Section 213.057 of the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act authorizes the Texas Workforce Commission to secure a lien on an employing unit or any individual indebted to this agency for contribution, penalty, interest, or other charges that are past due.

The lien attaches to all real and personal property of the employer with the exception of a homestead.

The Notice of Tax Lien will be filed giving notice to any prospective purchaser of property covered by the lien that the State of Texas claims a lien against that property.

A Notice of Tax Lien will be filed when an employer’s indebtedness reaches the current monetary criteria in contributions, penalties, interest or other charges.

When a debtor’s address of record is changed to a new county, the Administrative Actions Unit is informed of the change and files an additional tax lien in the new county of record.

Compare the ACAP pull list (Day 42) to the folders that have been issued. If you do not have a folder for an account number that is on the list, review the folder inquiry screen to see if the folder is out to another user or if it is an "empty file". If the folder is charged out to a user outside of Collection Section, place a Stop on the account (file not available). If the folder is charged to a user in Collection Section, attempt to locate it and determine if a lien is appropriate. Be sure the Stop release date extends past Day 49. On accounts where there is no status folder, once the account is reviewed and approved for tax lien, submit a request to Employer Files via e-mail that folders be made and charged to the examiners user number.

Action days in ACAP are:

Day 0 (statement produces)
Day 21 (default notice produces)
Day 42, (account appears on pull list
Day 48, (review is complete, stops placed on holidays in order to adjust the date that tax liens will produce.

Prior to issuing a tax lien, all liable parties must have been mailed a Default Notice, an accurate balance must be on the Employer Master File and there must be evidence of liability. If a field contact cannot be made i.e. the employer is lost or not available, proceed with review of the account by ordering Quarterly Reports (C-3's), copies of checks, etc.; and verifying the signature of responsible parties or other information to determine liability and proper lien styling. If no information is available to support liability, make an assignment to Status or to the field requesting a liability determination of the account and do not proceed with lien until a determination has been made.

In place of a signed C-1, when employers register via the Internet, no C-1 will be available. The integrity of the account will be review and tax lien(s) will be filed absent of signatures if all else appears in order.

Review employer master files to make a determination as to the appropriateness of filing a Notice of State Tax Lien.

• Review the C-1 to see if the styling for the entity is the same as the styling on the EMF.
  
• Check for current stops as well as stop history.
  
• Order copies of documents necessary to review the current delinquency.
  
• Read comments to determine if the employer has been contacted.
  
• Review the current delinquency and flags.
  
• Review delinquency and compare it with the delinquency on the Default Notice.
  
• Check the date of the last Default Notice for timeliness.
  
• Compare the Default Notice address with the address on the employer status screen.
  
• Review the employer’s tax rate and payment allocations.
  
• Check for recent payments subsequent to the Default Notice date.
  
• Check addresses, business location, trade names, owners, partners or officers as this may provide additional information for tax lien styling and counties where to file tax liens.
  
• Review tax lien history, especially, if tax liens have been filed in more than one county.
  
• Review total and taxable wages reported.

When it has been determined that a tax lien is appropriate, review for proper and complete styling. If an account is active, include all business names. If an account has been inactive for less than six months and does not have a successor using the same business name; then include the name of the business on the lien

Secretary of State Records must be reviewed on all corporations for styling, additional business names and counties for tax lien recordation. If a corporation has never registered with the Secretary of State, file a tax lien according to the styling on the C-1. If Secretary of State information is available and it differs from the C-1, the Secretary of State styling is the preferred styling. If an entity presents itself as a corporation, then Collections will proceed with action against the account as a corporation. The officers will be assessed for officer liability and the file will be returned to AAU to file lien(s) against the officer(s).

Liens are always recorded in the county of record with the exception when the address of record is "in care of" a third party. File liens in additional counties where business is located, in the county owners and partners reside, and the counties reflected on ERA information screen. Also, if an employer has assets in an additional county other than the county of record, a tax lien may be filed in that county. If you are unsure as to which county a city is in, check the City Table screen.

Tax liens are processed daily for mailing to appropriate county clerks.

Jobs run daily and produce output reflecting the following information.

Notice of State Tax Liens produce daily either because it is Day 49 of ACAP or because an examiner has keyed a request for tax lien. An administrative technician is responsible for the mailing of the tax liens. Liens and purchase vouchers are either forwarded to Accounts Payable for upfront payment who in turn forward the lien package to the county clerks or we directly forward these documents to the appropriate county clerk for recording.

A tax lien will produce with one of these styling:

Master Record styling which is considered an automatic tax lien.

Grid styling when the account examiner has determined that the master record is not complete or accurate.

Each Monday review the daily tax lien output list (TXDC0601) for accounts that had a tax lien issued the week before. Review the CHD screen for the entry "vendor hold". If no vendor hold was placed on the account, provide the account number to an AAU examiner. The examiner will review and submit a manual hold on the account, if appropriate.

Out of State Tax Liens require special handling. In addition to a cover letter, the out of state counties often require special accommodations prior to recording our tax liens (original signatures, notarization, altered format etc.) Also, an out of state county clerk's fees may be too high and we would not file tax liens in that county. Also, some out of state counties will not record our tax liens. Each state and many counties are indexed for review, prior to filing these liens. Status folder with out of state tax liens is placed in the AAU drawer awaiting returned information from the out of state county. A comment is placed on the comment screen "unknown lien fee" in the event a request for a payoff is made, we will need to determine this fee for an accurate payoff. A lien must be filed in Texas prior to filing an out of state lien.

Tax liens are forwarded to TWC Accounts Payable for up front payment to the appropriate county clerk. The lien packet is taken to Accounts Payable at the end of the day in the event information is received during the day that the lien action is inappropriate. Once the liens have been forwarded to Accounts Payable, we are unable to stop the tax lien from being forwarded to the county clerk.

Review cash journal for payment made by personal check. Order copies of checks and transfer the folder to the bank freeze accounts examiner. If there is not a personal check (PC) on cash journal, the account is reviewed by an examiner handling freezes to research other alternatives for freeze issuance. If after review of the account it is determined that a freeze is not appropriate and the account meets assessment criteria, transfer the folder to the Civil Actions Unit. Accounts not meeting assessment criteria are returned to Records Management Center.

Upon return from the county clerk, separate county clerk mail. AAU will process the county clerk mail relating to tax liens; the CAU will process the county clerk mail relating to assessment and judgments.

The recording information for tax liens should be keyed on the recording information screen. Original tax liens are sent to Micro Imaging; copies can be retrieved via the CARS system.

Upfront payment procedure will not routinely be used for out of state liens. Out of State counties should return the signed voucher reflecting their recording fee. Recorded tax liens may or may not accompany the voucher and this fact should be noted accordingly. At this point, the lien fee should be keyed via Change/Delete Nonquarterly Charges screen and the comment regarding the unknown fees should be removed or altered. The voucher is forwarded to Accounts Payable under separate cover for special handling. We request that these warrants be returned to Collection Section for processing.

Warrants are received from TWC Controller. One of three cover letters is forwarded to the out of state county along with the warrant. The letters either make mention that a recorded tax lien was received, request that the county record and return the tax lien they are holding or if they returned the tax liens unrecorded, these are returned with the warrant and it is requested that the lien be recorded and returned.

Employer's copies of tax liens are mailed fourteen days after they are issued. This allows the county clerk to record the tax lien prior to the employer receiving their copy. Prior to mailing the employer's copy, the employer master file is reviewed to insure that the balance remains due. If the balance has significantly lessened, the employer will receive a Statement of Employer Accounts along with their copy of the tax lien. Out of state employer copies are mailed at such time as the county clerk returns the voucher to claim their fee.