FIRPTA is the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, a set of regulations governing the sale of real estate by foreign investors in the United States and was enacted in 1980 to protect the US tax base from potential loss due to the sale of real estate by foreign investors. FIRPTA requires that any gains from the sale of real estate by a foreign person be subject to US taxation, imposes withholding requirements on the purchaser of the real estate, and requires the reporting of certain information about the transaction to the IRS.For more information, read FIRPTA: What Foreign Investors of US Real Estate Need to Know.