(17) Article 23 (m)-12 (a) (2)[section 9.23 (m)-12 (a) (2)] is amended to read as follows:

(2) The nature of the taxpayer's interest in the property, accompanied by a certified copy of the instrument or instruments by which it was acquired;

(18) The references to (g) and (h) in article 23 (m)-13 (a) (1) and (2) [section 9.23 (m)−13 (a) (1) and (2)] are changed to (f) and (g), respectively.

(19) The first sentence of article 23 (m)-17 (a) [section 9.23 (m)-17 (a)] is amended to read as follows:

The Internal Revenue Code provides that deductions for depreciation of improvements on mining property may be taken "according to the peculiar conditions in each case."

(20) The first sentence of article 23 (m)-18 [section 9.23 (m)-18] is amended to read as follows:

Taxpayers operating oil or gas properties will, in addition to and apart from the deduction allowable for depletion as hereinbefore provided, be permitted to deduct a reasonable allowance for depreciation of physical property, such as machinery, tools, equipment, pipes, etc., so far as not in conflict with the option exercised by the taxpayer under article 23 (m)-16 [section 9.23 (m)-16].

(21) The third sentence of article 23 (m)-20 [section 9.23 (m)–20] is amended to read as follows:

The apportionment of deductions between the several owners of economic interests in timber properties will be made as specified in article 23 (m)-7 [section 9.23 (m)-7].

(22) The last paragraph of article 23 (m)-25 [section 9.23 (m)–25] is amended to read as follows:

If, for the purpose of the equitable apportionment of depletion among the several owners of economic interests, the value of any timber property must be ascertained as of any specific date for the determination of the basis for depletion, the values of the several interests therein may be determined separately, but, when determined as of the same date, shall together never exceed the value at that date of the timber property in fee simple.

(This Treasury decision is issued under the authority contained in sections 23 (m), 62, and 114 of the Internal Revenue Code (53 Stat., 14, 32, 45).)

JOHN L. SULLIVAN,

Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

Approved January 3, 1940.

HEBERT E. GASTON,

Acting Secretary of the Treasury.

[Filed with the Division of the Federal Register, January 4, 1940, 10:03 a. m.]

(T. D. 4961)

Regulations relating to seizures of vessels, vehicles, and aircraft in connection with contraband firearms covered by section 1(b)(2),

act of August 9, 19391

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

OFFICE OF COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE,

Washington, D. C., January 5, 1940.

To Collectors of Internal Revenue and Others Concerned:

SEC. 468.8

Advertisement

Requirements as to claim and bond

Presentation for judicial action

SEC. 468.9 Petitions for remission or mitigation of forfeiture

SEC. 468.10 Time for filing petition

SEC. 468.11 Handling of petition

SEC. 468.12 Expenses: Disposition of proceeds

SEC. 468.13 Release on payment of appraised value

SEC. 468.14 Awards

SEC. 468.15 Payments to officers prohibited

SEC. 468.16 Application of Manual

Sec. 468.0 Introductory.-The act approved August 9, 1939, 53 Stat. 1291, providing for the seizure and forfeiture of vessels, vehicles, and aircraft used to transport narcotic drugs, firearms, and counterfeit coins, obligations, securities, and paraphernalia, and for other purposes, reads as follows:

* * * That (a) it shall be unlawful (1) to transport, carry, or convey any contraband article in, upon, or by means of any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft; (2) to conceal or possess any contraband article in or upon any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft, or upon the person of anyone in or upon any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft; or (3) to use any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft to facilitate the transportation, carriage, conveyance, concealment, receipt, possession, purchase, sale, barter, exchange, or giving away of any contraband article.

(b) As used in this section, the term "contraband article" means—

(1) Any narcotic drug which has been or is possessed with intent to sell or offer for sale in violation of any laws or regulations of the United States dealing therewith, or which is sold or offered for sale in violation thereof, or which does not bear appropriate tax-paid internal-revenue stamps as required by law or regulations;

1 Sections 468.0 to 468.16 are issued under the authority contained in the act of August 9, 1939, 53 Stat. 1291.

(2) Any firearm, with respect to which there has been committed any violation of any provision of the National Firearms Act, as now or hereafter amended, or any regulation issued pursuant thereto; or

(3) Any falsely made, forged, altered, or counterfeit coin or obligation or other security of the United States or of any foreign government; or any material or apparatus, or paraphernalia fitted or intended to be used, or which shall have been used, in the making of any such falsely made, forged, altered, or counterfeit coin or obligation or other security.

SEC. 2. Any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft which has been or is being used in violation of any provision of section 1, or in, upon, or by means of which any violation of section 1 has taken or is taking place, shall be seized and forfeited: Provided, That no vessel, vehicle, or aircraft used by any person as a common carrier in the transaction of business as such common carrier shall be forfeited under the provisions of this Act unless it shall appear that (1) in the case of a railway car or engine, the owner, or (2) in the case of any other such vessel, vehicle, or aircraft, the owner or the master of such vessel or the owner or conductor, driver, pilot, or other person in charge of such vehicle or aircraft was at the time of the alleged illegal act a consenting party or privy thereto: Provided further, That no vessel, vehicle, or aircraft shall be forfeited under the provisions of this Act by reason of any act or omission established by the owner thereof to have been committed or omitted by any person other than such owner while such vessel, vehicle, or aircraft was unlawfully in the possession of a person who acquired possession thereof in violation of the criminal laws of the United States, or of any State.

SEC. 3. The Secretary of the Treasury is empowered to authorize, or designate, officers, agents, or other persons to carry out the provisions of this Act. It shall be the duty of any officer, agent, or other person so authorized or designated, or authorized by law, whenever he shall discover any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft which has been or is being used in violation of any of the provisions of this Act, or in, upon, or by means of which any violation of this Act has taken or is taking place, to seize such vessel, vehicle, or aircraft and to place it in the custody of such person as may be authorized or designated for that purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury, to await disposition pursuant to the provisions of this Act and any regulations issued hereunder.

SEC. 4. All provisions of law relating to the seizure, summary and judicial forfeiture, and condemnation of vessels and vehicles for violation of the customs laws; the disposition of such vessels and vehicles or the proceeds from the sale thereof; the remission or mitigation of such forfeitures; and the compromise of claims and the award of compensation to informers in respect of such forfeitures shall apply to seizures and forfeitures incurred, or alleged to have been incurred, under the provisions of this Act, insofar as applicable and not inconsistent with the provision hereof: Provided, That such duties as are imposed upon the collector of customs or any other person with respect to the seizure and forfeiture of vessels and vehicles under the customs laws shall be performed with respect to seizures and forfeitures of vessels, vehicles, and aircraft under this Act by such officers, agents, or other persons as may be authorized or designated for that purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 5. Any appropriation which has been or shall hereafter be made for the enforcement of the customs, narcotics, counterfeiting, or internal-revenue laws, and the provisions of the National Firearms Act shall be available for the defraying of expenses of carrying out the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 6. The provisions of this Act shall be construed to be supplemental to, and not to impair in any way, existing provisions of law imposing fines, penalties, or forfeitures; or providing for the seizure, condemnation, or disposition of for

401572-41-vol. 35—19

che proceeds thereof; or authorizing the remission or mitigation

es, or forfeitures.

Den used in this Act

cm "vessel" includes every description of watercraft or other con

ised, or capable of being used, as means of transportation in water, but ot include aircraft;

The term "vehicle" includes every description of carriage or other contrivalice used, or capable of being used, as means of transportation on, below, or above the land, but does not include aircraft;

(c) The term "aircraft" includes every description of craft or carriage or other contrivance used, or capable of being used, as means of tranportation through the air;

(d) The term "narcotic drug" means any narcotic drug, as now or hereafter defined by the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act, the internal-revenue laws or any amendments thereof, or the regulations issued thereunder; or marihuana as now or hereafter defined by the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 or the regulations issued thereunder;

(e) The term "firearm" means any firearm, as now or hereafter defined by the National Firearms Act, or any amendments thereof, or the regulations issued thereunder; and

(f) The words "obligation or other security of the United States" are used as now or hereafter defined in section 147 of the Criminal Code, as amended (U. S. C., title 18, sec. 261).

SEC. 8. The Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

The following regulations are hereby prescribed under the act of August 9, 1939, relative to the seizure and disposition of vessels, vehicles, and aircraft when engaged in the transportation, etc., of contraband firearms within the meaning of the National Firearms Act.1

Sec. 468.1 Definitions.—As used in these regulations, except as otherwise indicated by the context:

(a) The term "act" means the act of August 9, 1939, 53 Stat. 1291. (b) The term "conveyance" means a vessel, vehicle, or aircraft within the scope of the act and these regulations.

(c) The terms "seizing officer," "officer seizing," etc., mean the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the collector or deputy collector of the proper district, or such other collector, deputy collector or other officer of internal revenue as may be specially authorized by the Commissioner pursuant to section 3720 of the Internal Revenue Code to seize property legally subject to seizure and who has made seizure of a conveyance or adopted a seizure within the scope of these regulations. (d) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Treasury. (e) The term "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

(f) The term "collector" means the collector of internal revenue. (g) The term "Director" means the Director of the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department.

See footnote on p. 284.

(h) The term "Manual" means the Manual of Procedure for forfeiture and disposition of personal property seized by the Alcohol Tax Unit, issued June 1937.

(i) The terms defined in the Act shall have the meanings thereby ascribed to them.1

Sec. 468.2 Reports of seizure.-An officer seizing or adopting the seizure of a conveyance shall promptly make a complete written report, in quadruplicate, to the collector. The report shall show, insofar as feasible, the following data: The date and place of seizure, the name and address of the person from whom seized, a specific description of the conveyance, including the make, type, model, and year of manufacture, the registration and motor and serial numbers, if any, and the general condition; the name and address of the owner, the names and addresses of witnesses, the reasons for and circumstances of the seizure, a description of the contraband articles, the disposition made of the contraband articles, and any other pertinent information. So far as practicable the description of the conveyance shall be in the form of, and include the details indicated by, Form 181. (See Manual). The collector shall forward two copies of the report to the Commissioner, and shall advise of later developments as they occur.'

Sec. 468,3 Custody and storage. Any conveyance seized under the provisions of these regulations shall be in the custody of the collector for the district in which the seizure is made. The seizing officer shall store the conveyance in a place designated, either generally or in the particular case, by the collector. The place of storage shall be in the judicial district in which the seizure occurred. Government storage facilities shall be utilized if practicable. If the conveyance is stored on private premises there shall be secured from the proprietor thereof and forwarded with the report to the collector a receipt for the conveyance coinciding with the description in the report to the collector. Conveyances may not be used prior to forfeiture and award for official use.1

Sec. 468.4 Appraisement.—The collector shall appraise the conveyance to determine the value at the time and place of appraisement, or if there is no market for the conveyance at the place of appraisement, the value in the principal market nearest the place of appraisement. The appraisal may be based upon the report of the seizing officer and any other information which may be acquired.1

Sec. 468.5 Advertisement.-If the appraised value does not exceed $1,000, the collector shall cause a notice of the seizure and of the intention to forfeit and sell or otherwise dispose of the property to be published once a week for at least three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the judicial district in which the seizure occurred. The notice shall not be inserted oftener than three 1 See footnote on p. 284.