During tax season, most Americans are focused on getting their returns to the IRS by the April 15 deadline. But what happens if you fail to file on time and ignore the IRS' repeated warnings to pay up? Your savings, wages, assets and property may all be subject to seizure by the government -- and when that happens, your belongings will be sold to the highest bidder.
"When the IRS seizes assets, it offers the property for auction," said Bonnie Lee of FOXBusiness. "This property could consist of automobiles, art, jewelry, collectibles, real estate, business assets, and even notes and patents."
Judging by some of the belongings put up on the auction block in the past, the IRS doesn't discriminate too much against selling anything to recoup delinquent taxes. Read on to see some of the craziest assets seized and sold by the IRS, and find out which ones are (mercifully) exempt from being levied.
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9 Assets Seized and Put Up for Auction by the IRS
1. Contents of a Hair Salon
At least the winning bidder will be sporting a stylish 'do from here on out. As of last week, the IRS was auctioning off a salon's worth of equipment and products from a high-end hair cutter in Birmingham, Ala. Up for grabs were a series of salon, manicure and pedicure chairs; a dermabrasion machine; a massage table; assorted tables and chairs; and a full supply of Aveda hair care products. Bidding was slated to begin at $13,452. According to the IRS report, the property was seized from the owner for tax nonpayment.
2. A Pair of Parking Spaces
Finding parking in any city can get expensive, but this is ridiculous. Two private parking spots in Boston sold at a 2013 auction for a whopping $560,000 ($280,000 each), reports The Boston Globe. The owners had originally purchased the spaces just over 20 years ago for $50,000, and the IRS seized the spaces from the owner to cover $600,000 owed in back taxes.
Related: Earn Extra Cash by Renting Your Parking Space
3. A Luxury Airplane
Though this bird was born to fly, it was grounded after its owner failed to pay back taxes. Now, its wings belong to someone else. According to Business Insider, a nearly-new 1976 Beechcraft 58TC-Baron, equipped with a piston turbo engine and carrying less than 6,500 flight hours, went up for auction in Arkansas in 2013 at a starting bid of $30,000 — a steal compared to the aircraft's original $170,750 price tag.
4. Darryl Strawberry's New York Mets Salary
In January, a lucky bidder "became" Darryl Strawberry when he successfully made a $1.3 million bid for the former New York Mets slugger's deferred salary from the 1980s, according to ESPN. The unidentified man will receive a monthly check from the team of $8,891.82 for the next 18 years, which will amount to a total of $2 million. Originally the deferred pay had belonged to Strawberry's ex-wife, but when she filed for bankruptcy the judge ordered that the annuities belonged to the IRS for taxes owed from 1989, 1990, 2003 and 2004.
5. A Goldmine of Art and Antiques
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but how much does it go for at auction? Another IRS sale earlier this month was slated to recoup some unpaid back taxes by selling off an Illinois individual's collection of art and antiques, including some Baroque-styled chairs and tables; a Japanese vase; vintage rugs; and needlepoint paintings of Eduard Jean Baptiste and George Washington. Low bids, according to the IRS, were due to start at $9,681.
Related: New 2015 Tax Law Changes
6. Native American Land
It's part of an ongoing, culturally-sensitive debate — but in the end, what the government gives, the government can take away. In 2009, 7,100 acres of South Dakotan Crow Creek Sioux land was auctioned off to a private bidder for more than $2.5 million. An unfortunate loss for the tribe, the IRS, according to Color Lines, had alleged that the Crow Creek Sioux had failed to pay up to $3.1 million in federal employment taxes for a number of years.
7. Rapper's Assets Sold Back to Rapper
Young Buck seemed to be at the end of his career when the IRS was slated to auction off several of his luxury belongings after the rapper declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The seized items, which included some jewelry, recording equipment, and a personalized 615 Cashville necklace (named after his record label), all sold for $53,000, but here's the catch: Young Buck later claimed that he bought back many of the items himself, reports HotNewHipHop.com. As for rumors that his identity would also be up for IRS grabs, the rapper later tweeted, "They Haven't,Can't,and will not SELL MY NAME!!! (sic)"
8. A Ponzi Schemer's Bugatti Veyron
Like conventions, IRS auctions are advertised as big, three-ring events where there's at least one big-ticket item up for grabs. One such valuable that made it to the front page of an IRS specialty auction brochure was a Bugatti Veyron previously owned by, and seized from, a convicted Ponzi schemer named Scott Rothstein. The luxury sports car went for the bargain price of $858,000, roughly half of its original $1.7 million MSRP. According to CNET, Rothstein, a former attorney in Florida, "used other people's money to curate a large stable of specialty vehicles, including a 1967 Corvette and a 208 Ford Expedition Limousine."
9. Delinquent Debts from Children
If someone owes back taxes or other funds to the government, the IRS doesn't stop pursuing the money if the person is deceased — they'll collect it from the decedent's estate or surviving children. "The government is now going through old records to see if it overpaid people on Social Security," said Jake Novak of CNBC. "If it thinks it did, it can now seize the IRS tax refund checks of the children of those people it thinks it overpaid." A Washington Post report notes that in the first quarter of 2014 alone, The Treasury Department managed to collect $1.9 billion in said tax refunds, leaving these next of kin financially weakened because of mistakes they had nothing to do with.
Read: How to File Taxes for a Deceased Relative
What the IRS Can't Seize
Justin Timberlake would probably prefer that everyone forget about that time in 2003 when he was tricked on TV show "Punk'd" into thinking that his home was being seized, since a house is one of the first pieces of property the Treasury may repossess. Thankfully, there are a number of assets that are exempt from seizure by the IRS:
Unemployment, and certain pension and annuity, benefits
Specific service-connected disability payments
Workers compensation
Limited public assistance payments
Minimum weekly exempt income
Assistance under the Job Training Partnership Act
Income for court-ordered child support payments
Schoolbooks and clothing
Undelivered mail
Certain amounts worth of fuel
Provisions
Furniture and personal effects for a household
Designated amounts worth of books and tools for trade, business, or professions
The IRS also notes that it actually can't seize property unless it expects the net proceeds to help pay off a person's tax debt. But that's where the exemptions end. The biggest components of a person's livelihood, like their earnings, bank account and property, are all fair game for IRS seizure after failure to pay taxes. The lesson? File your taxes honestly and on time, and don't hesitate to seek help if you're in financial trouble and unable to pay them. The agency encourages calling 1-800-829-1040, visiting a local IRS office to speak with a representative in person, or visiting www.irs.gov.