Memo · Residential Conveyancing & Property
FIRPTA withholding file note (United States)
An internal note of the IRS page's 15 percent withholding when a foreign person disposes of a U.S. real property interest, including joint owners, a grantor trust, and the residence discussion.
- Kind
- Memo. An internal or advice memo.
- Where it applies
- United States
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the authority it cites, for United States.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when a US purchase file needs a record of whether the buyer must withhold on a disposition by a foreign person. Do not use it as a tax return, as Form 8288, or as advice that an exception applies before the lawyer has completed the tests.
Used for these tasks
- Review the contract of sale and draft the buyer's issues report
- Build the pre-settlement checklist and adjustment worksheet
- Compare the transfer and mortgage drafts to the contract names and title
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
A tool may insert the price, the owner names, and the citizenship statement from documents the lawyer has already put in the file.
AI may
- Add the cash, other property, and liability lines once the lawyer has written the amounts
- Flag a joint-owner file in which one spouse is assigned 100 percent of the amount realized
- List which residence-test facts are still blank
AI must not
- Must not state a withholding rate other than the 15 percent the IRS page states as the general rate
- Must not state the reduced percentage for the band between $300,000 and $1 million
- Must not prepare Form 8288, Form 8288-A, or Form 8288-B
- Must not tell the client the transaction is exempt
The lawyer checks
- The seller's status as a foreign person is tied to a document, or marked unknown
- Joint sellers, including spouses, are allocated by the capital-contribution method the IRS page states
- Any residence exception is applied only after the lawyer has checked the dollar test and the 50 percent day test on the IRS page
- The note says section 1445 itself was not opened
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
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The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Residential Conveyancing & Property
- Contract for sale: prescribed documents and vendor disclosure checklist (NSW, with Vic and Qld notes)
- Transfer of land: registry forms and completion guide (NSW 01T, with Vic, Qld, WA and SA versions)
- Purchase-contract due diligence checklist (United States)
- Victorian foreign purchaser additional duty worksheet
- Caveat against dealings: registry forms and completion guide (NSW 08X, with Vic, Qld, WA and SA versions)
- Residential land foreign-investment screen before exchange
- Victorian section 32 vendor statement (official guidance and completion guide)
- Discharge of mortgage: registry forms and settlement guide (NSW 05DM, with Vic, Qld, WA and SA versions)
- Queensland body corporate certificate and community management statement before contract
- Queensland seller disclosure statement (Form 2) and prescribed certificates: completion guide
- Title commitment and closing-document check (United States)
- Section 66W certificate (waiver or shortening of the cooling-off period) with explanatory note and file note (NSW)
- Notice of sale (NSW) and property transfer information (Qld Form 24): what the registry needs with a transfer
- Queensland seller disclosure steps before the buyer signs
- Buyer issues report on a purchase contract (United States)
- Letter of advice to a residential purchaser on the contract and searches before exchange (NSW)
- Victorian off-the-plan buyer checklist from Consumer Affairs Victoria
- Verification of identity and payment-redirection (deepfake) fraud checklist for conveyancing
- Client notice: how we use AI in your conveyancing matter
All precedents for Residential Conveyancing & Property · Tasks and AI use in this area