licly posted at the post-office, if there be one within five miles nearest to the residence of the person whose property shall be distrained, and in not less than two other public places. Such notice shall specify the articles distrained, and the time and place for the sale thereof. Such time shall not be less than ten nor more than twenty days from the date of such notification to the owner or possessor of the property and the publication or posting of such notice as herein provided, and the place proposed for the sale shall not be more than five miles distant from the place of making such distraint. Said sale may be adjourned from time to time by said officer, if he deems it advisable, but not for a time to exceed in all thirty days. SEC. 3191. When property subject to tax, but upon which the tax has not been paid, is seized upon distraint and sold, the amount of such tax shall, after deducting the expenses of such sale, be first appropriated out of the proceeds thereof to the payment of the tax. And if no assessment of such tax has been made upon such property, the collector shall make a return thereof in the form required by law, and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall assess the tax thereon. When property When prop erty sold un may be purchased for United States, etc. SEC. 3192. When any property advertised for sale under distraint, as aforesaid, is of a kind der distraint subject to tax, and the tax has not been paid, and the amount bid for such property is not equal to the amount of the tax, the collector may purchase the same in behalf of the United States for an amount not exceeding the said tax. All property so purchased may be sold by the collector, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The collector shall render to the commissioner a distinct account of all charges incurred in such sales, and, in case of sale, shall pay into the treasury the surplus, if any there be, after defraying all lawful charges and fees. SEC. 3193. In any case of distraint for the payment of the taxes aforesaid, the goods, chat Property dis restored on trained to be payment be fore sale. tels, or effects so distrained shall be restored to the owner or possessor, if, prior to the sale, payment of the amount due is made to the proper officer charged with the collection, together with the fees and other charges; but in case of non-payment as aforesaid, the said officers shall proceed to sell the said goods, chattels, or effects at public auction, and shall retain from the proceeds of such sale the amount demandable for the use of the United States, and a commission of five per centum thereon for his own use, with the fees and charges for distraint and sale, rendering the overplus, if any there be, to the person who may be entitled to receive the same. tificate of sale sold under SEC. 3194. In all cases of sale, as aforesaid, the certificate of such sale shall be prima facie Effect of cerevidence of the right of the officer to make of property such sale, and conclusive evidence of the reg- distraint. ularity of his proceedings in making the sale, and shall transfer to the purchaser all right, title, and interest of such delinquent in and to the property sold; and where such property consists of stocks, said certificate shall be notice, when received, to any corporation, company, or association, of said transfer, and shall be authority to such corporation, company, or association to record the same on their books and records in the same manner as if transferred or assigned by the party holding the same, in lieu of any original or prior certificates, which shall be void, whether canceled or not. And said cer tificates, where the subject of sale is securities or other evidences of debt, shall be good and valid receipts to the person holding the same, as against any person holding, or claiming to hold, possession of such securities or other evidences of debt. When property distrained SEC. 3195. When any property liable to distraint for taxes is not divisible, so as to enable the is not divisible. collector by a sale of part thereof to raise the whole amount of the tax, with all costs, charges, and commissions, the whole of such property shall be sold, and the surplus of the proceeds of the sale, after satisfying the tax, costs, and charges, shall be paid to the person legally entitled to receive the same; or, if he cannot be found, or refuses to receive the same, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States, to be there held for his use until he makes application therefor to the Secretary of the Treasury, who, upon such application and satisfactory proofs in support thereof, shall, by warrant on the treasury, cause the same to be paid to the applicant. When real es SEC. 3196. When goods, chattels, or effects sufficient to satisfy the taxes imposed upon any sold to satisfy person are not found by the collector or deputy collector, he is authorized to collect the tate may be taxes. same by seizure and sale of real estate. Proceedings sale of real estate for taxes. SEC. 3197, as amended by Sec. 2, act March 1, 1879 (20 Stat. 327.) The officer making the seizure for seizure and mentioned in the preceding section shall give notice to the person whose estate it is proposed to sell by giving him in hand, or leaving at his last or usual place of abode, if he has any such within the collection district where said estate is situated, a notice, in writing, stating what particular estate is to be sold, describing the same with reasonable cer tainty, and the time when and place where said officer proposes to sell the same; which time shall not be less than twenty nor more than forty days from the time of giving said notice. The said officer shall also cause a notification to the same effect to be published in some newspaper within the county where such seizure is made, if any such there be, and shall also cause a like notice to be posted at the post-office nearest to the estate seized, and in two other public places within the county; and the place of said sale shall not be more than five miles distant from the estate seized, except by special order of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. At the time and place appointed, the officer making such seizure shall proceed to sell the said estate at public auction, offering the same at a minimum price, including the expense of making such levy, and all charges for advertising and an officer's fee of ten dollars. When the real estate so seized consists of several distinct tracts or parcels, the officer making sale thereof shall offer each tract or parcel for sale separately, and shall, if he deem it advisable, apportion the expenses, charges, and fees aforesaid to such several tracts or parcels, or to any of them, in estimating the minimum price aforesaid. If no person offers for said Purchases for estate the amount of said minimum price, the States. officer shall declare the same to be purchased by him for the United States; otherwise the same shall be declared to be sold to the highest bidder. pur the United Deed to the And in case the same shall be declared to be purchased for the United States, the officer shall immediately transmit a certificate of the chase to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and, at the proper time, as hereafter provided, shall execute a deed therefor, after its preparation and the indorse ment of approval as to its form by the United States district attorney for the district in which the property is situate, and shall without delay cause the same to be duly recorded in the proper registry of deeds, and immediately thereafter shall transmit such deed to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Adjournment of sale. And said sale may be adjourned from time to time by said officer for not exceeding thirty days in all, if he shall think it advisable so to do. If the amount bid shall not be then and there paid, the officer shall forthwith proceed to again sell said estate in the same manner. purchase and And it is hereby provided, That all certificates of purchase, and deeds of property purchased by the United States under the internal revenue laws, on sales Certificate of for taxes, or under executions issued from deeds. United States courts, which now are, or hereafter may be, found in the office of any collector, United States marshal, or United States district attorney, shall be immediately transmitted by such officers respectively to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. And it is hereby further provided, That for the preparation and approval by the United States district at U. S. Attorney's fees. torney of each deed as above required, a fee of five dollars shall be allowed to that officer, to be paid by the United States, and which he shall account for in his emolument returns. Illegal sale of real estate for taxes under Sec. 3197. United States v. Hess, 5 Sawyer, 533. If property is bid in for taxes it extinguishes the debt, and suit cannot be maintained on the bond. United States v. Triplet, 22 Int. Rev. Rec. 207; Wilson v. United States, 118 U. S. 86. For regulations in regard to seizure and sale of real estate for taxes, see Series 7, No. 12, Revised, p. 41 et seq. |