involved
  2. 2A single fixed fee covering the whole set, agreed before we begin
  3. 3Preparation in the order that makes the relief usable, with a reviewer's sign-off
  4. 4You approve the finished work, and we file it
  • A named reviewer signs off every statutory filing.
  • A change of scope is re-quoted before the work, never added to the invoice after it.
  • Documents move through one secure portal, and you can meet us in person at any of our offices.

Where to go from here

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

Read and approved for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. Published as general information. For a position on your own file, call the 24-hour helpline.

International tax accountant, in practice

This is the page to read on international tax accountant. It takes cross-border tax for software developers in order — the test that decides who is affected, the returns and forms that follow from it, and a fee quoted in writing before anything starts.

From first contact to filed return

  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.

  2. Fixed fee, defined scope, in writing

    Both agreed before work starts, so the engagement cannot grow into a larger bill.

  3. Prepared together, not passed between firms

    You are not the go-between for two sets of advisers working from two sets of assumptions.

  4. Reviewed, approved, filed

    A named practitioner checks it, you approve it, and then it goes.

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

The vocabulary this page leans on

DTAA
Double taxation avoidance agreement — the term used in India for a tax treaty. Claiming under one requires a residency certificate and India's own declaration.
Compliance calendar
The mapped set of filings by entity and jurisdiction with an owner for each. Deadlines are missed because nobody owns the ones abroad, not because they are unknown.
Paid-up capital
The tax-recognised capital of a corporation, which determines how much can be returned to shareholders without a deemed distribution.
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.

Software developers tax — what the published fees look like

The fees in this row cover the narrower pieces of a developer's year, taken one at a time: foreign employment income converted and reported, a treaty position written up where the employer has no local entity, or an exercise of options reported on both sides. Missing payslips and reconstructed records lengthen the work.

Corporate cross-border filing

$999fixed, before work starts

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

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

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

The difference a dedicated cross-border team makes

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.

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 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.

One team, not two firms billing separately

You are not the go-between for two sets of advisers with two sets of assumptions. One engagement covers each country the file touches.

The team reviewing a file together at a desk

From first call to filed return

Step 1

The opening call

We establish what happened and when, because every position here is anchored to a date

Step 2

Scope in writing

A written scope and a fixed price, so you know the cost before committing

Step 3

Prepared and checked

The filings are prepared, cross-checked against each other, and reviewed by name

Step 4

Filed, then supported

You see the result, approve it, and we file it

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

How the work runs — quote first, then the work

  • Step 1: Upload the file as it stands – A secure link arrives after the first call. Incomplete is fine; that is what the review is for.
  • Step 2: The number is settled up front – Priced from your own documents and confirmed in writing before any preparation begins.
  • Step 3: Both returns on one desk – One engagement covers every country the file touches, reconciled line against line.
  • Step 4: Your approval, then the filing – The return is yours to check first. We file once you say so.

Quoted up front, in writing.

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

More of the same work, from other angles

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

Core services for this situation

Form 5173 — transfer certificate Everything on form 5173 transfer certificate, at the same depth as this page.
Form 4868 — automatic extension Form 4868 extension — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Indian reassessment notices (s.148) The full guide to Indian reassessment notice 148, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Reasonable cause statements — penalty relief Its own page: reasonable cause statement tax penalty — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Treaty relief on RRSP / 401(k) / IRA Everything on treaty relief RRSP 401k IRA, at the same depth as this page.
India ↔ Singapore — DTAA India ↔ Singapore — DTAA — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
DTAA relief — India and the United States The full guide to DTAA relief — India and the United States, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Estate administration across borders Its own page: estate administration across borders — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Relocation benefits & taxability Everything on relocation benefits & taxability, at the same depth as this page.

Clients who arrive with this exact page

Physicians & surgeons — relief you're probably missing Everything on physicians & surgeons relief you're probably missing, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for options & futures traders Options & futures traders tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for offshore vessel crew The full guide to offshore vessel crew tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Crypto traders — what you owe in each country Its own page: crypto traders what you owe in each country — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Oil & gas rotational workers — your filing calendar Everything on oil & gas rotational workers your filing calendar, at the same depth as this page.
Civil & structural engineers — what you owe in each country Civil & structural engineers what you owe in each country — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for nurses working abroad The full guide to nurses working abroad tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Software developers — what we charge Its own page: software developers what we charge — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Crypto traders — your filing calendar Everything on crypto traders your filing calendar, at the same depth as this page.

Countries and corridors this work reaches

Czechia tax for expats — country guide Everything on czechia tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Ukraine tax for expats — country guide Ukraine tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
US–India tax corridor The full guide to US India tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Canada–Germany tax corridor Its own page: Canada Germany tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Spain tax for expats — country guide Everything on Spain tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Bahrain tax for expats — country guide Bahrain tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
United Kingdom tax for expats — country guide The full guide to United Kingdom tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Uruguay tax for expats — country guide Its own page: uruguay tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Netherlands tax for expats — country guide Everything on Netherlands tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.

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

What these engagements turn on

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

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 3

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 4

Whether the Year Made Someone an NRI

Indian residence is decided by presence tests applied to the financial year, and a single trip can change the answer for the whole of it. The status is established before any return or exemption is considered.

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

A Canadian Working in the US on a Work Visa

Immigration status and tax residence are different tests, and a visa says nothing about which country taxes the salary. The file fixes residence, applies the employment article, and sequences the two returns so the credit lands where it is usable.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

Deemed Resident or Factual Resident — Not the Same File

The two statuses attract different returns, different credits and different provincial treatment, and the label is decided by facts rather than chosen. Establishing which applies is the work; the filing follows from it without argument.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

The Same Income Taxed Twice on Paper

Relief usually exists and is lost to sequence: one country taxes at source and the other credits it, and preparing them in the wrong order claims a credit against a figure nobody has computed.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Delivery, coverage and how we work

Browse sideways: the pages below answer the neighbouring questions.

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

Cross-border tax for sellers shipping worldwide: marketplace withholding, foreign registrations and inventory nexus handled before they become audits.

Marketplaces withhold, remit and report in their own right, so the tax position of a single sale is decided by where the stock sat, where the buyer was and which platform collected — not by where the company is registered. We reconcile the platform's own filings against the returns before either is submitted.

  • 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

  • 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 software developers — questions we are asked

What makes software developers different from an ordinary filing?

A developer working remotely for a foreign employer can create a taxable presence for that employer in the country where the code is written — which turns a personal arrangement into the employer's problem. 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.

Do Canada and the United States share tax information?

Yes, through more than one channel. The treaty has an exchange-of-information article that supports both routine and on-request exchange. Separately, an intergovernmental agreement has Canadian financial institutions identify US-reportable accounts and report them to the CRA, which passes them to the IRS, with the reverse flow for Canadian residents. Most other country pairs use the Common Reporting Standard for the same purpose. See FATCA reporting.

Is "fund transfer pricing" the same thing as transfer pricing?

No — and if you came here to calculate FTP, this is not it. Fund transfer pricing is a bank's internal allocation of funding costs and benefits between its own business units, a treasury and asset-liability management discipline used to measure branch or product profitability. Tax transfer pricing is about prices between legally separate related parties across borders, and about which country taxes the resulting profit. The words overlap; the fields do not. See our transfer pricing work.

Can you deal with the tax authority for me?

Yes, once the authorisation is filed. That also lets us see the assessments, slips and instalment records directly, which is usually where the discrepancies turn up.

How far back can you go?

As far as the records allow. Whether a year can still be corrected, and whether a refund is still claimable in it, are two different questions and we answer both before proposing anything.

Tax terms explained

Annual information statementGrossing upPermanent establishmentForm 5471PortabilityLiaison officeW-8BENRestricted share unitTaxable Canadian propertyAirdropSourcing by workdaysReasonable causeDependent agentEmigrant Browse the full A–Z glossary

Related pages

The rest of this section

All who we helpTax for oil & gas rotational workersTax for data scientists & ai engineersTax for djs & electronic artistsTax for airline pilotsTax for architectsTax for day traders

Where this leads next

Accidental American who never filed US taxesReturning to Canada after years abroadIndonesia tax for expats — country guideSaudi Arabia tax for expats — country guideNon-resident student — full-time study deductionsNon-resident receiving a Canadian pension

Answered questions

How are software developers taxed across borders?
No hourly billing, ever

Talk to us about software developers filing

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

Contact Us 24-hour helpline +1 (416) 619-0068 See fixed fees
  • 18,000+ clients served
  • A named reviewer signs off every filing
  • 24-hour helpline, +1 (416) 619-0068

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