The comptroller may seize and sell a delinquent person’s nonexempt property at public auction within three years after delinquency, and people may not interfere with the seizure.
Sec. 111.017. SEIZURE AND SALE OF PROPERTY. (a) Before the expiration of three years after a person becomes delinquent in the payment of any amount under this title, the comptroller may seize and sell at public auction real and personal property of the person. A seizure made to collect the tax is limited only to property of the person that is not exempt from execution. Service or delivery of a notice of seizure under this section affecting property held by a financial institution in the name of or on behalf of a delinquent who is a customer of the financial institution is governed by Section 59.008, Finance Code. (b) A person commits an offense if the person obstructs, hinders, impedes, or interferes with the comptroller's seizure of the property of a delinquent taxpayer in the following ways: (1) trespassing on the property of a business or a business location that has been seized by the comptroller without the permission of the comptroller or the comptroller's agents; (2) removing or breaking a lock on a business or business location that has been seized by the comptroller without the permission of the comptroller or the comptroller's agents; (3) removing or causing to be removed any inventory, equipment, or other property from a business or business location seized by the comptroller without the permission of the comptroller or the comptroller's agents; (4) damaging, destroying, or defacing any inventory, equipment, or property or the business location of a delinquent taxpayer while it is under seizure by the comptroller; or (5) knowingly obstructing, hindering, or impeding the comptroller or the comptroller's agents in the seizure or securing of a delinquent taxpayer's property, including the taxpayer's business location, inventory, or equipment, under this section. (c) An offense under Subsection (b) is a Class A misdemeanor. Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., 2nd C.S., ch. 1, Sec. 2, eff. July 21, 1987. Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 344, Sec. 7.008, eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 931 (H.B. 3314), Sec. 3, eff. June 15, 2007.