Title 27

SECTION 70.162

70.162 Levy and distraint on salary and wages.

§ 70.162 Levy and distraint on salary and wages.

(a) Notice of intent to levy. Levy may be made for any unpaid tax only after the appropriate TTB officer has notified the taxpayer in writing of the intent to levy. The notice must be given in person, left at the dwelling or usual place of business of the taxpayer, or be sent by certified or registered mail to the taxpayer's last known address, no less than 30 days before the day of levy. The notice of intent to levy is in addition to, and may be given at the same time as, the notice and demand described in § 70.161 of this part.

(b) Jeopardy. Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to a levy if the appropriate TTB officer has made a finding under § 70.161(a)(2) of this part that the collection of tax is in jeopardy.

(c) Continuing effect of levy on salary or wages. A levy on salary or wages is continuous from the time of the levy until the liability out of which the levy arose is released under 26 U.S.C. 6343 and § 70.167 of this part. For this purpose, the term “salary or wages” includes compensation for services paid in the form of fees, commissions, bonuses, and similar items. The levy attaches to both salary or wages earned but not yet paid at the time of the levy, and salary or wages earned and becoming payable (or paid in the form of an advance) subsequent to the date of the levy, until the levy is released pursuant to paragraph (d) of this section. In general, salaries or wages that are the subject of a continuing levy, if not exempt from levy under 26 U.S.C. 6334(a) (8) or (9), become payable to the officer who made the levy as the payor would otherwise be obligated to pay over the money to the taxpayer. For example, if the wage earner is paid on the Wednesday following the close of each workweek, a levy made upon the taxpayer's employer on any Monday would reach both the wages due for the prior workweek and the wages for succeeding workweeks as such wages become payable. In such a case the levy would be satisfied if the employer, on the first Wednesday after the levy and on each Wednesday thereafter, pays over to the officer who made the levy wages which would otherwise be paid to the employee on such Wednesday, until the employer receives a notice of release from levy described in paragraph (d) of this section. See, however, § 70.245(d) of this part for rules which permit a delayed payment to the officer who made the levy in certain cases where amounts payable to the taxpayer are exempt from levy under 26 U.S.C. 6334 (a)(9) and (d).

(d) Release and notice of release from levy. The officer who made the levy will promptly release a continuing levy on salary or wages when the conditions of 26 U.S.C. 6343 are met. The officer who made the levy will also promptly notify the person upon whom the levy was made that it has been released.

(26 U.S.C. 6331)