The problem is that the US and Canada treat LLCs differently. The US treats a single-member LLC as a disregarded entity (flow-through) — meaning the income passes through to your personal return. But Canada may treat that same LLC as a foreign corporation, which means the income is taxed differently and you may not be able to claim US taxes paid as foreign tax credits in Canada. The result: double taxation on the same business income. We fix this by evaluating your structure, making the right elections, and coordinating both returns. In some cases, restructuring to an S-Corp or C-Corp eliminates the mismatch entirely.

A permanent establishment (PE) is a fixed place of business — or certain activities — in a country that creates a taxable presence there. If your Canadian business has an office, warehouse, employee, or even an agent who regularly signs contracts in the US (or vice versa), you may have a PE. A PE means you need to file corporate returns and pay taxes in that country on the income attributable to it. The US-Canada tax treaty has specific PE rules, and we analyze your operations against them to determine whether you have an obligation — and if so, how to structure around it or comply efficiently.

If you have related entities in both countries that transact with each other — management fees, cost-sharing, intercompany loans, inventory transfers, IP licensing — both the IRS and CRA require that those transactions be priced at arm’s length. And you need documentation to prove it. Without it, either tax authority can adjust your prices, reallocate income, and assess penalties. For most small and mid-size cross-border businesses, a basic transfer pricing study and contemporaneous documentation is sufficient. We include basic transfer pricing documentation in our Corporate Compliance package and can prepare standalone studies if needed.

It depends on your specific situation — where you live, where your customers are, where your employees are, how much revenue you’re generating, and what your long-term plans are. Common structures include a Canadian corporation with a US subsidiary, a US LLC with a Canadian parent, or two separate entities with an intercompany agreement. The wrong structure can trigger double taxation, create unnecessary compliance costs, or expose you to PE risk. We model the options during your assessment and recommend the structure that minimizes total tax across both countries.

Yes. Most cross-border business owners also have personal cross-border filing obligations — especially owner compensation, dividends, capital gains, and foreign reporting (FBAR, FATCA, T1135). We coordinate your personal returns alongside your corporate returns so everything is consistent. Owner personal returns are included in the Dual-Entity and Corporate Compliance packages, and can be added to the US LLC Compliance package.

Every engagement starts with a $395 Tax Assessment that credits toward your full package. US LLC Compliance for Canadians with a US LLC starts at $1,495. Dual-Entity Compliance for businesses with entities in both countries starts at $3,495. Corporate Compliance for parent-subsidiary structures starts at $5,995. We give you an exact quote after the assessment based on your specific structure and complexity — no hourly billing, no surprises.

Before. The single most expensive mistake in cross-border business tax is setting up the wrong entity type. A Canadian forming a US LLC without understanding the CRA implications. An American incorporating a Canadian subsidiary without thinking about PE rules. Getting the structure right from the start saves thousands compared to restructuring after the fact. If you’ve already set up and it’s causing problems, we can still fix it — but it’s cheaper and cleaner to do it right the first time. Book a strategy session before you sign anything.