Legal Line Question: Recent Changes to FIRPTA
January 21, 2016 Q: I am a licensed real estate broker and I am representing a seller who is not a citizen of the United States. The seller and I would like to know what "FIRPTA" is and how it affects the sale. Additionally, I have heard that "FIRPTA" was recently amended. Can you clarify that as well A: FIRPTA, which is an acronym for the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980, is a federal law enacted to ensure that "foreign persons" who sell property in the United States generally pay the same amount of federal taxes on the sale as a United States person would. For purposes of FIRPTA, a foreign person is anyone who is neither a resident alien (i.e. a holder of a green card) nor a United States citizen. Towards this goal, FIRPTA requires that upon the disposition of any real property interest in the United States by a foreign person (a "United States Real Property Interest" or "USRPI") the purchaser of the...