WHITFIELD v. HICKS (2006)

James Whitfield appeals from the trial court's order dismissing his petition for mandamus, by which he sought to compel the Clerk of Fulton County Superior Court, Juanita Hicks, to cancel a notice of federal tax lien that had been filed against him in Fulton County Superior Court.   Whitfield claims that the tax lien notice should be canceled because it has not been certified by the United States Secretary of the Treasury as required by OCGA § 44-14-572.   Because the State of Georgia cannot impose its own additional requirements on the filing of federal tax liens, we affirm the order of the trial court dismissing the petition.

OCGA § 44-14-572 provides that notices of federal tax liens are entitled to be filed upon “[c]ertification by the secretary of the treasury of the United States or his delegate.”  “The eligibility for filing of a federal tax lien, however, is controlled by federal law and the states are not permitted to add to the federal requirements.” ¹  Accordingly, OCGA § 44-14-572 provides no basis for the relief sought by Whitfield in this case, and the trial court was correct to dismiss his petition.

Judgment affirmed.

FOOTNOTES

1.   (Citations omitted.) Brissey v. Ellison, 272 Ga. 38, 40, 526 S.E.2d 851 (2000) (Fletcher, P.J., concurring).   See also United States v. Union Central Life Ins. Co., 368 U.S. 291, 82 S.Ct. 349, 7 L.Ed.2d 294 (1961) (states cannot impose additional requirements upon federal tax liens);  26 U.S.C. § 6323(f)(3) (“[s]uch notice shall be valid notwithstanding any other provision of law regarding the form or content of a notice of lien.”).

SEARS, Chief Justice.

All the Justices concur.