You're comparing firms and nobody will show you a number. Here are ours. These are the starting prices we quote real clients, in US dollars, current as of July 21, 2026.
| Your situation | Starts at (USD) | What that covers, and what moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-Border AssessmentThe entry point for everything below | $249 flatabout $349 CAD | 60 minutes with a dual-licensed CPA plus a written summary of your file: what you owe where, what needs filing, and your exact quote. Credits in full toward any engagement. Non-refundable. |
| Annual filing, both countriesUS return + Canadian return, one person | from $1,495/yr | Both returns prepared by one firm so the residency call and treaty positions line up. Complex files (equity comp, multiple states, executive packages) run from $2,495. A spouse's second separate return is typically 50%. |
| First year after a moveDeparture year, both sides of the border | from $3,245 | Most movers price from the $2,495 base, because investments or a home are what the exit-tax math turns on, plus the departure-year module from $750: exit date, deemed disposition, T1161/T1243, and the US arrival-year elections. Want a number before you commit? Try the departure tax estimator first. Moving on an E-2 to buy a business? That file adds the corporation and the entity returns: what an E-2 mover files in year one. |
| Streamlined catch-upNever filed US returns from Canada | from $2,495 | Three years of returns, six years of FBARs, and the non-willful certification. The from-$2,495 base fits the foreign-path (SFOP) file with ordinary accounts; TFSAs, Canadian mutual funds, rental years, or the domestic (SDOP) path raise it, and complex catch-ups have run near $5,000. Full breakdown: what the Streamlined procedure costs, or what catching up actually involves. |
| TFSA reporting add-onOn top of any US return above | memo from $350 from $400 per fund |
From $350 for the Form 3520 position memo on a TFSA, and from $400 per fund per year for each PFIC Form 8621. This add-on is why two files with the same salary can land far apart. Details: what TFSA reporting costs. |
| Business and entity workLLCs, corporations, dual-entity setups | quoted at assessment | Corporate cross-border files vary too much for a useful starting number here. The $249 assessment produces a fixed written quote before you spend anything else. If a foreign-owned US LLC is in the picture and a filing has been missed, here's what the Form 5472 penalty actually is. Property sales are also quoted here: if a US sale had 15% of the gross price withheld, here's how getting it back actually works. |
All figures USD. Each "from" price is the real base we charge for the simplest version of that file; the section below lists the variables that raise or lower it. Domestic (single-country) pricing lives on the main pricing page.
Two people with the same job can get quotes thousands of dollars apart, and it's almost never the income. It's the accounts and the forms they drag in. These are the variables that set where your file lands:
The table above gets you in the right neighborhood, but it can't price your file, so the fixed $249 assessment is where the range turns into a written quote for your exact situation. Whether your file needs one at all is a fair question to ask first, and is a paid cross-border tax assessment worth it works through when to buy one and when to skip it.
There are fair reasons cross-border pricing is hard to find. No two files match, so a posted number can turn into an argument about a file the firm never saw. And the work spans two tax systems, which makes "it depends" genuinely true.
We publish starting prices anyway. You're probably comparing three or four firms right now with no numbers from any of them, and that helps nobody. A real base price plus an honest list of what moves it lets you rule us in or out in five minutes. The numbers on this page are the same ones we quote on calls.
The full table above, plus the list of questions worth asking any cross-border firm you're comparing us against, with the register links to run every check yourself.
About these numbers: prices are in US dollars and current as of July 21, 2026. Every figure except the $249 assessment is a starting point, not a quote: your final fee depends on the variables listed above and is fixed in writing at the assessment stage. This page is general pricing information for planning, not tax advice for your situation, and no outcome with the IRS or CRA is promised. Fees shown are our preparation fees and don't include any tax you may owe.
One fixed $249, one hour, one written summary with a firm quote for your exact file. Credited in full if you go ahead.
See the $249 assessment