FIRPTA Desk · For foreign property owners

FIRPTA services, scoped before they are priced

Five packages for selling U.S. property as a foreign owner, from a professional’s first look to a full engagement. Each says what it includes, what it excludes and who does what. Where a price is shown it is the current one; where it says “written quote”, the amount is fixed in your quote before anything is charged.

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

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

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

Package D

Complex / Full-Service FIRPTA

Entity ownership, several foreign sellers, several properties, missing basis records, or a complicated post-closing situation.

Custom quote

Included

A scope written for your case
Coordination between the professionals involved, in the U.S. and abroad
Everything the written quote lists — nothing beyond it

Not included

Anything the written quote does not list
Acting as the withholding agent, or holding or remitting the withheld funds
Legal advice on the sale contract or title

Prepared by: Qualified tax professionals engaged through Atamatax, named in the quote
Signed and filed by: As the written quote states for each form

Quoted after a professional reviews the structure and records
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

Package E

Post-Closing Review

The sale has closed and you need to know what to file, what was withheld and how it is credited.

Custom quote

Included

A professional assessment of the documents you have and the ones missing
The federal filings the sale may require
The evidence of withholding a return needs (a stamped Form 8288-A, or a substitute)
The possible routes to a refund of excess withholding, if any — never assumed
Correspondence the IRS may expect

Not included

Preparing the U.S. income tax return unless quoted as Tax Return Preparation
Any assurance of a refund
Acting as the withholding agent, or holding or remitting the withheld funds
Legal advice on the sale contract or title

Prepared by: A qualified tax professional engaged through Atamatax
Signed and filed by: You sign your return; filing as the quote names it

Separate scope and price from any pre-closing work
Quoted after the documents are reviewed

Start with the after-closing check

Separately priced, only when your case needs them

Never bundled silently: each appears in your written quote with its own price, or not at all.

ITIN application (Form W-7)
Preparing Form W-7 under the FIRPTA exception, with the documents it needs, for each seller without a U.S. taxpayer number.
State withholding support
Where the property's state applies its own withholding to nonresident sellers — a separate system with its own forms and rates.
U.S. tax return for the year of sale
The nonresident return that reports the sale and claims the withholding as a credit.
Additional seller
Each foreign seller beyond the package's included number.
Additional property
Each property beyond the first.
Basis reconstruction
Rebuilding what a property cost and what was spent on it when the records are incomplete.

How quoting and payment work

Step 1
Your answers become the intake
The situation check records the facts once. A request carries them with it — nobody asks you the same questions twice.
Step 2
A written quote, before any charge
The quote lists the services, the forms and how many of each, the deliverables, what is excluded, the timeline it depends on, and the refund terms. It is approved internally before it reaches you, and it is frozen once approved.
Step 3
You accept, then pay through your secure portal
Payment is taken by card through Stripe, against the version you accepted — a deposit or instalments when the quote says so. A payment never marks work as done.
Step 4
Work starts with a qualified professional
A CPA, enrolled agent or tax attorney engaged through Atamatax takes the case once they have accepted it and you have authorized the disclosure of your file to them.

Who signs, who files

In a FIRPTA sale the buyer is the withholding agent: the buyer (usually through the closing agent) withholds, files Forms 8288 and 8288-A and pays the IRS. Atamatax and the professional prepare and coordinate; you sign what is yours, such as a withholding certificate application; nobody signs or submits on anyone’s behalf without that person’s written authorization. The IRS decides any certificate application, on its own timeline.

Not sure which package fits? The free situation check recommends one from your answers, and the Closing Cash Map shows the numbers first.

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