[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 26, Volume 18]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 26CFR301.6343-2]

[Page 309-310]
 
                       TITLE 26--INTERNAL REVENUE
 
    CHAPTER I--INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 
                               (CONTINUED)
 
PART 301_PROCEDURE AND ADMINISTRATION--Table of Contents
 
               Seizure of Property for Collection of Taxes
 
Sec. 301.6343-2  Return of wrongfully levied upon property.

    (a) Return of property--(1) General rule. If the district director, 
service center director, or compliance center director (the director) 
determines that property has been wrongfully levied upon, the director 
may return--
    (i) The specific property levied upon;
    (ii) An amount of money equal to the amount of money levied upon; or
    (iii) An amount of money equal to the amount of money received by 
the United States from a sale of the property.
    (2) Time of return. If the United States is in possession of 
specific property, the property may be returned at any time. An amount 
equal to the amount of money levied upon or received from a sale of the 
property may be returned at any time before the expiration of 9 months 
from the date of the levy. When a request described in paragraph (b) of 
this section is filed for the return of property before the expiration 
of 9 months from the date of levy, an amount of money may be returned 
after a reasonable period of time subsequent to the expiration of the 9-
month period if necessary for the investigation and processing of such 
request.
    (3) Specific property. In general the specific property levied upon 
will be returned whenever possible. For this purpose, money that is 
specifically identifiable, as in the case of a coin collection which may 
be worth substantially more than its face value, is treated as specific 
property.
    (4) Purchase by United States. For purposes of paragraph (a)(1)(iii) 
of this section, if property is declared purchased by the United States 
at a sale pursuant to section 6335(e), the United States is treated as 
having received an amount of money equal to the minimum price determined 
by the director before the sale or, if larger, the amount received by 
the United States from the resale of the property.
    (b) Request for return of property. A written request for the return 
of property wrongfully levied upon must be addressed to the district 
director (marked for the attention of the Chief, Special Procedures 
Staff) for the Internal Revenue district in which the levy was made. The 
written request must contain the following information--
    (1) The name and address of the person submitting the request;
    (2) A detailed description of the property levied upon;

[[Page 310]]

    (3) A description of the claimant's basis for claiming an interest 
in the property levied upon; and
    (4) The name and address of the taxpayer, the originating Internal 
Revenue district, and the date of the levy as shown on the notice of 
levy form, or levy form, or, in lieu thereof, a statement of the reasons 
why such information cannot be furnished.
    (c) Inadequate request. A request for the return of property 
wrongfully levied upon will not be considered adequate unless it is a 
written request containing the information required by paragraph (b) of 
this section. However, unless a notification is mailed by the director 
to the claimant within 30 days of receipt of the request to inform the 
claimant of the inadequacies, any written request will be considered 
adequate. If the director timely notifies the claimant of the 
inadequacies of his request, the claimant has 30 days from the receipt 
of the notification of inadequacy to supply in writing any omitted 
information. Where the omitted information is so supplied within the 30-
day period, the request will be considered to be adequate from the time 
the original request was made for purposes of determining the applicable 
period of limitation upon suit under section 6532(c).
    (d) Payment of interest. Interest is paid at the overpayment rate 
established under section 6621--
    (1) In the case of money returned under paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this 
section, from the date the director received the money to a date (to be 
determined by the director) preceding the date of return by not more 
than 30 days; or
    (2) In the case of money returned under paragraph (a)(1)(iii) of 
this section, from the date of the sale of the property to a date (to be 
determined by the director) preceding the date of return by not more 
than 30 days.
    (e) Effective date. This section is effective as of December 30, 
1994.

[T.D. 8587, 59 FR 37, Jan. 3, 1995]