§198 Certified checks; receivable for all public dues; lien for payment of

Summary

Collecting officers may accept certified checks from National and State banks and trust companies as payment for import duties and other public charges, when and under the rules the Treasury Secretary sets. This includes special customs deposits. If a person gives a certified check as a temporary payment, they still must pay until the check is actually paid. If the bank refuses to pay the certified check, the United States can still demand payment from the person who owed the money and can place a claim on all the bank’s assets for the check amount. That claim is paid from the bank’s assets ahead of other claims, except for the bank’s necessary administration costs and amounts the United States spent to redeem the bank’s circulating notes.