Form 8288 January 2026 Revision: One Form Per Disposition Now Required

The IRS revised Form 8288 effective January 2026, now requiring a separate form for each disposition and a separate 8288-A for each foreign seller. Here's what changed and what it means at closings.

The IRS issued a January 2026 revision to Form 8288 that makes a structural change: one Form 8288 is now required per separate disposition, and one Form 8288-A is required per foreign seller. Multi-seller transactions and multi-property dispositions can no longer be reported on a single combined form.

Here's what changed, why it matters, and how it affects pricing and process.

What the old rule allowed

Under the previous Form 8288, a buyer purchasing a single property from two foreign sellers could file one Form 8288 reporting the transaction and one Form 8288-A listing both sellers. A buyer purchasing two properties from the same foreign seller could similarly consolidate into a single 8288.

This kept paperwork manageable but created reporting ambiguity. The IRS has been moving toward per-disposition, per-seller granularity for several years, and the January 2026 revision formalizes that direction.

What the new rule requires

1. One Form 8288 per disposition. Two properties closing the same day to the same buyer = two Form 8288s, even if the same withholding agent files both.
2. One Form 8288-A per foreign seller. A property sold by two foreign joint-tenant owners = two Form 8288-As, even if everything else about the closing is unified.
3. Each Form 8288-A must reference the specific Form 8288 it accompanies. No more pooled reporting; each pair has to match.

The withholding amount math doesn't change — it's still 15% of gross sale price (or whatever rate applies under exceptions or a Form 8288-B Certificate). What changes is the paperwork: you file more forms.

Why the IRS made this change

Three reasons, each visible in 2026 enforcement priorities:

1. Per-seller refund tracking. Each foreign seller files their own Form 1040-NR and claims credit for their own withholding. Per-seller 8288-As make matching the seller's 1040-NR refund claim to the original withholding event much cleaner — IRS systems are increasingly automated and require this granularity.

2. Section 899 application. The new country-specific surcharge applies based on each individual seller's country of residence. With two foreign sellers from different countries on a single sale, one might face the surcharge and the other might not. Per-seller 8288-As make the differential rate calculation explicit.

3. Multi-property closings have been growing. Foreign investors increasingly hold multiple U.S. properties; family-trust dispositions often involve several properties simultaneously. Per-disposition 8288s create cleaner audit trails for these transactions.

Pricing implications

This is the practical change that matters for clients: FIRPTA service pricing is now per-seller and per-disposition, not per-transaction.

For a typical FIRPTA practice (including ours):

• Buyer-side closing package: $400 base plus $200 for each additional foreign seller
• Seller-side Form 8288-B: $500 for one seller, $650 for two, $800 for three, plus $100 for each additional
• The $1,510 IRS user fee for the 8288-B applies once per certificate application — multi-seller certificates are still possible, just structured carefully

Coordination at multi-seller closings

The mechanics at closing become more involved. With three foreign sellers, the closing agent now has to:

• Coordinate three Form 8288-As, each with its own seller-specific information
• Track three separate Section 899 country status checks
• Issue three separate stamped 8288-A copies once the IRS returns them
• Coordinate three separate 1040-NR filings the following year (typically through us or the seller's tax preparer)

None of this is hard, but it's the kind of detail that gets dropped on a closing handled by an agent who only sees one foreign-seller transaction a year. If that's your closing, this is exactly what we exist for.