FIRPTA Calculator: Withholding and Exemption Check
Estimate standard FIRPTA withholding when U.S. property is sold, using the full deal total and the confirmed share owned by foreign sellers.
What This Calculator Does
This page estimates the standard FIRPTA withholding on a Florida sale. Under FIRPTA, when a foreign person disposes of U.S. real property, the buyer generally holds back part of the amount realized. The tool keeps the cents at the $300,000 and $1,000,000 thresholds. It also keeps the full deal amount apart from the base allocated to the foreign sellers. If a tax professional gave you an estimate, you can compare the two results.
Who Is This For
The calculator is built for sellers whom the U.S. tax rules treat as foreign persons, for buyers planning their own withholding duty, and for agents helping either side ahead of a Florida closing. For FIRPTA, foreign status comes from those tax rules, not from citizenship alone. Have a U.S. tax professional confirm it.
How It Works
Enter the gross amount of the whole deal, then the confirmed percentage that belongs to foreign sellers. Check residence use only if an individual buyer genuinely plans to satisfy the two-year occupancy conditions. The rate is based on the whole deal amount, and the tool then applies it to the amount allocated to the foreign sellers. A comparison appears only once you add a tax estimate. The final tax is never calculated here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the withholding settle the seller's final tax?
No. FIRPTA withholding is figured on the foreign sellers' gross amount realized, not on their profit. The seller's actual federal income tax depends on their own circumstances and is worked out separately. If the withholding comes out above the estimate you entered, the excess is neither an approved refund nor a guaranteed one.
Which sales get 0%, which 10% and which 15%?
It turns on the full deal amount and on residence use. Under FIRPTA, residence use needs an individual buyer and occupancy by the buyer or by people the IRS rule counts. With it, nothing is withheld at $300,000 or less; above $300,000 through $1,000,000, the rate is 10%; above $1,000,000, it is 15%. Without it, the standard 15% applies at any price. Watch the cutoffs: a single cent over a line can move the rate.
Does occasional vacation use count as residence use?
Not by itself: sporadic vacation use alone doesn't qualify. The buyer must be an individual and needs firm plans for the buyer, or people covered by the IRS definition under this FIRPTA residence-use rule, to occupy that home for at least 50% of the days it is occupied, in each of the first two 12-month periods, not counting vacant days. A U.S. tax professional and the closing agent should both review your facts, since signing a statement doesn't by itself create eligibility.
How is withholding figured when sellers have different FIRPTA statuses?
The full deal amount picks the rate, and that rate then applies only to the share belonging to the foreign sellers. There is a special case. When the entire property is owned by just two spouses (one U.S. and one foreign), with nobody else on title, the IRS treats each as holding 50%, whatever split the deed shows. Confirm that ownership before you check the spouses box, which locks the foreign share at 50%. If anyone else holds part of the property, leave the box off and enter the one allocation for all foreign sellers that a professional has confirmed. Example: a 50% foreign share in a $600,000 sale with residence use means 10% of $300,000, or $30,000. Entering $300,000 as the full deal would be wrong.
Can the mortgage or selling costs reduce the withholding base?
No. Neither the mortgage balance nor selling costs come off. The gross amount realized adds up the cash received, any other property handed over at its fair market value, and any debt the buyer takes on. Count each item once: if that debt is already inside the price, don't add it again. Paying off your mortgage and covering selling costs leave the standard base unchanged.
Does the calculator apply withholding certificates or special exemptions?
No, it leaves them out. An IRS withholding certificate can lower the required amount, even to nothing, but applying for one doesn't mean a lower amount is approved. Certificates, entity transfers, distributions and special exemptions need a professional review outside this tool.