[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-303607-105":53,"doc-detail-303607-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":119,"head_meta":121,"extra_data":123,"updated_unix":125},105,"en","applicability-of-tax-levies-to-thrift-savings-plan-accounts-memorandum-opinion-may-3-2010","Applicability of Tax Levies to Thrift Savings Plan Accounts - Memorandum Opinion - May 3, 2010","","This memorandum opinion for the Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service addresses whether Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) accounts held by federal employees are subject to federal tax levies under Internal Revenue Code sections 6331 and 6334. It analyzes the Code’s broad levy and collection authority, the limited asset exemptions in section 6334, and the Federal Employees’ Retirement System Act’s general protections against “levy,” concluding TSP accounts are subject to the applicable levy provisions.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":41,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/letters/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/applicability-of-tax-levies-to-thrift-savings-plan-accounts-memorandum-opinion-may-3-2010/303607/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/applicability-of-tax-levies-to-thrift-savings-plan-accounts-memorandum-opinion-may-3-2010/303607.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Logic","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-04","2026-09-19",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":47},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"Are Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) accounts subject to federal tax levies under 26 U.S.C. §§ 6331 and 6334?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"Yes. The memorandum concludes that TSP accounts are subject to federal tax levies under the applicable statutes.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How does the Internal Revenue Code generally authorize tax collection by levy?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"It grants the Treasury Secretary broad authority to collect unpaid taxes by levy, including the power of distraint and seizure, subject to exemptions in section 6334.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Does FERSA protect TSP assets from “levy”?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"FERSA broadly protects sums in the Thrift Savings Fund from assignment or legal process including execution and levy, but the opinion evaluates how that protection operates alongside the tax levy provisions and finds the levy statutes still apply.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},303607,1790020203,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":40,"category_name":41,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":47,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":35,"language":135,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":139,"read_time":140},1099513958762,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/1000023916a998db790?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1784791008015729253","Applicability of Tax Levies to Thrift Savings Plan Accounts  \nThrift Savings Plan accounts are subject to federal tax levies under sections 6331 and 6334 of the Internal Revenue Code, notwithstanding a statute that, standing alone, would protect such accounts from “levy” except as expressly provided in that statute.  \nMay 3, 2010  \nMEMORANDUM OPINION FOR THE CHIEF COUNSEL INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE  \nYour office has asked whether Thrift Savings Plan (“TSP”) accounts, which permit tax-deferred retirement savings for certain federal employees, are subject to federal tax levies under sections 6331 and 6334 of the Internal Revenue Code, notwithstanding a statute that, standing alone, would protect such accounts from “levy” except as expressly provided in that statute. 1 We believe that TSP accounts are subject to federal tax levies under the applicable statutes.  \nI.  \nYour question deals with the interaction between the federal tax levy provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, see 26 U.S.C. §§ 6321, 6331, 6334 (2006), and a provision of the Federal Employees’Retirement System Act of 1986 (“FERSA”), 5 U.S.C.A. § 8437(e)(2) (West 2007) .  \nThe Internal Revenue Code has long given broad authority to the Treasury Secretary to collect unpaid federal taxes (and associated interest, penalties, and costs) by levy. See Internal Revenue Code of 1954, Pub. L. No. 83-591, §§ 6331(a), 6334(c), 68A Stat. 1, 783, 785. Undercurrent Code provisions,“[i]fany person liable to pay any tax neglects or refuses to pay the same after demand,” the amount of the liability, including interest and penalties,“shall be a lien in favor of the United States upon all property and rights to property, whether real or personal, belonging to such person.” 26 U.S.C. § 6321. If a taxpayer “liable to pay any tax neglects or refuses to pay the same within 10 days after notice and  \n1 In addition to the views of your office and the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, we have considered views submitted by the Tax Division of the Department of Justice.  \ndemand,” the Treasury Secretary may “collect such tax (and such further sum as shall be sufficient to cover the expenses of the levy) by levy upon all property and rights to property (except such property as is exempt under section 6334) belonging to such person or on which there is a lien provided in this chapter [which includes section 6321] for the payment of such tax.” Id. § 6331(a) . The code defines such levies to “include[] the power of distraint and seizure by any means” and states that “[i]n any casein which the Secretary may levy upon property or rights to property, he may seize and sell such property or rights to property (whether real or personal, tangible or intangible).” Id. § 6331(b) .  \nSection 6334(a) does exempt specified categories of assets from levies. Since 1966, such exempt assets have included “[a]nnuity or pension payments under the Railroad Retirement Act, benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, special pension payments received by a person whose name has been entered on the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard Medal of Honor roll (38 U.S.C. 1562), and annuities based on retired or retainer pay under chapter 73 of title 10 of the United States Code.” 26 U. S.C. § 6334(a)(6) (codifying the Federal Tax Lien Act of 1966, Pub. L. No. 89-719, § 104(c)(2), 80 Stat. 1125, 1137) .2 Section 6334(c) directs that “[n]otwithstanding any other law of the United States (including section 207 of the Social Security Act), no property or rights to property shall be exempt from levy other than the property specifically made exempt by subsection (a) .” Section 6334 makes no express exemption for TSP accounts.  \nCongress enacted FERSA in 1986 to reform the retirement savings system for federal employees. See FERSA § 100A, reprinted in 5 U.S.C.  \n§ 8401 note (2006) . Among other things, FERSA established the Thrift Savings Plan, which enables federal employees to hold individual retirement savi","cbCaiecIeby8ZVDA","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiecIeby8ZVDA","pdf",246777,"English","# Applicability of Tax Levies to Thrift Savings Plan Accounts\n## Issue Presented\n## Statutory Framework: Federal Tax Levy Authority\n## Exemptions Under 26 U.S.C. § 6334\n## Establishment and Purpose of the Thrift Savings Plan (FERSA)","[{\"question\":\"Are Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) accounts subject to federal tax levies under 26 U.S.C. §§ 6331 and 6334?\",\"answer\":\"Yes. The memorandum concludes that TSP accounts are subject to federal tax levies under the applicable statutes.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the Internal Revenue Code generally authorize tax collection by levy?\",\"answer\":\"It grants the Treasury Secretary broad authority to collect unpaid taxes by levy, including the power of distraint and seizure, subject to exemptions in section 6334.\"},{\"question\":\"Does FERSA protect TSP assets from “levy”?\",\"answer\":\"FERSA broadly protects sums in the Thrift Savings Fund from assignment or legal process including execution and levy, but the opinion evaluates how that protection operates alongside the tax levy provisions and finds the levy statutes still apply.\"}]","Applicability of Tax Levies to Thrift Savings Plan Accounts - Memorandum Opinion - May 3, 2010 | PDF",1789805659,6]