Example 1. A director anticipates that the taxpayer has only one item of property that can be seized and sold. This item is estimated to have a fair market value of $250.00. The director also estimates that the costs of seizure and sale will total $300.00 if this item is seized. The director is prohibited from levying on this one item of the taxpayer's property because the costs of seizure and sale are estimated to exceed the property's fair market value.
Example 2. The facts are the same as in Example 1 except that the director anticipates that the taxpayer has 10 items of property that can be seized and sold. Each of those items is estimated to have a fair market value of $250.00. The director also estimates that the costs of seizure and sale will total $300.00 regardless of how many of those items are seized. The director is prohibited from levying on only one item of the taxpayer's property because the costs of seizure and sale are estimated to exceed the fair market value of the single item of property. The director, however, would not be prohibited from levying on two or more items of the taxpayer's property because the aggregate fair market value of the seized property would exceed the estimated costs of seizure and sale.
Example 3. The taxpayer has three items of property, A, B, and C. The director anticipates that the value of items A, B, and C depends on their being sold as a unit. The director estimates that due to high anticipated costs of storing or maintaining item B prior to the sale, the aggregate fair market value of items A, B, and C will not exceed the anticipated expenses of seizure and sale if all three items are seized. Accordingly, the director is prohibited from levying on items A, B, and C.
Example 4. The facts are the same as in Example 3 except that the director does not anticipate that the value of items A, B, and C depends on those items being sold as a unit. If the director estimates that the aggregate fair market value of items A and C exceeds the aggregate anticipated costs of the seizure and sale of those two items, items A and C can be seized and sold. The director is prohibited from levying on item B because the high cost of storing or maintaining item B is estimated to exceed the fair market value of item B.
26 C.F.R. §301.6331-2