Cross-Border Tax Services for Clients Linked to India, Canada and the USA

Cross-border tax services for India, Canada and the USA exist because three tax systems can each claim part of the same income, and your returns only work when they agree with one another. Our firm, a CPA practice in Aurora, Illinois, prepares the U.S. side and coordinates with your Canadian CPA and your Indian Chartered Accountant (CA), so that residency, income, foreign tax credits and foreign-asset reporting tell one consistent story in every country.

Who needs cross-border tax services?

You are a good fit if any of these describe you:

• An H-1B, L-1 or green card holder from Pune, Hyderabad or Bengaluru with Indian bank accounts, mutual funds, a flat or family income back home.
• A Canadian citizen or permanent resident working in the Chicago suburbs on a TN or L-1 visa, or a U.S. citizen living in Toronto, Mississauga or Calgary.
• A family whose members live in different countries, for example parents in Ahmedabad, a son in Naperville and a daughter in Vancouver.
• An owner of a company, LLC or rental property in two or all three countries.
• A retiree drawing an Indian or Canadian pension while living in the United States.

How a three-country engagement works

1. Consultation. We map your facts: citizenship, visa or immigration status, days spent in each country, home and family locations, income sources and accounts.
2. Written engagement agreement. Before any work starts, you receive an agreement that names the U.S. returns and forms in scope, what your Canadian CPA and Indian CA will handle, and the fee basis.
3. Document checklist. We send a tailored list (see below) and tell you which items your Canadian and Indian professionals will supply.
4. Preparation. We decide U.S. residency, source each item of income, review treaty positions and calculate foreign tax credits.
5. Review. We reconcile our figures with theirs, using one consistent currency-conversion method, and flag any mismatch before anything is filed.
6. Filing. We e-file the U.S. return and forms and confirm that your Canadian and Indian filings are on track.
7. Follow-up. We handle notices on the U.S. side, set estimated-tax reminders and review the plan for next year.

What gets filed in each country

Which of these apply to you depends on residency and on what you own, so treat the table as a menu rather than a checklist. The details live in our guides to FBAR filing and Form 8938, the Canadian T1135 and Schedule FA in India.

Start with residency

Every other answer follows from where each country considers you resident. The United States applies a day-count formula (current-year days plus one-third of last year's plus one-sixth of the year before, with at least 31 days in the current year). Canada looks at residential ties such as a home, spouse and dependants. India uses a 182-day test, or 60 days plus 365 days over the previous four years, with special rules for Indian citizens. Our side-by-side residency comparison shows how the tests differ, and treaty tie-breakers decide the outcome when two countries claim you.

Common situations and how we handle them

• The same income is taxed twice. A Pune bank pays interest that India taxes and the U.S. taxes again. We compute the U.S. foreign tax credit and coordinate with your CA on the Indian side. See foreign tax credits across three countries.
• Different tax years. India's year runs April to March, while the U.S. and Canada use the calendar year for individuals. We map each item to the right year and keep a bridge schedule.
• Currency conversion. The IRS has no official exchange rate, so we choose a reasonable, documented method and apply it consistently.
• Accounts the U.S. does not recognize. A Canadian TFSA or RESP, or an Indian provident fund, may be taxed differently in the United States. We review each one before the return is prepared.
• Missed reporting in earlier years. We assess whether the omission looks non-willful and discuss the IRS streamlined procedures and Canadian or Indian options with your other advisers.

Documents to prepare

• Passports, visa and immigration documents, and a travel calendar showing days in each country for the year.
• U.S. forms (W-2, 1099s, 1098) and prior U.S. returns.
• Canadian slips (T4, T5, T3) and your last Notice of Assessment.
• Indian Form 16, Form 26AS or Annual Information Statement, bank interest certificates and your last filed Indian return.
• Statements for every foreign account showing the highest balance during the year and the year-end balance.
• Property purchase and sale documents, loan statements and rental records.

Timelines

For the 2025 tax year the U.S. due date was April 15, 2026, with an automatic extension to October 15, 2026 for those who requested one. If you extended and have not filed, contact us now. Delays almost always come from Canadian or Indian documents arriving late, so ask your other professionals for them early.

A worked example

Anita moved from Hyderabad to Aurora on an H-1B in 2023. In 2025 she held Indian accounts that peaked at about $62,000 and ended the year at about $48,000, and she sold an Indian mutual fund. For the U.S. she files Form 1040 and an FBAR because her combined foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at some point. Form 8938 is not required on those balances alone, since the U.S.-resident single threshold is $50,000 at year-end or $75,000 at any time. The fund may be a passive foreign investment company, so Form 8621 comes into play. Her Indian CA reports the sale in India, and we use the Indian tax paid to support a foreign tax credit. One set of numbers feeds all three filings.

How we can help

Our Aurora, Illinois firm works with clients across Kane, DuPage, Will and Kendall counties and with families whose finances run through Toronto, Mumbai and Chicago. We handle the U.S. side and coordinate with your Canadian CPA or Indian CA so all three filings agree. For related work see foreign account and asset reporting, individual returns for newcomers and NRIs and relocation and immigration tax planning, or visit our Aurora page. Our full list of services is on the services page.

Frequently asked questions

General information only. It is not tax, legal, accounting or immigration advice for your situation, and rules change; confirm the current rules with the official source or a licensed professional in the relevant country.