Congress should update IRC 6334(a)(2), Property exempt From Levy, as follows:

    So much of the fuel, provisions, furniture, and personal effects of
    a taxpayer's household and of the arms for personal use, livestock,
    poultry, and other animals of the taxpayer's household as does not
    exceed $20,000 in value.

Congress should rewrite IRC 6334(a)(3), Exemption from Levy for Books and Tools of a Trade, Business, or Profession, as follows:

    So much of the books, tools, machinery, equipment and other property
    necessary for the trade, business or profession of a taxpayer, other
    than a corporation, as do not exceed in the aggregate $10,000 in value.

Reasons for Change:

Until the passage of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, the exemptions of $500 for fuel, provisions, furniture and personal effects, and $250 for the books and tools of a trade, business or profession had not changed since the adoption of the 1954 code. Even though these exemptions were recently raised to $ 1,500 and $ 1,000, respectively, they still provide absolutely no protection for any taxpayers since they do not reflect the substantial increases in the cost of living since 1954.

The present law derives largely from an 1866 statute (Rev. Stat. 187) enacted primarily to collect excise taxes on cotton. Exemptions were allowed at $50 for fuel, $50 in provisions, and $300 in furniture, a total of $400 which today is only exempted for $1,500. In 1866 the books, tools or implements of a trade or profession were exempted at $100; compare that to today's exemption of $1,000.

Section 6334(a)(2) presently only applies to a head of a household, meaning that such items are not exempted for single persons. In today's society where many taxpayers are single, and where increasing focus is placed upon the discriminatory aspects of our laws, the Congress should not allow this bias to continue.

The exemption allowed in IRC 6334(a)(2) should be raised to a level that would protect the average middle-class taxpayer's entire household effects. While the IRS has not made it a practice to enter into taxpayers' houses for the purpose of seizing property, the Supreme Court's G.M. Leasing decision now provides an opportunity for the IRS to obtain a court-ordered Writ of Entry to do so. Under the Writ procedure the IRS is granted powers equivalent to a search warrant. Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (Title IX U. S. C. ) is the sole authority for the issuance, execution and return of federal search warrants, and does not authorize entry upon private premises to search for property to be seized for distraint purposes.

Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that such a search and seizure is permissible with the proper court-ordered Writ, the IRS now has the power to enter a taxpayer's residence and seize everything in the household but $1,500 worth of property, a paltry, insignificant sum. The IRS should not have the authority to seize and sell almost everything a taxpayer owns. The $20,000 limitation would be sufficient to protect almost every household in the country.

Section 6334(a)(3) should be changed to encompass other items that better reflect the essentials needed for an individual to be able to support himself. The right of an individual to be self-supporting needs to be recognized in the levy and seizure provisions of the Tax Code. The monetary amount is a better reflection of a minimum level of investment needed to be self-sufficient.