12-21.005. Seizure of Property Under Jeopardy

(1) Jeopardy Determinations. Jeopardy will be asserted in or with an assessment if at least one of the following conditions is present:

(a) The Department has cause to believe the taxpayer is about to depart from the state;

(b) The Department has cause to believe the taxpayer is about to do any act tending to prejudice or render wholly or partly ineffectual the normal procedures for collection of any amount of tax, fee, surcharge, penalty, interest, administrative fee, or cost of collection that the Department determines is due;

(c) The Department has cause to believe the taxpayer is concealing or transferring or is about to conceal or transfer its property.

(d) The Department finds that the collection of the amount determined to be due will be jeopardized by delay; or

(e) The taxpayer has ceased to make payments, and the estimated deficiency is substantial for that taxpayer.

(2) In making a determination that the collection of any amount of tax, fee, surcharge, penalty, interest, administrative fee, or cost of collection  required to be collected and paid will be jeopardized by delay pursuant to paragraph (1)(d), the Department will consider the following:

(a) The prior history of the taxpayer’s compliance or noncompliance with requirements for reporting and paying any tax;

(b) The type of business, including the transient or nontransient nature of the business;

(c) The liquidity of assets;

(d) The mobility of assets;

(e) The pending sale or transfer of title to assets; or

(f) The financial status of the person or dealer owing the tax, including the existence of money judgments.

(3) A warrant will be issued and recorded simultaneously with or after the issuance of a jeopardy assessment.

(4) Notice and Taxpayer Review Rights. The Department will issue in or with a jeopardy assessment a notice or finding of the specific facts that support a determination that jeopardy to the revenue exists.

(a) This notice informs the taxpayer that:

1. To request a conference with the Department, the taxpayer must contact the office of the Department that issued the jeopardy assessment. The conference must be held within 10 days after issuance of the jeopardy assessment, at a time and place set by the Department.

2. The taxpayer has the opportunity to appear at this conference and make oral and written statements of why the delinquent taxpayer believes no jeopardy exists and why a warrant based upon the jeopardy assessment should be released, if it was recorded.

(b) The conference will be conducted informally and will not be in the nature of a formal evidentiary hearing. The taxpayer may present relevant information, orally or in writing, but discovery and cross-examination will not be allowed. The Department is not required to transcribe the proceedings, but the taxpayer may transcribe the conference at the taxpayer’s own expense.

(c) The Department will determine within twenty (20) days after receipt of a taxpayer’s statement whether the warrant based upon the jeopardy assessment should be released in whole or in part. The Department will provide written notice of this determination to the delinquent taxpayer.

(d) When the Department determines, based on the information received at the taxpayer conference, that the warrant based upon the jeopardy assessment should be released in whole or in part, the Department will release or correct the warrant accordingly.

(e) If the Department proceeds to seize or freeze the property of a taxpayer upon a determination of jeopardy:

1. The taxpayer has a right to a meeting with the Department immediately or within 24 hours after requesting such meeting. The Department will determine whether to release the seizure or freeze within 24 hours after the meeting.

2. If the Department does not release the seizure or freeze of property, the taxpayer has the right to request a hearing within five (5) days before the circuit court. The taxpayer and the Department may present evidence with respect to the issue of jeopardy at the hearing. Venue in such an action will lie in the county in which the seizure was effected or, if there are multiple seizures based upon the same assessment, venue will also lie in Leon County.

Rulemaking Authority 198.08, 199.202, 202.26(3), 212.18(2), 213.06(1) FS. Law Implemented 198.20, 199.262, 201.16, 202.33(3), 202.36, 206.075, 206.97, 206.9835, 206.9915, 211.125, 211.33, 212.14, 212.15, 213.69, 213.73, 213.731, 213.732, 213.733, 213.74, 213.75, 213.758, 220.827, 220.829, 336.021, 336.025, 403.718(3)(a), 403.7185(3)(a), 538.11, 624.5092, 681.117 FS. History–New 7-1-88, Amended 3-12-14.