Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200922053

CCA 200922053: Levy exemptions and tax-lien superpriorities were separate protections

Number
200922053
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Property Exempt From Levy; Validity and Priority of Lien Against Mortgagees, Pledgees, Purchasers, and Judgment Creditors (Valid v. Invalid)
Topics
Procedure, penalties, and administration
Code sections
§ 6334, § 6323
Ruling dated
April 29, 2009
Publicly released
May 29, 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.

Currency note: this determination was released in 2009
Statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later IRS guidance may have changed the analysis since then. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, threshold, or position mentioned here.
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 summarized two kinds of protection relevant to federal tax collection. Section 6334 exempts certain property from levy, with examples including clothing, school books, specified personal effects, workers' compensation, and support judgments for minor children. Separately, section 6323(b) provides priority over a federal tax lien for specified interests regardless of when they arose. The email reproduced a training-manual list of those interest categories, including certain purchases, possessory liens, real-property tax liens, attorney liens, insurance contracts, and deposit-secured loans. It did not apply those categories to a developed set of claimant facts.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: What distinction separates property exempt from levy from interests with priority over a federal tax lien?
  • Outcome: Advice given: levy exemptions protect specified property, while superpriorities protect specified competing interests.
  • Key authorities: IRC §§ 6334, 6323(b).

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2009042910293220 Number: 200922053
Release Date: 5/29/2009
Office: ----------------------------
UILC: 6334.00-00, 6323.00-00

From: ------------------
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 10:29:34 AM
To: ----------------------
Cc:
Subject: RE: SITLP - MN Claimant Info

------------

Section 6334 lists property that is exempt from levy. The following are some items that are exempt from levy: wearing apparel and school books; fuel, provisions, furniture, and personal effects up to a certain amount; workmen's compensation, judgments for support of minor children; and other similar types of items. There are also superpriorities - where an interest has priority over the federal tax lien regardless of when (in time) such interest arose. The below text is from a training manual. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
--------

SUPERPRIORITIES - I.R.C. ' 6323(b)

A
A superpriority is an interest having priority over the federal tax lien
regardless of when (in time) such interest arose.

B
Interest Classification

1. Securities.
2. Motor vehicles.
3. Personal property purchased at retail.
4. Personal property purchased in casual sale.
5. Personal property subject to possessory lien.
6. Real property tax and special assessment liens.
7. Residential property subject to mechanic's lien for repairs and improvements.
8. Attorney's liens.
9. Insurance contracts.
10. Deposit-secured loans.

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