Sovereignty Forms and Instructions, Instruction 4.21: Challenge all Liens and Levies
Title 26, Appendix, Title XXXII: Lien and Levy Actions
IRS Not
Following Proper Levy Procedures-Treasury Inspector General
Report!
IRS Levy Forms:
TITLE
26 > Subtitle
F > CHAPTER
79 > Sec.
7701.
Sec. 7701. - Definitions
(a)(21) Levy
The term ''levy'' includes the power of distraint and seizure by
any means.
26 U.S.C. §6332: Period of lien
26 U.S.C. §6334: Property exempt from levy
26 U.S.C. §6335: Sale of seized property
26 U.S.C. §6343: Authority to release levy
and return property
26 U.S.C. §6332(c):
Requires COURT ORDER!
TITLE 26 >
Subtitle F >
CHAPTER 64 >
Subchapter D >
PART II > § 6332
§ 6332. Surrender of property subject to levy
(c) Special rule for banks
Any bank (as defined in section 408 (n)) shall surrender (subject to an
attachment or execution under judicial process) any deposits (including
interest thereon) in such bank only after 21 days after service of levy.
42 U.S.C. §1717: Assignment of
benefits; execution, levy, etc., against
benefits
TITLE 42
> CHAPTER 12 > SUBCHAPTER II > § 1717
§ 1717.
Assignment of benefits; execution, levy, etc., against benefits
The right of any person to
any benefit under subchapter I of this chapter shall not be transferable
or assignable at law or in equity except to the United States, and none
of the moneys paid or payable (except money paid hereunder as
reimbursement for funeral expenses or as reimbursement with respect to
payments of workmen’s compensation or in the nature of workmen’s
compensation benefits), or rights existing under said subchapter, shall
be subject to execution, levy,
attachment, garnishment, or other legal process or to the operation of
any bankruptcy or insolvency law.
levy, v: (Black's Law Dictionary,
Sixth Edition, page 907)
To assess; raise; execute, exact; tax; collect;
gather; take up; seize. Thus, to levy (assess, exact, raise, or
collect) a tax; to levy (raise or set up) a nuisance; to levy
(acknowledge) a fine; to levy (inaugurate) war; to levy an execution,
i.e., to levy or collect a sum of money on an execution.
levy, n: (Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth
Edition, page 907) A seizure.
The obtaining of money by legal
process through seizure and sale of property; the raising of the money for
which an execution has been issued.
The process whereby a sheriff or other state
official empowered by writ or other judicial directive actually seizes, or
otherwise brings within her control, a judgment debtor's property which is
taken to secure or satisfy the judgment.
In reference to taxation, the word may mean
the legislative function and declaration of the subject and rate or amount
of taxation. People v. Mahoney, 13 Cal.2d 729, 91 P.2d 1029; or the
rate of taxation rather than the physical act of applying the rate to the
property, Lowden v. Texas County Excise Board, 187 Okl. 365 103 P.2d 98,
100; or the formal order, by proper authority declaring property subject
to taxation at fixed rate at its assessed valuation, State v. Davis, 335
Mo. 159, 73 S.W.2d 406, 407; or the ministerial function of assessing,
listing and extending taxes, City of Plankinton v. Kieffer, 70 S.D. 329,
17 N.W.2d 494, 495, 496; or the extension of the tax, Day v. Inland Steel
Co., 185 Minn. 53, 239 N.W. 776, 777; or the doing of whatever is
necessary in order to authorize the collector to collect the tax, Syracuse
Trust Co. v. Board of Sup'rs of Oneida County, 13 N.Y.S.2d 390, 394.
When used in connection with authority to tax, denotes exercise of
legislative function, whether state or local, determining that a tax shall
be imposed and fixing amount, purpose and subject of the exaction.
Carkonen v. Williams, 76 wash.2d 617, 458 P.2d 280, 286. The
qualified electors "levy" a tax when they vote to impose it.
See also Assess; Assessment; Tax.
Internal Revenue
Manual, Section 5.11: Notice of Levy
Prerequisites
to levy and seizure
-
Notice of
Federal Tax Lien,
26
U.S.C. §6322.
-
Notice of
Assessment, Treasury Decision 1995 (This is to be established by
making a special FOIA request to the Department of the Treasury).
-
Notice and
Demand for payment,
26
U.S.C. §6303. See also 26 CFR §301.6303-1(a).
-
Notice of
Intent to Levy,
26
U.S.C. §6331(d). See also 26 CFR §301.6331-1(a)(1) for
levy made upon outstanding federal tax lien.
-
Levy,
26
U.S.C. §6331, and 26 CFR §301.6331-1(c)-service of notice of
levy by mail.
-
Notice of
Seizure,
26
U.S.C. §6502(b), and
26
U.S.C. §6335(a). See also 26 CFR §301.6502-1(b)
Applicable to
Real and certain personal property
-
Notice of
Sale,
26
U.S.C. §6335(b).
-
Manner and
Condition of Sale,
26
U.S.C. §6335(e)
-
Redemption
of property, within 180 days after sale,
26
U.S.C. §6337(a)(1).
26 U.S.C., Subchapter D - Seizure of Property for
Collection of Taxes
Sec.
6331. Levy
and distraint
(a)
Authority of Secretary
If any person
liable to pay any tax neglects or refuses to pay the same within 10 days
after notice and demand, it shall be lawful for the Secretary to collect
such tax (and such further sum as shall be sufficient to cover the
expenses of the levy) by levy upon all property and rights to property
(except such property as is exempt under section 6334)
belonging to such person or on which there is a lien provided in this
chapter for the payment of such tax. Levy may be made upon the
accrued salary or wages of any officer, employee, or elected official, of
the United States, the District of Columbia, or any agency or
instrumentality of the United States or the District of Columbia, by
serving a notice of levy on the employer (as defined in section 3401(d))
of such officer, employee, or elected official. If the Secretary
makes a finding that the collection of such tax is in jeopardy, notice and
demand for immediate payment of such tax may be made by the Secretary and,
upon failure or refusal to pay such tax, collection thereof by levy shall
be lawful without regard to the 10-day period provided in this
section.
(b)
Seizure and sale of property
The term ''levy''
as used in this title includes the power of distraint and seizure by any
means. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e), a levy shall extend
only to property possessed and obligations existing at the time thereof.
In any case in which the Secretary may levy upon property or rights to
property, he may seize and sell such property or rights to property
(whether real or personal, tangible or intangible).
Freeman v. Mayer, 152 F.Supp. 383 (1957):
A
"levy" requires that property be brought into legal custody
through seizure, actual or constructive, levy being an absolute
appropriation in law of property levied on, and mere
notice of intent to levy is insufficient. United
States v. O'Dell, 6 Cir., 1947, 160 F.2d 304, 307. Accord, In re
Holdsworth, D.C.N.J. 1953, 113 F.Supp. 878, 888; United States v. Aetna
Life Ins. Co. of Hartford, Conn., D.C.Conn. 1942, 146 F.Supp. 30, 37, in
which Judge Hincks observed that he could "find
no statute which says that a mere notice shall constitute a 'levy.'"
There are cases which hold that a warrant for distraint is necessary to
constitute a levy. Givan v. Cripe, 7 Cir., 1951, 187 F.2d 225;
United States v. O'Dell, supra. The Court of Appeals for the Third
Circuit state in is opinion, 221 F.2d at page 642, "These sections
[26 U.S.C. §§3690-3697] require that levy by a deputy collector be
accompanied by warrants of distraint [issued by a judge in a legal
proceeding]." In re Brokol Manufacturing Co., supra.
I am
constrained to conclude that a levy upon both tangible and intangible
property under §3692 requires the execution of warrant for distraint and
then effective only to amounts affixed thereon. As noted above, the
Court of Appeals for this Circuit declared when this matter was before it
that §§3690-3697 "require that a levy by a deputy collector be
accompanied by warrants of distraint."
The distress
authorized by §3690 is different from anything know to the common law,
both because it authorizes sale of the property seized, and because it
extends to other personality than chattels. By its very nature it
requires that demands of procedural due process of law be rigorously
honored.
26 U.S.C. Sec.
6502(b): "The date on which a levy on
property or the rights to property is made shall be the date on which the
notice of seizure ... is given."
20 Fed. Proc. L Ed §48.548. WHAT MAY BE LEVIED UPON.
“…[W]ith regard to a levy on salary or wages [26 U.S.C.S.
§6331(e)(1); 26 CFR §301.6331-2(c )] a levy extends only to property
possessed and obligations existing at the time of the levy [26 U.S.C.S.
§6331(b); 26 CFR §301.6331-1(a)(1)].
Levy may be made upon the salaries of federal, [26 U.S.C.S.
§6331(a)] state, and municipal, [26 CFR §301.6331(a)(4)(ii)] employees
and a pension payable to a former state employee may be levied upon
[Revenue Ruling 55-226, 1955-1 CB551].”
26
CFR §301.6331-1 Levy and Distraint
(i)
Federal Employees. Levy
may be made upon the salary or wages of any officer or employee (including
members of the Armed Forces) or elected or appointed official of the of
the United States, the District of Columbia or any agency or
instrumentality of the United States or the District of Columbia, who has
control of payment or wages…
(ii)
State and Municipal employees.
Salaries, wages or other compensation of any officer, employee, or
elected or appointed official of a State or Territory, or of any agency,
instrumentality, or political subdivision thereof, are also subject to
levy to enforce collection of any Federal tax.
(iii)
Seamen..wages of seamen, apprentice seamen, or fishermen
employed on fishing vessels are subject to levy.”
Federal
Register Vol. 55 No. 220 Wed Nov. 14 , 1990 at page 47623 in describing
the 26 USC 6331 process Section 70.161 Levy and Distraint
(a)
(4) (i) Federal Employees. Levy may be made upon the salary or wages of
any officer or employee (including members of the Armed Forces), or
elected or appointed official, of the United States, the District of
Columbia, or any agency or instrumentality of either, by serving a notice
of levy on the employer of the delinquent taxpayer.
PLEASE NOTE, THERE IS NO MENTION OF PRIVATE SECTOR PEOPLE. As used
in this paragraph, the term "employer" means:
(A)
The Officer or employee of the United States, the District of
Columbia, or of the agency or instrumentality of the United States or the
District of Columbia, who has the control of the payment of wages, or
(B)
Any other officer or employee designated by the head of the branch,
department, or agency, or instrumentality of
the United States or
of the District of Columbia as the party upon whom service of the notice
of levy may be made.
If the head of such branch,
department, agency or instrumentality designates an officer or employee
other than the one who has control of the payment of the wages as the
party upon whom service of the notice of levy may be made, such head shall
promptly notify the Director of the name and address of each officer or
employee so designated and the scope or extent of the authority of such
designee.
(NOTE THAT
THE ABOVE IS WHY THE NOTICE OF LEVY SENT TO ALL PRIVATE EMPLOYERS, WHO ARE
NOT MENTIONED ABOVE, IS DEFICIENT OF 6331 PARAGRAPH (a) ON THE BACK OF THE
NOTICE. AS I HAVE WRITTEN
BEFORE ALL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES ARE DESIGNATED TO PART 70 OF
THE 27 USC/CFR TITLES AND ARE LISTED AS SUBJECTS OF THIS LEVY PROCESS.
NOT ONE MENTION OF PRIVATE EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES.
THE REASON THE DEFINITION INCLUDES PRIVATE EMPLOYERS IN 6103 IS THE
FACT THAT A GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE MAY ALSO WORK FOR A PRIVATE EMPLOYER IN
WHICH THE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE MUST HAVE HIS WAGES INCLUDED IN HIS INCOME
TAX WITHHOLDING. THIS 6103 IS
THE ONLY SECTION THAT USES "MEANS" WHEN DESCRIBING THE UNITED
STATES, AS ALSO INCLUDING THE 50 STATES BECAUSE OF INFORMATION SHARING
ONLY. EVERY OTHER STATUTE
DESCRIBING THE UNITED STATES USES INCLUDES WHICH IS RESTRICTIVE TO THOSE
STATES DEFINED WHICH DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY OF THE 50 STATES.
NOTE THAT IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER THE WORD "MEANS" IS
USED AND NOT INCLUDES WHICH IS TELLING YOU THAT WHAT THEY SAY MEANS WHAT
THEY SAY AND DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY OTHER ENTITY SUCH AS A PRIVATE SECTOR
EMPLOYER OR EMPLOYEE. ITS ALL
A "TERM" GAME. The
term game can be found on the Informer's article at http://www.atgpress.com)
United States v.
O'Dell, 160 F.2d 304 (1947)
[2]
KeyCite Notes

220
Internal Revenue
220XXV
Collection
220XXV(B)
Levy or Distraint
220k4855
k. In General.
Most Cited Cases
(Formerly
220k1781)
A “levy” requires that property be brought into legal custody
through seizure, actual or consturctive, levy being an absolute
appropriation in law of the property levied on, and mere notice is
insufficient.
[. . .]
Section 3466 does not create a lien, but establishes a priority.
Beaston v. Farmers' Bank of Delaware, 37 U.S. 102, 9 L.Ed. 1017;
United States v. Fisher, 6 U.S. 358, 2 Cranch 358, 2 L.Ed. 304.
Section 3670, however, does create a lien in favor of the Government
which arises at the date when the assessment list is received by the
Collector. Section 3671. As to the first four excise tax items
listed in the stipulation, the assessment lists were received before
the date of the delivery of the mortgage, and the lien of the
Government as to $386.11 is clearly prior to possession of the
assets *307
by the trustee, although not prior to the attachment of a majority
of the liens for local taxes, under Michigan law. But under this
record the question of priority is not conclusive. The judgment was
correct, not for the reasons stated by the District Court, but
because of the failure of the Government to comply with the
statutory requirements.
Section 3710 requires the surrender of property or rights to
property (1) subject to distraint; (2) upon which a levy has been
made; (3) unless such property is subject to an attachment or
execution under judicial process. This section is new, having been
enacted in 1926, Act of Feb. 26, 1926, section 1114(e) and (f), 44
Stat. 117; but the provision authorizing the Collector after failure
or refusal of the taxpayer to pay taxes due, to levy upon his
property or property rights (section 3692) dates from 1866. As
pointed out in
United States v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 2 Cir., 130 F.2d 149,
151, the procedure for distraint authorized under section 28 of
the Revenue Act of 1864, 13 Stat. page 233, was in substance like
that of Section 3692 except that nothing was said about a levy. In
1866, 14 Stat. 107, Sec. 9, Congress, among other changes, provided
that a levy was required to be made ‘upon all property and rights to
property * * * belonging to’ the taxpayer. The provision authorizing
levy is unchanged in the statute applicable here (section 3692).
Thus Congress enacted section 3710 with knowledge that for some
sixty years levy had been authorized in these cases. In section
3710, which provides a method of forcing a third person to surrender
property of the taxpayer for the payment of the taxes due, Congress
not only required that the property surrendered should have been
levied upon, but emphasized this provision by making the allowance
for costs and interest contained in subsection (b) run ‘from the
date of such levy.’ The property involved here falls within the
classes of property subject to distraint, section 3690, and is not
subject to an attachment or execution; but the record fails to show
that levy has been made.
The stipulation covering levy is as follows:
‘That one Giles Kavanagh, the duly appointed, qualified and acting
Collector of Internal Revenue for the District of Michigan, on
September 8, 1941, as said Collector, gave written notice to the
defendant LeRoy E. O'Dell that the tax assessment . . . totalling
$1,336.84, including interest thereon, were unpaid and due and
further notified the defendant that all property, rights to
property, moneys, credits and/or bank deposits then in his
possession or under his control and belonging to said Howie Company,
and all sums of money owing from the defendant to said Howie
Company, were seized and levied upon for the payment of said taxes,
together with penalties and interest, and demand was then made upon
the defendant for the sum of $1,336.84, or such lesser sum as he was
then indebted to said Howie Company, to be applied in payment of
said tax liabilities.’
[2]
This paragraph describes a mere statement or notice of claim.
Nothing alleged to have been done amounts to a levy, which requires
that the property be brought into legal custody through seizure,
actual or constructive, levy being ‘an absolute appropriation in law
of the property levied upon.’
Rio Grande R. Co. v. Gomila, 132 U.S. 478, 10 S.Ct. 155, 33 L.Ed.
400;
In re Weinger, Bergman & Co., D.C., 126 F. 875, 877;
Smith v. Packard, 7 Cir., 98 F. 793.
Levy is not effected by mere notice. Hollister v. Goodale, 8
Conn. 332, 21 Am.Dec. 674;
Meyer v. Missouri Glass Co., 65 Ark. 286, 45 S.W. 1062,
67 Am.St.Rep. 927;
Jones v. Howard, 99 Ga. 451, 27 S.E. 765,
59 Am.St.Rep. 231.
[3]
Section 3692 does not prescribe any procedure for accomplishing a
levy upon a bank account. The method followed in the cases is that
of issuing warrants of distraint, making the bank a party, and
serving with the notice of levy copy of the warrants of distraint
and notice of lien. Cf.
Commonwealth Bank v. United States, 6 Cir., 115 F.2d 327;
United States v. Bank of United States, D.C., 5 F.Supp. 942, 944.
No warrants of distraint were issued here.
The cases relied on by the Government as supporting recovery under
section 3710
*308 arise in the main out of situations where a bank has
been sued, or joined as a party to an action claiming a bank
deposit. No such procedure was followed in this case. Moreover, it
does not appear that notice and demand were served upon the person
liable to pay the taxes, namely, the Howie Company, in accordance
with sections 3670 and 3690. This being the case, query, whether the
property or rights to property were within the meaning of section
3710 ‘subject to distraint,’ for under section 3690 the right to
collect the taxes by distraint and sale arises only after notice and
demand.
[4]
It would seem to require not much exposition to demonstrate that
when the sovereign establishes any priority in its favor, and
imposes certain conditions upon the enforcement of that right, it is
required to comply with the conditions which it has laid down. Since
no levy was made upon the funds involved, one of the jurisdictional
prerequisites for the application of section 3710 is lacking, and
the complaint was rightly dismissed. Cf.
United States v. Etna Life Ins. Co. of Hartford, Conn., D.C., 46
F.Supp. 30, 37.
The judgment is affirmed.
FN1. Section 3710, I.R.C.
‘(a) * * * Any person in possession of property, or rights to
property, subject to distraint, upon which a levy has been made,
shall, upon demand by the collector or deputy collector making
such levy, surrender such property or rights to such collector
or deputy, unless such property or right is, at the time of such
demand, subject to an attachment or execution under any judicial
process.
‘(b) * * * Any person who fails or refuses to so surrender any
of such property or rights shall be liable in his own person and
estate to the United States in a sum equal to the value of the
property or rights not so surrendered, but not exceeding the
amount of the taxes (including penalties and interest) for the
collection of which such levy has been made, together with costs
and interest from the date of such levy.’
Section 3670, I.R.C.
‘If any person liable to pay any tax neglects or refuses to pay
the same after demand, the amount (including any interest,
penalty, additional amount, or addition to such tax, together
with any costs that may accrue in addition thereto) shall be a
lien in favor of the United States upon all property and rights
to property, whether real or personal, belonging to such
person.’
Section 3671, I.R.C.
‘Unless another date is specifically fixed by law, the lien
shall arise at the time the assessment list was received by the
collector and shall continue until the liability for such amount
is satisfied or becomes unenforceable by reason of lapse of
time.’
Section 3672, I.R.C.
‘(a) * * * Such lien shall not be valid as against any
mortgagee, pledgee, purchaser, or judgment creditor until notice
thereof has been filed by the collector- * * * .’
Section 3690, I.R.C.
‘If any person liable to pay any taxes neglects or refuses to
pay the same within ten days after notice and demand, it shall
be lawful for the collector or his deputy to collect the said
taxes, with such interest and other additional amounts as are
required by law, by distraint and sale, in the manner provided
in this subchapter, of the goods, chattels, or effects,
including stocks, securities, bank accounts, and evidences of
debt, of the person delinquent as aforesaid.’
Section 3692, I.R.C.
‘In case of neglect or refusal under section 3690, the collector
may levy, or by warrant may authorize a deputy collector to
levy, upon all property and rights to property, except such as
are exempt by the preceding section, belonging to such person,
or on which the lieu provided in section 3670 exists, for the
payment of the sum due, with interest and penalty for
nonpayment, and also of such further sum as shall be sufficient
for the fees, costs, and expenses of such levy’.
Section 3466, R.S., 31 U.S.C. § 191, 31 U.S.C.A. § 191.
‘Whenever any person indebted to the United States is insolvent,
or whenever the estate of any deceased debtor, in the hands of
the executors or administrators, is insufficient to pay all the
debts due from the deceased, the debts due to the United States
shall be first satisfied; and the priority established shall
extend as well to cases in which a debtor, not having sufficient
property to pay all his debts, makes a voluntary assignment
thereof, or in which the estate and effects of an absconding,
concealed, or absent debtor are attached by process of law, as
to cases in which an act of bankruptcy is committed.’[United
States v. O'Dell, 160 F.2d 304 (1947)]
The
procedure of accomplishing a levy may be spelled out from the reported
cases. A ‘levy’ requires that property be brought into legal
custody through seizure, actual or constructive, levy being an absolute
appropriation in law of the property levied on, and mere notice of
intent to levy is insufficient.
United
States
v. O'Dell, 6 Cir., 1947, 160 F.2d 304, 307. Accord,
In re Holdsworth, D.C.N.J.1953, 113 F.Supp. 878, 888;
United
States
v. Aetna
Life Ins. Co. of Hartford, Conn., D.C.Conn. 1942,
146
F.Supp.
30, 37, in which Judge Hincks observed that he could ‘find
no
statute
which says that a mere notice shall constitute a ‘levy.“ There are cases
which hold that a warrant for distraint is necessary to constitute a
levy.
Givan v. Cripe, 7 Cir., 1951, 187 F.2d 225;
United
States
v. O'Dell, supra. The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit stated
in its opinion,
221 F.2d at page 642, ‘These sections [26 U.S.C. §§ 3690-3697]
require that a levy by a deputy collector be accompanied by warrants of
distraint.’ In re Brokol Manufacturing Co., supra.
Research has not disclosed any case which deals with the precise issue
here involved relating to the right of the Collector to retain
possession of a bankrupt's assets so that he may assert additional
warrants. In the case of
Brust v. Sturr, D.C.S.D.N.Y.1955, 128 F.Supp. 188, reversed in part
2 Cir., 1956, 237 F.2d 135, the facts are somewhat similar to the
instant matter, except that the Government had failed to issue warrants
for the full amount of taxes due. The trustee instituted a plenary
action for the surplus realized from a sale under authority of the three
warrants which had been issued and levied upon. The Government defended
by invoking the set-off provisions of § 68 of the Bankruptcy Act,
11 U.S.C.A. § 108. Judge Palmieri held for the trustee. The Court of
Appeals sustained as to the ‘set-off’ aspect of the case, but reversed
on other aspects. On reading the appeal decision several times, it is
not clear on what grounds the District Court was reversed. Nonetheless,
the court concluded that the Government's status as a lienor was
perfected by a lawful acquisition of possession of the property. Only in
the appeals decision do we read that blanket warrants for distraint were
levied upon, and apparently these covered all taxes assessed, and hence
the surplus realized from the sale could be retained. Even so, it is
worthwhile to note the liability of the Collector as the court saw it:
‘On the
intervention of bankruptcy the Collector was subject only to a
contingent liability, viz., to account to the bankrupt for so much of
his property as should not be required to satisfy the lien under process
of enforcement by distraint.’
237 F.2d 135, 137. (Emphasis supplied.)
The
case at bar and the Brust decision were analyzed by Professor
Seligson who concluded:
‘On the
merits the answer is not at all clear in either of the two cases. If, as
has been said, service of the warrants of distraint is a jurisdictional
prerequisite, then the Government must lose. A taking of possession of
excess property without statutory authorization should not confer
greater rights on the Government than a failure to levy with respect to
the excess. The Government*386
simply has no lien on the excess property, which has been converted into
cash, and it cannot avail itself of the set-off provisions of section
68.’ 1955 Annual Survey of Amer.Law, 31 N.Y.U.Law R. 515, 529.
Attention is directed to the retention by the defendant of proceeds from
accounts receivable of Brokol. Although defendant denied in his answer
that he collected these accounts, evidence was submitted which
establishes the fact that such collections constitute part of the monies
received by the District Director.FN3
Counsel argued the question of whether or not accounts receivable were
subject to distraint and sale and to levy. Section 3692, 26 U.S.C.A.,
states that:
‘In
case of neglect or refusal under section 3690, the collector may levy,
or by warrant may authorize the deputy collector to levy, upon all
property and rights to property, except such as are exempt by the
preceding section, belonging to such person, or on which the lien
provided in section 3670 exists * * *.’
The
courts which have had occasion to construe the scope of this section are
not in agreement. Generally the question arises from an attempted levy
upon the proceeds of the delinquent taxpayer's insurance policy. Judge
Hincks in
United
States
v. Aetna
Life Ins. Co of Hartford, Conn., D.C.Conn.1942, 46 F.Supp. 30, 36,
has stated that 3692 does not broadly subject ‘all property,’ which
under § 3670 is subject to lien, also to levy. He concludes that the
levy under § 3692 is limited to corporeal personal property except as
otherwise provided in the same section. By contrast, the court in
Cannon v. Nicholas, 10 Cir., 1935, 80 F.2d 934, 936, observed:
‘We do
not believe, in the light of the sweeping language used throughout these
statutes, that Congress intended to limit distraint to tangible property
and to the specified classes of intangibles. No reason is apparent why
‘stocks and securities' should be subject to levy and an annuity
contract not.’
See
also
United
States
v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 2 Cir., 1942, 130 F.2d 149. There is
abundant authority holding, however, that a lien for taxes provided for
by
26 U.S.C.A. 1 3670 can be asserted against intangible property, such
as a debt.FN4 As with
corporeal personal property, the problems of the procedure of acquiring
possession of intangible property subject to federal tax lien are found
in this area of the law. There is conflict among the circuits as to the
proper way to assert the lien. The Fourth Circuit, disagreeing with the
SixthFN5 and Seventh,FN6
has ruled that
*387 where the Government has made a levy upon an indebtedness to
the taxpayer, service of notice by the Government upon the taxpayer's
debtor is sufficient
United
States
v. Eiland, 4 Cir., 1955, 223 F.2d 118, 121. The cases of the
circuits noted in opposition insist that a warrant for distraint is
necessary in addition to the notice to the debtor. In the view of the
courts taking the latter position, a levy is a jurisdictional
prerequisite.
Judge
Smith of this District has subscribed to the view that a levy is a
jurisdictional prerequisite. He has noted that ‘where, as here, the
subject matter is an account receivable or chose in action, the seizure
may be effected by a levy and the service of a warrant of distraint upon
the debtor.’
In re Holdsworth, D.C.N.J.1953, 113 F.Supp. 878, 880, citing the
O'Dell and Cripe cases.
In the
case at bar, defendant asserts that the filing of the liens in the
Register's Office of Essex County constituted adequate notice to the
debtors of Brokol. There was no notice to the taxpayer's debtors, which
the Eiland case demanded as a minimum, to say nothing of warrants
for distraint accompanying such notice which the courts in the O'Dell
and Cripe cases deemed indispensable. It should also be mentioned
that the accounts receivable were not listed on the inventory compiled
and signed by the Collector.FN7
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