When the property a tax office wants to seize has already been seized by another body, how may the office take part in that seizure instead of asking for a handover?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read whatever the file shows about the earlier seizure, to confirm the property was already seized, and the participating-seizure notice together with proof of service on that body, since service is the act the provision relies on. The tax arrears file matters because it records the debt and why the office moved to seize.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading follows the paragraph in order: where the property the head of the competent tax office intends to seize is already seized by another body, that office may serve a participating-seizure notice on that body, called in the provision the prior seizing body, and by that service it dispenses with a handover request under the Act and joins the seizure already in place.
Another reading stresses what the paragraph leaves out: it fixes who acts, on what finding and by what act, but says nothing about what joining the seizure gives the tax office once proceeds are distributed, so the served notice shows participation, not the office's rank in the sharing.
Your judgment
If the prior body releases its seizure before the notice of participating seizure is served, what is the tax office joining, and what in the file shows when service took effect?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to add a condition on service or on the state of the prior seizure, or if a court decision decides what joining the seizure gives the tax office in the distribution of proceeds.