Nationwide  Specialists in foreign-seller real estate withholding
📞 216-505-0717
FIRPTA in Florida

Foreign-seller closings in Florida.

Florida is the #1 U.S. state for foreign-owned residential real estate — and the most common state for FIRPTA cases. We handle the federal withholding piece end-to-end for sellers, buyers, and Florida closing agents, with same-day intake response on every deal.

Start a Florida case →  Call 216-505-0717
Why Florida is different

No state income tax. Federal FIRPTA only.

Florida has no state income tax and no state-level nonresident-seller withholding regime. Unlike California (3.33%), Hawaii (7.25% HARPTA), Maryland (8%), Georgia (3%), or Colorado (2%), a foreign-seller closing in Florida faces only the federal FIRPTA 15% withholding at closing. That makes Florida one of the cleanest U.S. states for foreign-investor real estate exits — and one of the most common.

What Florida foreign-seller closings DO trigger:

  • !
    Federal FIRPTA withholding at 15% of the gross sales price — reducible to actual tax via Form 8288-B filed before closing.
  • !
    Florida documentary stamp tax on the deed: $0.70 per $100 statewide ($0.60 in Miami-Dade) — seller-paid, separate from FIRPTA.
  • !
    Form 1040-NR filing the following year to claim credit for FIRPTA withheld and recover any over-withholding.
  • !
    1% IRC §4475 remittance excise tax when the foreign seller wires the proceeds out of the U.S. (effective January 2026) — separate from FIRPTA, stacks on top.
Counties & cities served

Florida statewide. Same-day intake response.

FIRPTA is federal — every Form 8288, 8288-A, and 8288-B routes to the IRS Ogden Service Center regardless of property location. We coordinate with Florida title companies, closing attorneys, and foreign sellers across:

  • Miami-Dade County — Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Aventura, Doral
  • Broward County — Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Sunny Isles
  • Palm Beach County — West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Jupiter
  • Hillsborough County — Tampa, Brandon
  • Pinellas County — St. Petersburg, Clearwater
  • Orange County — Orlando, Winter Park
  • Lee County — Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples (Collier)
  • Duval County — Jacksonville
  • Sarasota County — Sarasota, Venice
  • Volusia County — Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach
For Florida title agents

A no-fee-to-title-company referral path.

Florida title and escrow agents see foreign-seller transactions more than agents in any other state. The referral structure that works:

  1. You identify the foreign seller (or the buyer in a foreign-seller transaction).
  2. You forward the deal to firptaincometaxwithholding.com/#intake.
  3. We engage directly with the buyer and seller — no fee to your title company. The FIRPTA work doesn't appear on your settlement statement.
  4. We file Forms 8288 + 8288-A within the 20-day buyer deadline (IRC §1445(b)(1)) and send your office stamped copies for the closing file.

This is the model we've built around because most Florida title companies routinely handle 5–20 foreign-seller closings per year and FIRPTA mistakes fall back on the closing file. Keeping us on call costs the title company nothing and shields the buyer's withholding-agent liability.

Florida deal? Send it through intake.

Same-day response. No fee to your title company. No surprises at closing.

Start a Florida case →  Or call 216-505-0717