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Atamatax FIRPTA Desk · For foreign property owners

Selling U.S. property as a foreign owner?

Understand your FIRPTA withholding, explore potential reductions, and get professional help preparing the paperwork for your property sale.

Check My FIRPTA SituationExplore Managed FIRPTA Services

When a foreign person sells U.S. real property, the buyer generally must withhold a share of the gross price — not of the profit — and send it to the IRS. That changes the cash available at closing. Atamatax helps you understand your situation and coordinates the necessary work with qualified tax professionals.

Withholding preview

Your price, the withholding, your cash

Enter an expected price and say whether the buyer will live in the property. The preview applies the federal rules to your numbers and shows which exception might be relevant — and the conditions it depends on. It is a preliminary reading, not a determination.

Want every line — payoff, costs, state, scenarios, a PDF? Open the full Closing Cash Map.

The full price, before the mortgage payoff or any costs.

Reduces your cash — not the withholding base.

Commission, closing fees, transfer taxes.

Who is buying?
Will the buyer live in it?

At least half the days it is used, in each of the first two years — the buyer's definite plans, not the property type.

Are the sellers U.S. persons for tax purposes?

Citizenship, a green card or the days-present test — not the passport alone.

Enter an expected sale price to see the withholding and your cash at closing.

The rule behind it

Why am I being asked to withhold?

The Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act makes a foreign seller’s gain on U.S. real estate taxable in the United States, and it makes the buyer collect a prepayment at closing so the tax is not lost once the seller has left with the proceeds. The buyer is the withholding agent; in practice the title company, escrow agent or closing attorney handles it for them.

Withholding is not the final tax. It is a flat share of the price. Your tax is computed later, on your gain, on a U.S. return — and the withholding is credited against it. If the withholding was more than the tax, the difference comes back after that return is processed.

Why it matters before closing. Because the buyer must withhold on the gross amount, the withholding can exceed the cash left after a mortgage payoff. The routes that can change it — the buyer-residence rules, a withholding certificate — need facts and paperwork in place before the closing date, not after.

Three ways we can help

From a first professional look to the full certificate work

Package A

FIRPTA Assessment

You want a qualified professional to look at your sale before deciding what to do.

Fixed price in your written quote

Credited in full toward a later engagement on the same case.

Included

  • A detailed intake of the seller, the property and the transaction
  • A structured preliminary assessment of the withholding, the exceptions that may be relevant, and whether a withholding certificate is worth pursuing
  • A qualified professional's review of your situation and of up to five documents you upload (contract, closing statement, purchase records)
  • Recommended next steps and the documents each one needs
  • A written summary in your secure portal
  • Credited in full toward Closing Compliance, the Withholding Certificate Service or a custom engagement on the same case

Not included

  • Preparing or submitting any IRS form
  • Coordinating with the buyer, title or escrow company
  • Acting as the withholding agent, or holding or remitting the withheld funds
  • Legal advice on the sale contract or title
  • State or local withholding and returns unless added as a separately priced service
  • U.S. income tax returns reporting the sale unless added as a separately priced service
Prepared by
Atamatax organizes the facts; a qualified tax professional (CPA, enrolled agent or tax attorney) writes the assessment
Forms
None prepared or submitted at this stage
Credit
The amount paid is credited in full toward a later engagement on the same case
  • One property, one transaction
  • Written in English
  • Delivered after your documents are in, within the timeline stated in your quote
Start with the situation check — FIRPTA Assessment

Package B

Closing Compliance

You have a closing coming and want the FIRPTA paperwork handled correctly with the closing parties.

Fixed price in your written quote

Included

  • Transaction intake and a document checklist built for your closing
  • Coordination with the closing agent, title or escrow company, with your written authorization
  • Preparation and professional review of the FIRPTA paperwork in the engagement scope
  • Support for the buyer's Forms 8288 and 8288-A workflow: the figures, the seller information and the timing the withholding agent needs
  • Professional oversight by a qualified tax professional
  • Case tracking in your secure portal through closing

Not included

  • A withholding certificate application (Form 8288-B) — that is the Withholding Certificate Service
  • Signing or filing Forms 8288 / 8288-A — the buyer, as withholding agent, signs and files them
  • Acting as the withholding agent, or holding or remitting the withheld funds
  • Legal advice on the sale contract or title
  • State or local withholding and returns unless added as a separately priced service
  • U.S. income tax returns reporting the sale unless added as a separately priced service
Prepared by
A qualified tax professional engaged through Atamatax
Signed and filed by
The buyer (the withholding agent) signs and files Forms 8288 and 8288-A; you sign what is yours
Coordinated by
Atamatax, with the closing parties, with your written authorization
  • One property, up to two sellers; more are quoted as additional sellers
  • Price confirmed in a written quote after the facts are reviewed
  • The buyer is the withholding agent. Atamatax prepares and coordinates; each party signs its own forms, and anything is submitted for a party only with that party's written authorization.
Start with the situation check — Closing Compliance

Package C

Withholding Certificate Service

The withholding may be larger than the tax, and you want a professional to prepare a certificate application where appropriate.

Fixed price in your written quote

Included

  • A detailed transaction review
  • Basis and maximum-tax-liability workpapers
  • Form 8288-B prepared where the professional concludes it is appropriate
  • A supporting evidence package
  • Review by a qualified tax professional
  • Submission coordination once you have reviewed and signed
  • IRS correspondence on the application, up to two rounds
  • Coordination with the closing parties about the pending application

Not included

  • Any assurance of the IRS's decision or of its timing
  • Form W-7 (ITIN) unless added — it can be filed together with the application
  • Acting as the withholding agent, or holding or remitting the withheld funds
  • Legal advice on the sale contract or title
  • State or local withholding and returns unless added as a separately priced service
  • U.S. income tax returns reporting the sale unless added as a separately priced service
Prepared by
A qualified tax professional engaged through Atamatax
Signed by
You, as the applicant
Submitted by
Mailed to the IRS as your quote names it, after you sign
  • One property, one applicant; more are quoted as additional sellers
  • Price confirmed in a written quote after the basis records are reviewed
  • The IRS generally acts within 90 days of a complete application — a target the IRS sets, not a timeline anyone can promise
  • The buyer is the withholding agent. Atamatax prepares and coordinates; each party signs its own forms, and anything is submitted for a party only with that party's written authorization.
Start with the situation check — Withholding Certificate Service

Complex ownership and sales that have already closed have their own packages — see all FIRPTA services.

How it works

Five steps, each one visible

  1. 1

    Tell us about the property

    Who sells, where the property is, where the sale stands, and a few estimates. No taxpayer numbers, passports or addresses.

  2. 2

    Receive a preliminary assessment

    The withholding on your price, your cash at closing, and what could change either — before you give an email.

  3. 3

    Choose professional assistance

    Ask for the package that fits. You receive a written quote with its inclusions and exclusions before anything is charged.

  4. 4

    Upload documents securely

    In a private portal: the contract, the closing statements, the purchase records. Shared with the professional only once you authorize it.

  5. 5

    Follow the case through completion

    Each stage is shown as it is actually reached — a submission appears only with its reference, an IRS decision only with the IRS letter.

Before or after closing

Before closing

Plan the withholding

  • Work out the figure on a realistic price, and your cash at closing.
  • Check whether the buyer-residence rules or a certificate could change it.
  • Settle each seller’s taxpayer number in time.
  • Give the closing agent accurate seller information.
Start before closing

After closing

Recover the credit

  • Gather Form 8288-A and the final settlement statement.
  • Get an ITIN if you have no taxpayer number.
  • File the return for the year of the sale and claim the withholding.
  • Answer IRS correspondence with the right evidence.
What happens after closing

Planning to sell

Not listed yet? This is the best time to start.

Before a listing there is time to find the purchase records, plan the taxpayer numbers and see the withholding on a realistic price. Tell the check you are planning to sell and the result becomes a preparation plan — a document checklist, a timeline back from your listing date, and optional reminders before each milestone.

Build my pre-listing planCanadian selling in Florida?

Common situations

Where foreign sellers usually are

  • A closing is on the calendar

    Weeks, not months. The closing agent needs the seller's information and the withholding figure; you need to know your cash at the table.

    See your cash at closing

  • The withholding looks larger than the tax

    A small gain, a break-even or a loss — the case where a withholding certificate is worth a professional's assessment.

    How certificates work

  • No ITIN yet

    The sale can close, but the stamped Form 8288-A, a certificate application and the return all need a taxpayer number.

    ITINs for sellers

  • The sale has already closed

    The withholding is now a credit. A U.S. return for the year of the sale claims it — and any excess comes back only through it.

    What to do after closing

  • Several sellers, or a company owns it

    Allocation between co-owners, a U.S.-person spouse, an LLC or a trust: these change who withholds and on what, and go to a professional first.

    Who is a foreign seller

Realtor, title or escrow agent with a foreign seller? Introduce them to the FIRPTA Desk.

Questions

FIRPTA, in plain answers

Is FIRPTA withholding the same as the final U.S. tax?
No. FIRPTA withholding is a prepayment the buyer holds back at closing, generally 15% of the price. Your actual tax is computed on your gain on a U.S. return for the year of the sale; the withholding is credited against it, and any excess is refunded after the return is processed.
How much FIRPTA withholding applies to my sale?
Generally 15% of the amount realized. When an individual buyer acquires the property to live in it, it is 10% for an amount realized of $1,000,000 or less and nothing at $300,000 or less. The Closing Cash Map shows the figure on your price.
Who submits Forms 8288 and 8288-A?
The buyer, as the withholding agent — usually through the closing agent — by the 20th day after the transfer, together with the money withheld. The seller's part is to provide accurate information, and to apply for a withholding certificate when that is appropriate.
Can the withholding be reduced before closing?
Sometimes, through the buyer-residence rules or a withholding certificate from the IRS. Neither is automatic, and a pending application does not release the withheld money at the table. A professional can tell you whether it is worth pursuing on your figures.
Who does the work?
Atamatax organizes the case, the documents and the coordination with the closing parties. The tax work — the assessment, the forms, the certificate application — is done by qualified tax professionals (CPAs, enrolled agents or tax attorneys) engaged through Atamatax, within the scope of a written quote.

Answered in depth

Know your number before the closing table does

About four minutes, estimates welcome. You see the result before any email, and nothing is filed or sent to anyone.

Check My FIRPTA SituationExplore Managed FIRPTA Services

Authorities cited

  • IRS: FIRPTA withholding — IRS — FIRPTA withholding (rate, amount realized, the residence test, multiple transferors)
  • IRS: exceptions from FIRPTA withholding — IRS — Exceptions from FIRPTA withholding (residence at $300,000 or less, nonforeign certification, withholding certificate, nonrecognition)
  • Instructions for Form 8288 — Instructions for Form 8288 (Rev. 01/2026) — rates, the 20-day filing rule, pending applications, multiple transferors, installment sales
  • IRS: withholding certificates — IRS — Withholding certificates (grounds, the 90-day target after a complete application, notice to the transferee)
  • IRS: ITINs for foreign property sellers — IRS — ITIN guidance for foreign property buyers and sellers (Form W-7, the FIRPTA exception, the stamped Form 8288-A)
  • IRC §1445 — IRC §1445 — Withholding of tax on dispositions of United States real property interests
  • IRC §897 — IRC §897 — Disposition of investment in United States real property (FIRPTA)

Primary sources (Cornell Legal Information Institute for the US Code and CFR; IRS.gov for forms, procedures, and treaty documents). This page is general information, not individualized tax or legal advice.

Atamatax provides tax preparation support and educational resources. This website does not constitute legal or tax advice.