It’s finally here. For all real estate sales closing after November 3, 2003, a taxpayer identification number is mandatory.
My experience is that nonresident investors in U.S. real estate only occasionally have gone through the bother of getting a U.S. taxpayer identification number. They don’t WANT one: They don’t want to be visible to the U.S. government.
Up to now, it might have been possible to slide through that way. I remember well one situation where the mortgages bore the obviously fake identification number of 555-55-5555.
No more. Tax regulations published in August and effective November 3, 2003 say that the buyer must give the IRS the seller’s taxpayer identification number.
If you’re a nonresident and you’re selling U.S. real estate, you have a hard choice: Get an identification number and file U.S. tax returns, or walk away from the 10 percent (of sale price) withholding tax.
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