Touring musicians: what we charge

For touring musicians: the cross-border filings, the treaty relief and the disclosures, handled end to end on a written fixed fee.

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

Secure a fixed quote

Begin with the papers you already have. The engagement is priced from them, in writing, before the work.

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

The performers article lets each country on a tour tax the income earned there, and promoters usually withhold at gross on the fee — including the share that funds the crew, the trucks and the production.

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

The performers article lets each country on a tour tax the income earned there, and promoters usually withhold at gross on the fee — including the share that funds the crew, the trucks and the production.

Read this first; the rest is procedure. 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 and the team in the open-plan office

Fixed fees for touring musicians what we charge, agreed up front

What we charge a touring musician follows the size of the tour: the number of countries on the routing, how many promoters withheld at gross, and whether the band trades through a company that files its own return. A festival run and a world routing are not the same engagement, and both are priced in writing first.

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

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

Arrival and departure years priced as one engagement, with the part-year residence position and the assets deemed disposed of on exit.
See the fee schedule

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

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

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

What an employer owes when an employee works in another country: the registrations, the withholding and the reporting that follow.
See the fee schedule

Transfer pricing documentation

From $2,500

fixed, quoted before work starts

Local file, master file and benchmarking for groups trading across borders, documented to the standard the authority expects.
See the fee schedule

Catch-up & voluntary disclosure

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Missed years brought current under the disclosure programme that fits, with the penalty position worked out before anything is filed.
See the fee schedule

Estate & trust filing

From $799

fixed, quoted before work starts

For an estate holding property in more than one country, or a trust with beneficiaries who are taxed somewhere else.
See the fee schedule

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

Three things we hear on the first call

  • Promoters withhold on my whole fee and the band never sees the tax back.
  • My merchandise income and my performance fee are treated as one thing.
  • The tour runs through nine countries and we file in one.

None of those is unusual and none of them is a reason to be embarrassed. They are the normal consequence of a system that asks an individual to reconcile two sets of rules that were never designed to fit together. See also tax for short-term rental hosts.

The numbers, end to end

Here is the rule doing its work on an actual set of amounts.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return

A non-resident receives C$18,000 in the year. Assume withholding at 29% on the gross amount, and assume deductible costs of C$15,120 against it.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return
ItemAmount
Gross amount receivedC$18,000
Withheld at source (assumed 29% of gross)C$5,220
Deductible costsC$15,120
Net amount actually earnedC$2,880
Tax on the net amount (assumed graduated result)C$806
Difference recoverable by filingC$4,414

Filing on a net basis recovers C$4,414 of the C$5,220 withheld. That difference is the entire reason the elective return exists, and it is lost by not filing. Your version of this table is the useful one, and it takes a short call and a document pack to produce.

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

What this looks like with numbers

Numbers make this concrete, so here is the same rule applied to a set of figures.

Credit relief on one stream of income

Take C$141,000 of income taxed in both countries. Assume the other country charged 20% on it and the home country would charge 28% on the same amount.

Credit relief on one stream of income
ItemAmount
Income taxed in both countriesC$141,000
Tax paid abroad (assumed 20%)C$28,200
Home tax on the same income (assumed 28%)C$39,480
Credit available (lesser of the two)C$28,200
Home tax still payableC$11,280

The credit absorbs C$28,200 and leaves C$11,280 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.

The four steps

  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 24-hour helpline, +1 (416) 619-0068, before you commit to anything.
  • Documents move through one secure portal, and you can meet us in person at any of our offices.
  • A change of scope is re-quoted before the work, never added to the invoice after it.

Where to go from here

Describe the situation in your own words; translating it into forms is our job.

Reviewed against current guidance 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

Readers arrive here searching for international tax accountant, and touring musicians: what we charge is what the page is about. Below: who it catches, what has to be filed, and what it costs — quoted in writing, before anything is done.

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.

What you are actually buying with touring musicians 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

Four terms worth pinning down

Wrapped asset
A token representing another asset. Whether the wrapping is itself a disposal is an unsettled question that should be documented rather than assumed.
Foreign housing exclusion
An additional US exclusion for housing costs abroad above a base amount, available alongside the earned income exclusion and computed by reference to it.
Reverse charge
A mechanism shifting the obligation to account for tax from the foreign supplier to the local business customer.
Regulation 105
The Canadian withholding on fees paid to a non-resident for services rendered in Canada, computed on gross fees and reducible in advance by a waiver.

The published fees closest to touring musicians what we charge

The published fee assumes performance income alone. Merchandise sold on the road, session and recording royalties, and a crew paid in more than one country each add a strand that has to be reported separately, so a musician carrying all of them is quoted above one taking a fee only.

Foreign asset & information reporting

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: The information returns that carry the heaviest penalties — foreign accounts, foreign property, foreign affiliates — prepared from one asset list.

See this fee page

Non-resident & departure filings

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Arrival and departure years priced as one engagement, with the part-year residence position and the assets deemed disposed of on exit.

See this fee page

The difference a dedicated cross-border team makes

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.

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.

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.

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 firm’s founder at his desk in the Delhi office

From first call to filed return

Step 1

Establishing the facts

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

Step 2

Agreeing the fee

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

Step 3

Drafting and review

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

Step 4

Filing and follow-up

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

The team reviewing a file together at a desk

The engagement, start to finish

  • 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

Keep reading, sideways

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 ITR-3 — business or professional income (India) Its own page: ITR-3 India — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
GIFT City and IFSC for NRIs and funds Everything on gift city and IFSC for NRIs and funds, at the same depth as this page.
s.247 contemporaneous documentation (Canada) S.247 contemporaneous documentation (Canada) — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Startup tax exemptions and angel tax The full guide to startup tax exemptions and angel tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Relocation benefits & taxability Its own page: relocation benefits & taxability — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Form RC267 — US plan contributions (commuters) Everything on rc267 US plan contributions commuters, at the same depth as this page.
Form 3CD — tax audit report (India) Form 3cd India — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
DTAA relief — India and Canada The full guide to DTAA relief — India and Canada, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Non-resident trusts (s.94) Its own page: non-resident trusts (s.94) — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.

Who we help

Team-sport athletes — relief you're probably missing Its own page: team-sport athletes relief you're probably missing — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for professors & lecturers Everything on professors & lecturers tax, at the same depth as this page.
Management consultants — what you owe in each country Management consultants what you owe in each country — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Civil & structural engineers — your filing calendar The full guide to civil & structural engineers your filing calendar, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Dropshipping businesses cross-border tax Its own page: dropshipping businesses cross border tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for touring musicians Everything on touring musicians tax, at the same depth as this page.
Oil & gas rotational workers — your filing calendar Oil & gas rotational workers your filing calendar — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Physicians & surgeons — relief you're probably missing The full guide to physicians & surgeons relief you're probably missing, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for auditors & accountants abroad Its own page: auditors & accountants abroad tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.

Countries and corridors this work reaches

Ecuador tax for expats — country guide Its own page: ecuador tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Canada–UAE tax corridor Everything on Canada UAE tax, at the same depth as this page.
Argentina tax for expats — country guide Argentina tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Brazil tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Brazil tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Armenia tax for expats — country guide Its own page: armenia tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Namibia tax for expats — country guide Everything on namibia tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Kazakhstan tax for expats — country guide Kazakhstan tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Colombia tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Colombia tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Luxembourg tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Luxembourg tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.

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

Wintering in the US Long Enough to Become a US Filer

Days in the United States accumulate across three years, and enough of them make you a US resident for tax regardless of immigration status. The file counts the days properly and files the statement that keeps the position closer connection rather than residence.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

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 3

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 4

A Clean History Used to Remove a First Penalty

An administrative waiver can remove a first failure where the filing and payment record supports it, and it is spent once used. Whether to claim it now or keep it for a heavier year is a judgement made with the whole file in view.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

Accounts Reported Late When the Income Already Was

Where the income was on the return and only the account report was missed, a narrow route allows late filing with a reason attached. It is open only while no income is unreported and no examination has begun, which is why it is checked first.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

Indian Rent Collected While Resident Somewhere Else

Rent from Indian property is taxed in India and again where you live, with relief on one side only. The file gets the Indian deduction right first, then claims the credit on the home return against what was actually paid.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

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 8

First Canadian Return After Arriving Mid-Year

The arrival date splits the year and sets the cost base of what you brought with you. Getting that date and those values right is what determines whether a later sale is taxed on the whole gain or only on the part that accrued after landing.

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

Performance income is taxed where earned — Regulation 105 in Canada, withholding agreements in the U.S. — with special treaty articles overriding the usual rules.

Performance income is taxed where the performance happens, and the deduction is usually taken at source on the gross fee before expenses. Recovering the difference is a filing exercise in the other country, and it only works if the tour, the residency and the withholding certificates were documented while the work was being done.

  • 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

Touring musicians — what we charge — questions we are asked

What makes touring musicians different from an ordinary filing?

The performers article lets each country on a tour tax the income earned there, and promoters usually withhold at gross on the fee — including the share that funds the crew, the trucks and the production. 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.

Do I get credit for all of the foreign tax I paid?

Only up to your own country's tax on that same income, and only for tax you were legally obliged to pay. Two consequences follow. Living somewhere that taxes you more heavily than your residence country does leaves an excess that becomes a carryover rather than a refund. And withholding suffered above the treaty rate is not creditable — the route back to that money is a refund claim in the country that took it. See claiming the credit.

What happens after the filing?

You get the filed copies and a note of anything due next year, with the dates. Where an authority responds, that correspondence comes to us if the authorisation is in place.

Can you handle a fourth country?

We coordinate with a local adviser there and keep ownership of the interaction between the systems, which is where the value and the risk both sit.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068

A fixed fee for touring musicians filing

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

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

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