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Will the IRS Take My Home?

Posted on Feb. 13, 2019

LITC practitioners hear recurring worries from taxpayers with IRS problems: will I go to jail? will the IRS take my home? For the vast majority of people who owe taxes, the answer to both questions is no. Someone who simply owes a tax debt usually does not need to worry about going to jail or having their home taken by the IRS. However, this is not to say it never happens. There are perhaps one or two cases per month reported on daily tax news services, and the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2017 Annual Report to Congress identified 60 opinions in that fiscal year involving section 7403. Recent cases illustrate the steps the government must take and the factors courts consider when evaluating a request to foreclose.

The government has two separate legal mechanisms to seize a taxpayer’s home in order to collect a tax debt. The National Taxpayer Advocate explains in her 2017 ARC Purple Book:

The IRS has two options, which cannot be used concurrently, to collect against the principal residence of a taxpayer or a residence that is owned by the taxpayer but occupied by the taxpayer’s spouse, former spouse, or minor child. One option is to obtain a court order allowing administrative seizure of a principal residence under IRC § 6334(e)(1). … The other option is a suit to foreclose the federal tax lien against a principal residence under IRC § 7403.

The IRS makes use of both options, by way of making a recommendation and referral to the Department of Justice Tax Division, which represents the IRS in Federal District Court. The IRM explains that

[s]uits should still be brought to foreclose the federal tax lien and reduce the tax liability to judgment in lieu of bringing a section 6334(e)(1) proceeding whenever it is determined that such suits would be optimal. A lien foreclosure suit may be preferable to a section 6334(e)(1) proceeding when there are questions regarding title or lien priority that create an unfavorable market for administrative sale. See 35.6.3.2 for discussion of lien foreclosure suits. A lien foreclosure suit may also be a specific option when the collection statute of limitations is about to run.

34.6.2.5.1 (06-12-2012), Procedures for Instituting a 6334(e)(1) Proceeding.  So, taxpayer representatives should be familiar with the requirements for both actions.

Administrative seizure with judicial approval

In August of 2018, Keith blogged about an Eighth Circuit decision under section 6334, United States v. Brabant-Scribner, No. 17-2825 (8th Cir. Aug. 17, 2018). Keith explains:

The 1998 Restructuring and Reform Act added IRC 6334(e)(1)(A) to require that prior to seizing a taxpayer’s principal residence the IRS must obtain the approval of a federal district court judge or magistrate in writing. Before the passage of this provision, the IRS could seize a taxpayer’s home with the same amount of prior approval needed to seize any other asset owned by the taxpayer. No approval was necessary to seize any asset of the taxpayer.

The government has adopted Treasury Regulation 301.6334-1(d) incorporating additional procedures and standards. Keith summarizes:

To convince the court to allow the sale of a personal residence, the IRS must show compliance with all legal and procedural requirements, show the debt remains unpaid and show that “no reasonable alternative” for collection of the debt exists.

… the taxpayer has a right to object after the IRS makes its initial showing and “will be granted a hearing to rebut the Government’s prima facie case if the taxpayer … rais[es] a genuine issue of material fact demonstrating … other assets from which the liability can be satisfied.”

Also, the regulation provides for written notice to family members and occupants of the property.

Unfortunately for taxpayers, judicial approval may not be difficult for the IRS to obtain despite the above standards and procedures. In Brabant-Scribner, the court reasoned that an alternative “for collection” must provide for payment of the debt; therefore, it held that the IRS was not required to consider the taxpayer’s offer in compromise. Similar reasoning has been followed by other courts. E.g. United States v. Gower, No. 3:16-cv-01247 (M.D. Fla. Jul. 10, 2018). Nevertheless, the administrative collection statutes and regulations provide some procedural protections for the taxpayer and certain family members living in a home owned by the taxpayer. IRM procedures also provide significant safeguards, which the National Taxpayer Advocate has recommended that Congress codify in section 7403.

Suit to foreclose judgment lien

The government’s second option, if it seeks to seize a taxpayer’s home, is to foreclose the federal tax lien by filing suit pursuant to section 7403. Les has discussed section 7403 previously, and I will borrow his summary:

Under Section 7403, a federal district court can “determine the merits of all claims to and liens upon the property, and, in all cases where a claim or interest of the United States therein is established, may decree a sale of such property,…, and a distribution of the proceeds of such sale according to the findings of the court.

Yet that power to force a sale and distribution of the proceeds is limited. In the 1983 case US v Rodgers the Supreme Court said that while the government has broad discretion to force a sale, “Section 7403 does not require a district court to authorize a forced sale under absolutely all circumstances, and that some limited room is left in the statute for the exercise of reasoned discretion.” Keith has discussed the application of Rodgers in prior posts here and here.

To assist courts in exercising that discretion, Rodgers identifies factors:

1) “the extent to which the Government’s financial interests would be prejudiced if it were relegated to a forced sale of the partial interest actually liable for the delinquent taxes[;]”

(2) “whether the third party with a nonliable separate interest in the property would, in the normal course of events (leaving aside § 7403 and eminent domain proceedings, of course), have a legally recognized expectation that that separate property would not be subject to forced sale by the delinquent taxpayer or his or her creditors[;]”

(3) “the likely prejudice to the third party, both in personal dislocation costs and … practical undercompensation [;]” and

(4) “the relative character and value of the nonliable and liable interests held in the property ….”

Once the government has decided to sue for foreclosure, the taxpayer and others hoping to prevent that outcome face an uphill battle. The government prevailed in 58 of the 60 cases identified by TAS in the 2017 Annual Report to Congress, and one case resulted in a split decision. The taxpayer prevailed in only one case. These lopsided statistics are consistent with prior years’ reports.

At times courts’ analysis of the Rodgers factors is cursory or nonexistent, but sometimes the factors do make a difference and judicial discretion is exercised. In United States v. Kwitney, No. 6:18-cv-1366-Orl-37TBS (M.D. Fla. Feb. 8, 2019), the district court rejected a magistrate’s recommendation in favor of foreclosure, because the interests of a third party had not yet been adjudicated.

A less happy outcome for the interested third party occurred on January 30 in United States v. Jackson, No. 3:16-cv-05096 (W.D. Mo. Jan. 30, 2019). Mr. Jackson’s wife jointly owned properties with him, but she was not liable for the tax debt. Unfortunately for her, Mrs. Jackson came to the court with unclean hands, having previously collaborated with Mr. Jackson in what the court found were fraudulent transfers of the property. The court nevertheless examined the Rodgers factors:

With respect to the first factor, the Court finds Plaintiff’s financial interests would be prejudiced if it were relegated to the forced sale of only Phil Jackson’s interest in the Properties. As a practical matter, if Plaintiff foreclosed on Phil Jackson’s interests only, Sharon Jackson retains her interests in the Properties. Thus, the sale of Phil Jackson’s interests would not decrease the judgment amount Phil Jackson owes to Plaintiff.

Translation: it will be hard, perhaps impossible, to find a buyer for Mr. Jackson’s half-interest in the property. The government is likely to collect nothing under this alternative.

With respect to the second factor, Sharon Jackson lacks an expectation that the Properties would not be subject to sale. Sharon Jackson, as owner with Phil Jackson, participated in the fraudulent transfers (since disclaimed) of the Properties. In the Court’s view, this conduct “tilts the balance of legal expectation against” her under this factor. United States v. Bierbrauer, 936 F.2d 373, 376 (8th Cir. 1991).

With respect to the third factor, Sharon Jackson will receive full compensation for her interests in the Properties. …

Finally, with respect to the fourth factor, because Phil Jackson’s and Sharon Jackson’s interests in the Properties are equal, forced sale could net Plaintiff as much as half the value of each of the properties to apply to the tax judgment against Phil Jackson. Under these circumstances, the Plaintiff is likely to recover more than “a fraction of the value of the property.” Bierbrauer, 936 F.2d at 375.

Mrs. Jackson also argued that if the properties were sold, she should receive half of the sale price before any of the sale expenses were deducted and before certain property tax liens were paid. The Court held against her on both counts. As co-owner Mrs. Jackson was equally liable for the property taxes, and the court reasoned that her legal interest in the property is subject to those liens. Regarding the administrative costs of sale,

[The Jacksons] cite no legal authority for the premise that the sale costs for the Properties should be borne by Plaintiff. Thus, the Court relies on “the Government’s paramount interest in prompt and certain collection of delinquent taxes” to conclude that Plaintiff net proceeds from the sale of the Properties should be distributed to PALS first. Rodgers, 461 U.S. at 712.

The government’s “paramount interest” certainly makes these cases very difficult for taxpayers and their family members to win.

The bottom line

The case numbers are low: the government probably won’t try to seize your home for back taxes. However, it’s in taxpayers’ interests to resolve their collection disputes rather than ignore the IRS. And certainly, don’t try any funny business with fraudulent transfers.

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