Federal Tax Collection Procedure — Liens, Levies, Suits and Third Party Liability (Portfolio 637)

Bloomberg Tax Portfolio, Federal Tax Collection Procedure — Liens, Levies, Suits and Third Party Liability, No. 637, analyzes in-depth the procedures followed by the IRS in collecting outstanding tax liabilities. Beginning with assessment of tax, notice and demand, and nonpayment by a taxpayer, the federal tax lien arises and attaches to all of the taxpayer's property and rights to property. In addition to the federal tax lien, there are other administrative collection devices that the IRS uses to enforce collection of unpaid tax liabilities. These include the federal tax levy and seizure and sale of a taxpayer's property. The IRS may also enforce collection of tax liabilities by instituting judicial proceedings. This Portfolio includes a detailed discussion of all of the administrative and judicial collections procedures available to the IRS.

When the IRS enforces collection of taxes against the taxpayer's property, the interests of the taxpayer's creditors or others with claims or interests in this property may be affected. This Portfolio reviews the rules governing the priority of such competing interests. Under certain circumstances, third parties may also be responsible for payment of the taxpayer's tax liabilities. Third-party liability for payment of a taxpayer's tax liability is analyzed in detail in this Portfolio.

Taxpayers are not without defenses to enforced tax collection by the IRS. Taxpayers (and, in some situations, other third parties) have a variety of administrative and judicial procedures available to postpone or curtail collection activity by the IRS. Some of these procedures are discussed in this Portfolio. A more extensive analysis of the taxpayer's defenses is included in 638 T.M., Federal Tax Collection Procedure — Defensive Measures.