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FIRPTA Tax Blog

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AN EXPLANATION OF 99.9% OF WHAT ANY ESCROW OFFICER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE 2016 CHANGE TO THE WITHHOLDING TAX LAW ON REAL ESTATE SALES BY NON-US PERSONS

Congress just enacted a significant change to the required withholding tax on sales of US real estate by non-US persons, effective on real estate sales closing on or after February 17, 2016. On December 18, 2015, Congress enacted the “Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (the “New Tax…

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Careful Escrow Officers, your foreign seller’s ITIN may no longer be valid, and that could mean trouble for you.

Starting in 2016, US individual taxpayer ID numbers (“ITINs”) not used in the prior 5 years on a US tax return will be deactivated by the IRS.  So, staring in 2016, if a foreign person hasn’t sold US real estate since (at the latest) 2010 (which should have led to…

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Important IRS Changes to the 2015/2016 ITIN Application Process

As you know, procuring ITIN’s for non-US citizen/residents is essential when these individuals sell (or rent) US/California real estate.  Starting in 2015, the IRS has made an already challenging process even more cumbersome.  In 2016, the IRS plans to add yet another layer of complexity. 2015 Change- Form 8288’s Now Really Must…

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