Federal withholding when the seller is a foreign person. Change the numbers and hit Calculate to see it work — on your live site it's branded to you and uses your state's exact rates.
Federal withholding when the seller is a foreign person
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When a foreign person sells U.S. real estate, FIRPTA may require withholding a percentage of the sale price. This calculator estimates the withholding so buyers, sellers, and closers can plan for it early.
FIRPTA catches people off guard. Surfacing it on your website positions your office as the experienced partner for international and investor transactions.
A federal requirement that a buyer withhold a percentage of the amount realized when purchasing US real property from a foreign person, and remit it to the IRS.
The buyer, as withholding agent. That is why buyers and their agents need to know early whether a seller is a foreign person for FIRPTA purposes.
In defined circumstances, including certain price thresholds where the buyer intends to use the property as a residence, and through a withholding certificate application. The conditions are specific — this is a question for a tax adviser, not a calculator.
It applies the applicable FIRPTA rate to the sale price, with notes on common exemptions and reduced-rate scenarios.
No — it's an estimate to help planning. We clearly note that FIRPTA treatment should be confirmed with a tax professional.
A non-resident alien individual, or a foreign corporation, partnership, trust or estate. Residency for FIRPTA purposes follows tax rules rather than immigration status, which is why the determination belongs with a tax adviser.
Generally within twenty days of the transfer, on the prescribed forms. Missing the deadline creates liability for the buyer as withholding agent, not for the seller.
Under FIRPTA the buyer is the withholding agent. If withholding was required and was not done, the IRS looks to the buyer — a fact that surprises almost every party at the table and makes early identification essential.
Withholding is generally 15% of the amount realized, with reduced or zero rates available in defined circumstances involving price thresholds and the buyer's intended use as a residence. The exceptions have conditions, and getting them wrong is expensive.
Foreign-seller transactions are exactly the files where an agent wants a title company that has clearly seen one before. A FIRPTA calculator on your site is a credential as much as a tool.
FIRPTA questions asked at clearance produce delayed closings. Asked at contract, they produce a plan — a withholding certificate application, a reduced-rate analysis, or a straightforward withholding, all of which take time the file does not have at the end.
A properly executed non-foreign certification from the seller is what relieves the buyer of the withholding obligation in a domestic sale. Collecting it as routine paperwork on every file is cheaper than establishing it retrospectively on one.
Agents, lenders, buyers and sellers submit everything online, and each submission returns to the agency as a completed PDF ready for the file — no email tag, no retyping. Branded to the agency and mobile-friendly. These six are the most used of the eleven we build.
Clients upload a signed purchase contract and any addenda — you open the file and start title work right away.
Open form →Buyers complete intake online and you receive it as a PDF — or they download it to fill out by hand.
Open form →Sellers complete intake online and you receive a PDF — or download it to complete on paper.
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