FIRPTA at the Closing Table: The 15 Percent Hold, the Buyer’s Liability, and the Seller’s Money

Natalia A. Sishodia, Esq., LL.M., Managing Partner | Sishodia PLLC

Natalia A. Sishodia is the Managing Partner of Sishodia PLLC, a boutique New York City firm focused on real estate law and dispute resolution. Her practice centers on high-end real estate transactions for domestic and international clients, including foreign investors purchasing and selling United States real property, FIRPTA withholding and its exceptions, 1031 tax-deferred exchanges, and tax strategies related to cross-border transactions. She has successfully negotiated and closed hundreds of transactions in New York.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Sishodia holds an LL.M. and is admitted to practice in New York State. She is fluent in English and Russian.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Sishodia has received the Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Law and the Avvo Client’s Choice Award. As Managing Partner, she leads an industry-recognized boutique firm serving clients in the United States and abroad.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Sishodia has worked at the United Nations Headquarters with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. She supports Travelogion, a nonprofit that promotes mental and emotional healing through adventurous travel for post-treatment brain cancer patients, and gives seminars at real estate agencies and schools to help educate communities about their legal rights.

• Experience

Ms. Sishodia leads the firm’s foreign investment practice, which guides foreign buyers and sellers of United States real property on FIRPTA withholding and its exceptions, helps clients determine whether withholding applies to a given closing, secures withholding certificates, and prepares the forms filed with the IRS in these transactions. She advises international investors on holding structures and transaction planning that can reduce or eliminate the United States taxes associated with the ownership and sale of United States real estate.

She regularly guides investors through 1031 tax-deferred exchanges, and her transactional work spans condominium and co-op purchases and sales, single-family and multifamily transactions, newly developed properties, conversions, deed transfers, leasing, and lending.

Her private client practice includes multijurisdictional wealth management, tax and estate planning advice, and tax strategies related to cross-border transactions for individuals, businesses, and trusts. She has worked with clients from Russia, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United Arab
Emirates, India, Turkey, China, South Korea, Italy, France, Singapore, Bulgaria, and Ukraine, and represents high-net-worth individuals, businesses, and some of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders.

Beatrice Raccanello, Esq., LL.M., MBA, Of Counsel | Sishodia PLLC

Beatrice Raccanello is an attorney with Sishodia PLLC in New York City, where she works extensively with the firm’s international clients on residential real estate transactions. Fluent in English, Italian, Spanish, and French, she has represented purchasers and sellers of single-family and multifamily properties and co-op and condominium apartments across New York, guiding transactions from due diligence through contract negotiation and the preparation of closing documents.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Raccanello holds a JD from Bocconi University, an LL.M. from the Temple University Beasley School of Law, and an MBA in Strategic Management from the Fox School of Business. She is admitted to practice in New York State.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Raccanello serves as the Director for Compliance and Ethics at Temple Law School.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Raccanello is vice-chair of the Lawyers Abroad committee of the American Bar Association, a committee serving United States-licensed lawyers who practice outside the United States.

• Experience

Ms. Raccanello’s transactional practice covers New York residential real estate closings for domestic and international purchasers and sellers, and she has been involved in all facets of these transactions, including due diligence, contract drafting and negotiation, and the preparation of closing documents. She also supports the firm’s business law practice, advising on business formation, contract drafting, contract negotiation, and regulatory compliance.

SESSION 1 – FIRPTA Compliance at the Closing Table: Status, Exemptions, and the Withholding Decision | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session covers the mechanics of FIRPTA withholding under IRC § 1445 at the point of closing, including how to determine whether a seller is a foreign person, which statutory exemptions eliminate or reduce the 15% withholding obligation, and how buyers and closing attorneys can meet their compliance duties. Attorneys will leave with a working command of the non-foreign affidavit process, the residence-use exemptions, entity-level status traps, the 20-day remittance deadline, and the April 2024 final regulations and October 2025 proposed regulations affecting domestically controlled QIEs. The session is designed for transactional attorneys, real estate counsel, and closing attorneys who need a practical framework for making the withholding decision and avoiding personal liability.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Reducing and Recovering FIRPTA Withholding for the Foreign Seller | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This session covers the full lifecycle of FIRPTA withholding reduction and recovery for foreign sellers, from pre-closing withholding certificate applications through post-closing refund filing. Attorneys will learn how to use Form 8288-B strategically, navigate ITIN and EFTPS procedural requirements, apply §1031 exchange mechanics to minimize withholding, and guide clients through the 1040-NR refund process. Attendees will leave with actionable knowledge of filing sequences, common errors that extend escrow holds or block refunds, and the most significant 2025 procedural change affecting FIRPTA remittance.