CCA 200909055: Lien notice timing depends on the type of property

Number

200909055

Outcome

Advice

Document type

Chief Counsel Advice

IRS subject

LIENS: Administrative procedures

Topics

Income and deductions

Code sections

§ 6320, § 6323

Ruling dated

December 17, 2008

Publicly released

February 27, 2009

Source

View Official PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page covers legal advice the IRS Office of Chief Counsel wrote for IRS staff, issued in 2009, which can't be cited as precedent. Ask about your situation and see what the current Code and IRS guidance say, with citations.

Not precedent. Under 26 U.S.C. § 6110(k)(3), this written determination may not be used or cited as precedent. It is advice from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel to IRS personnel on the facts they presented, and identifying details were redacted by the IRS before release. The official IRS release (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source.

About this page: The plain-English summary and ruling snapshot below were written by Ezel based on the official IRS release. The full text is the IRS's own document.

View official IRS release (PDF)

Plain-English summary

Chief Counsel advised when the five-day lien-notice period under section 6320 begins. For real property, section 6323(f)(4) can make a federal tax lien notice ineffective until it is entered and recorded in the public index. For personal property, there is no comparable indexing requirement, so the advice treats the lien notice as filed when the IRS submits it rather than when a local recorder records it.

Ruling snapshot

Question: What event starts the five-day notice period after filing a federal tax lien notice?
Outcome: Advice given: the triggering event differs for real and personal property because only real-property liens may depend on public indexing.
Key authorities: IRC §§ 6320 and 6323(f)(4).

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA-121701-08 Number: 200909055
Release Date: 2/27/2009
Office: --------------
UILC: 51.02.00-00

From: ----------------
Sent: [December 17, 2008]
To: ------------------
Cc: ----------------
Subject: 6320 start time for 5 day notice of lien filing

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I believe that what starts the five-day period depends on whether we're talking about a lien against real property or a lien against personal property. IRC section 6323(f)(4) indicates that, with respect to real property, a notice of federal tax lien is not valid in some instances until it is "entered and recorded" in the public index described therein. This is reflected in proposed amendments to the regulations under section 6323. See 73 FR 20877-01, 2008-19 IRB 911 (April 17, 2008). By implication, because there is no indexing requirement for liens against personal property, the lien would be deemed "filed" under section 6323 (and, accordingly, under section 6320) on the date the IRS purports to file it, rather than on the date the local recorder records the lien.

I hope this resolves your question. If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to call or e- mail me.

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