James F. Byrnes

“ We confine ourselves, therefore, to the only question presently open to decision: the relative priority of the claims of the United States and Texas.
The United States rests its assertion of priority upon § 3466 of the Revised Statutes. [1] Despite the contention of Texas to the contrary, that section clearly applies to this proceeding. ”

“ Support for this contention is said to lie in the fact that the statutory lien purports to affect only the property of the distributor which is 'devoted to or used in his business as a distributor' rather than his property in general. This is thought to make the lien sufficiently specific. Moreover, the State argues, and the Supreme Court of Texas has declared, [5] that the provisions of the Texas Civil Statutes which govern the levy, seizure and sale of the property of delinquent taxpayers generally [6] are inapplicable to the gasoline tax. ”

“ United States, 279 U.S. 80, 49 S.Ct. 321, 73 L.Ed. 621, the priority of the United States was upheld. The state statutes involved provided that if a certain personal property tax was not paid, and if the personal property against which it had been assessed was no longer in the hands of the delinquent taxpayer, the amount of the unpaid tax should become a lien upon all the real and personal property of the taxpayer. They went on to prescribe the procedure by which the lien was to be enforced. ”